Programming

In the Flipping It article, the author speaks about the positive affect of the youth counselors in the Youth Empowerment Initiative. Queens Library is a good model for other libraries who are interested in improving their library programming. The library has goals to motivate the undirected teens into lifelong library users and to encourage teens to succeed academically. Libraries already know that adding public-use computers brings young people into the library but many librarians are not trained in positive youth development which youth counselors provide. Last year Queens library hired eleven youth counselors who created programming during and after school hours. The counselors deal with the cases of abuse, pregnancy and other problems that concern teens. Summer Reading Program combined with a basketball tournament and Read Down Your Fees program are a great way to motivate teens to read. Teen spaces and programming deserve attention and everyone should serve the youth not just the young adult librarians. This was a powerful article and it represent the possibility of the library to change the teen community into something positive.

After reading the Pierce book about serving the multicultural youth I thought about the recent visit me and the librarian made to the Brooklyn Residential Center for troubled girls. These girls were avid readers and had particular tastes in novels. They like urban fiction and they are aware of the new bestsellers. Our library is not required to reach out to these girls but we find it to be a beneficial experience and there is a sense of satisfaction when a girl receives the book that she has been waiting for. We usually have a diverse selection of books available for their choosing.