Embracing Technology: Using High-Tech Tools to

Promote Libraries to Teens

•Websites

•Blogs

•Podcasts

•Social networking

•Gaming

Websites

• “…it is another point from which your patrons can access your library and its services: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Internet is a way to reach out to teens, the lost generation of library patrons. You can find the time….I’d encourage you, too, to involve teens in this process. You’ll all learn something”. Samuelson, Michael. “Teens, the Internet, and Library Websites”. Idaho Librarian. 53, 3. (February 2002).

Pros: • provide a teen-friendly entry point for services

• platform to explore the use of new media and develop unique content

Concerns: • Balance of education and

entertainment• Money

• Working with technical staff• May have restrictions on what you

can/cannot provide

Website examples

• Denver PL Evolver; Book Reviews

• Loudoun County Teen Scene

Blogs

Blogs

• Short for web log, blogs are web-based content that is updated on a regular basis and sorted in reverse chronological order

• May include text, pictures, audio, video and hypertext links

• Used by businesses, news agencies, non-profits, educational institutions across the world

• Approximately 10-20 million active blogs. Johnson, Bobbie. “Are there Really 50 Million Blogs?” The Guardian. 11 Aug 2006.

Pros:

• Deliver content directly through RSS feeds

• Interactivity with patrons

• Highlight special events and part of a collection

Cons:

• Moderating patron posting

• Privacy of patrons

Blog Examples

• FCPL Teens Talk

• Worthington Libraries Worthingteens

Podcasts

Pros:• Allows libraries to expand content to audio

and video, connecting with a different type of patron

• Like Blogs, podcasts deliver content to the patron via RSS feeds

Cons:• Technology requirements higher than with

blogs and basic websites• Higher learning curve

Podcast Examples

• Cheshire Public Library

• Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County Library Loft Podcasts

Social Networking

Social Networking Sites

• Web-based tools that allow one-on-one and community-wide communication

• Include MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and dozens more

• 4 of the top ten websites are Social Networking sites. Alexa Internet, Inc. “Alexa Web Search-Top

500”. Alexa Internet. 23 November 2007. <http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_500>

Sharing, Privacy and Trust in our Networked World OCLC, 2007

• 28% have used a SN site

• 80% of these regularly use a SN site

• Only 12% of those surveyed saw a use for SN for libraries

• 48% of librarians surveyed saw a use for SN sites for libraries

Pros• Deliver content to where teens already spend

their time• Allows libraries to promote themselves more

directly to the patron• Often free

Cons:

• Associations with pornography and child predators

• lack of security

• privacy issues

MySpace

• Developed in 2003 as a promotion tool for local musicians

• Allows group message boards, audio and video clips, hypertext links, and more

• With 47 million accounts, more than half of social networking users use MySpace. De Rosa, Cathy, et al. Sharing, Privacy and Trust in our Networked World. Dublin, OH: OCLC, 2007.

• FCPL• Worthington PL

Second Life

• Began in 2003 as a “3-D virtual world entirely created by its Residents”.

• Non-web, graphics-heavy interactive software that allows users to create avatars, environments and interact with each other

• Teen Second Life started in 2005

Pros: • Interact in real-time in a setting that makes

teens feel comfortable• Deliver programs like online readings, online

reference services in real time, information literacy, book groups and more

Cons:

• High technology requirements

• Large startup time

• Costs

Glenville PL, Glenville, IL

• Glenville PL, Glenville IL

Library Examples

• Charlotte and Mecklenburg County

• Suffern Middle School

Gaming @ Your Library

• Adults of both sexes play games over seven hours a week

• The average age for players is 33• 25% of game players are over 50 years old• 38% of game players are female• www.ala.org/gaming

Pros:• Gets hard-to-reach teens in the door• Increases teen participation and sense

of community• Can include console games, PC games,

Role playing games, and even board games

Cons:•Disruptive to other patrons

•Challenges perceptions of what a library does

•Technology requirements

Examples

• L.A. County

• Mount Horeb Library

Andrew Prendergrast, Patrick Henry Library, FCPL

• Average 40 teens each event

• Many return during regular hours

• Librarians get enjoyable one-on-one time with teens

• Make libraries a place for teens to go and enjoy, not just a “boring place to do homework”