Sometimes when patrons learn their library will take an equity approach to programs and services, they wonder, “What is going to happen to everything that I love about the library?” In anticipation of this question, equity consultant LaKesha Kimbrough suggested that the planning team for the California Library Association’s Building Equity-Based Summers (BEBS) initiative, of … Continue reading One Goal, Many Approaches
Windsor did so by developing a game that invited players to visit Stratford’s local businesses to complete challenges and ultimately win prizes. Harry Potter and the Stratford Adventure was a hit that more than 70 patrons participated in during its three-week run. Windsor detailed the framework of her game and how librarians could implement similar … Continue reading Embarking on a Quest
In 2001 it was the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone film, which culminates with its heroes playing a giant, magical game of high-stakes chess, says HPL Librarian Alison Creech. In 2020, during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders, the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit put the spotlight back on the … Continue reading A Winning Move
Consider, for example, a library activity in which teens can talk about the spaces that make them feel comfortable and can help design an area of the library that is just for them. In this exercise, teens articulate what evokes happiness and calm—two emotional states that are central to positive mental health—and are given an … Continue reading Crisis Averted
Creating safety At “Safe Haven: Creating Safe Education Spaces That Destigmatize the Teen Mental Health Experience,” authors Rocky Callen and Nora Shalaway Carpenter—coeditors of Ab(solutely) Normal, a YA anthology of mental health fiction slated for 2023—moderated a panel that examined how youth and teen services staffers can support teen mental health. Callen and Carpenter began … Continue reading Making Space
In Episode 67, Call Number with American Libraries celebrates Halloween with a look at libraries and the living dead. First, American Libraries Senior Editor and Call Number host Phil Morehart speaks with Ben Rubin, horror studies collection coordinator at University of Pittsburgh Library System, about the George A. Romero Archival Collection, which was gifted to … Continue reading Call Number Podcast: Zombies!
The livestreaming platform Twitch is primarily used by gamers who broadcast themselves playing videogames. Anyone can watch from anywhere for free. The platform entered the mainstream in 2020, when the number of active streamers on the platform more than doubled over the year, from just under 4 million to more than 9 million. Twitch is most … Continue reading The Twitching Hour
With the pandemic prompting us to step back and think critically about our users and the programs we bring online, it’s also a good time to reflect on past missteps. I’d like to share some of the wrong ideas I’ve had and why some of my original thinking was incorrect, as a reminder of the … Continue reading It’s Okay to Be Wrong
In Episode 56, Call Number looks at library efforts to support and engage teen activism. First, American Libraries Associate Editor Sallyann Price speaks with Donnell Washington, senior library assistant at Charlotte Mecklenburg (N.C.) Library, about the Better Hope for Tomorrow virtual summit for teens that he helped organize. Next, American Libraries Managing Editor Terra Dankowski … Continue reading Call Number Podcast: Let Them Lead
This year’s symposium focused on partnerships, empowerment, and using YA literature to promote equity. At the Saturday, November 7 session “Our Teens Have a Voice: Methods in Planning and Executing a Youth Conference on Social Justice,” the two presenters—Erin Hoopes, branch manager of Philadelphia City Institute of the Free Library of Philadelphia, and Gabrielle Miller, … Continue reading Teen Librarians Talk Empowerment
This isn’t the first time in recent years that teens have taken a visible role in public protests. Many of them marched in support of the DREAM Act and spoke out about immigration policy; advocated for gun control after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida; and followed environmental … Continue reading Let Them Lead
1957 Year the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) was founded. 6–8 Dates in November that YALSA will host its 10th symposium, “Biggest Little Spaces: How Libraries Serve the Expanding Worlds of Teens.” Originally scheduled for Reno, Nevada, the symposium will be held virtually. 15 Number of groups that helped create this year’s Teens’ Top … Continue reading By the Numbers: Teens and Libraries
