Question 3- What would make you want to go to the library?
What could they offer?
Image courtesy of Creative Commons user - Lester Public Library
Teen 1: (12-year-old female) the good books. Teen 2: (15-year-old male) A bmx contest. Teen 3: (14-year-old female) umm...movie night for teens. i would prolly want to go to that if they were showing like a good movie. just a place me and my friends could chill. Teen 4: (14-year-old female) better books and comfy chairs. Teen 5: (14-year-old female) Better books would definitely make me want to go to the public library. It would also be good if there were different clubs like different wii tounraments or we could have a group that could organize like maybe little fairs or different seasonal decorations for our town. Teen 6:(17-year-old female) The library used to do special programs like yoga, or art projects, one time we even had a lady come in to talk about angels. I guess I would go a little more often if they did more things like this. Teen 7:(17-year-old female) I would probably go more if they made more programs that would make it more exciting, like they usually have a lot of stuff for little kids, but not for teenagers. Perhaps they could have a popular author come in to speak about their books? That would be exciting! Teen 8:(17-year-old female) Mmmm, coffee houses, cabarets, public events. (I think that the Sunderland library does things to this effect anyway, as does the Tilton in deerfield. Not in Whately though!) Teen 9:(18-year-old female) the thing that would make me want to go the library was a better selection of books and a better selection of movies Teen 10:(15-year-old female) What would probably make me want to go to the library is if they had a transportation system. Sometimes people's parents don't get home until late so they have no time to go or they can't go. So if someone really needed to go they could call the library and they could have a bus or have someone go and pick them up. I know my parents sometimes get home late and i need to go to the library maybe just for a book or use the encylopedia for something and i can't go because i have no ride.
Amber's Analysis: A lot of good ideas for teen services come up here, including getting a better selection of books. However, this group of teens cannot represent all teens nationwide. Each group will want different things than the next group and so on. A bmx contest sounds cool, but would anyone in your neighborhood show up? "Better books" means something different to everyone, so exactly what titles are missing from your collection? What qualifies as an exciting program? These are questions that each library will have to specifically ask teens in their areas in order to really cater to teen needs. Another interesting observation is that when teens were asked previously why they do or do not go to the library, none of them mentioned the lack/abundance of good programs which seems to be important in their answers here. It seems that the word library doesn't make teens think of programs even though it is something they want. This emphasizes the importance of advertising to teens. Again, libraries need to consider what teens do in their spare time, come up with activities that incorporate those interests and advertise in the right places.
Laura's Analysis: I agree with Amber that a lot of good ideas came up in the interviews and that it is clear that teens have some great ideas about what they would like to see in the libraries. In true teen fashion though none of the answers were very specific, except for the BMX contest, and this is where the librarians come into play. Teens have a lot of great ideas, but need to be encouraged to share those ideas and to really elaborate on them, without the fear of not being taken seriously or looked down upon. This may be difficult for teens who do not feel comfortable being open and honest with adults, or with teens who do not go to the library. Librarians need to reach out to teens in ways that they are comfortable with. So forming a TAB might sound like a great idea, but just getting five teens to answer questions for me was difficult. Part of this was because I was trying to arrange a time to all get together face-to-face, but all of the girls, and boy, had such different schedules it was impossible. I ended up reaching the teens via email, phone and Facebook. The teens were also very helpful in reaching out to one another for me, which shows that word of mouth can be an extremely powerful tool for librarians. Get a few teens you know well to ask their friends, and then their friends and so on. The most important thing when creating programs for teens is letting them be the driving force as much as possible - it would be really embarrassing to hold a gaming night and have no one show, which I'm sure happens from time to time anyways, but having an open dialog with teens in the community would help to ensure these events are attended.
Question 3- What would make you want to go to the library?
What could they offer?
Teen 1: (12-year-old female) the good books.
Teen 2: (15-year-old male) A bmx contest.
Teen 3: (14-year-old female) umm...movie night for teens. i would prolly want to go to that if they were showing like a good movie. just a place me and my friends could chill.
Teen 4: (14-year-old female) better books and comfy chairs.
Teen 5: (14-year-old female) Better books would definitely make me want to go to the public library. It would also be good if there were different clubs like different wii tounraments or we could have a group that could organize like maybe little fairs or different seasonal decorations for our town.
Teen 6: (17-year-old female) The library used to do special programs like yoga, or art projects, one time we even had a lady come in to talk about angels. I guess I would go a little more often if they did more things like this.
Teen 7: (17-year-old female) I would probably go more if they made more programs that would make it more exciting, like they usually have a lot of stuff for little kids, but not for teenagers. Perhaps they could have a popular author come in to speak about their books? That would be exciting!
Teen 8: (17-year-old female) Mmmm, coffee houses, cabarets, public events. (I think that the Sunderland library does things to this effect anyway, as does the Tilton in deerfield. Not in Whately though!)
Teen 9: (18-year-old female) the thing that would make me want to go the library was a better selection of books and a better selection of movies
Teen 10: (15-year-old female) What would probably make me want to go to the library is if they had a transportation system. Sometimes people's parents don't get home until late so they have no time to go or they can't go. So if someone really needed to go they could call the library and they could have a bus or have someone go and pick them up. I know my parents sometimes get home late and i need to go to the library maybe just for a book or use the encylopedia for something and i can't go because i have no ride.
Amber's Analysis: A lot of good ideas for teen services come up here, including getting a better selection of books. However, this group of teens cannot represent all teens nationwide. Each group will want different things than the next group and so on. A bmx contest sounds cool, but would anyone in your neighborhood show up? "Better books" means something different to everyone, so exactly what titles are missing from your collection? What qualifies as an exciting program? These are questions that each library will have to specifically ask teens in their areas in order to really cater to teen needs. Another interesting observation is that when teens were asked previously why they do or do not go to the library, none of them mentioned the lack/abundance of good programs which seems to be important in their answers here. It seems that the word library doesn't make teens think of programs even though it is something they want. This emphasizes the importance of advertising to teens. Again, libraries need to consider what teens do in their spare time, come up with activities that incorporate those interests and advertise in the right places.
Laura's Analysis: I agree with Amber that a lot of good ideas came up in the interviews and that it is clear that teens have some great ideas about what they would like to see in the libraries. In true teen fashion though none of the answers were very specific, except for the BMX contest, and this is where the librarians come into play. Teens have a lot of great ideas, but need to be encouraged to share those ideas and to really elaborate on them, without the fear of not being taken seriously or looked down upon. This may be difficult for teens who do not feel comfortable being open and honest with adults, or with teens who do not go to the library. Librarians need to reach out to teens in ways that they are comfortable with. So forming a TAB might sound like a great idea, but just getting five teens to answer questions for me was difficult. Part of this was because I was trying to arrange a time to all get together face-to-face, but all of the girls, and boy, had such different schedules it was impossible. I ended up reaching the teens via email, phone and Facebook. The teens were also very helpful in reaching out to one another for me, which shows that word of mouth can be an extremely powerful tool for librarians. Get a few teens you know well to ask their friends, and then their friends and so on. The most important thing when creating programs for teens is letting them be the driving force as much as possible - it would be really embarrassing to hold a gaming night and have no one show, which I'm sure happens from time to time anyways, but having an open dialog with teens in the community would help to ensure these events are attended.