Taken from OCLC’s Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources Report, the following are some negative associations of libraries written by United States Teenagers. One of the most important things to point out in this report is the reference to the attitudes of librarians. Although only two negative associations about librarian attitudes are listed, I think the attitude of librarians towards teens is a problem that is prevalent in public libraries. My experience in public libraries has informed me that the majority of staff generally do not like working with teenagers. I believe that young adult library staff need to convince other staff members that young adults are worthy of exceptional customer service. Teen library staff should try to eradicate negative stereotypes about teenagers that might be causing this disconnect.

The full report can be located here:
http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm

boring complicated
14 U.S. High school

Only for nerds. Bums go there to keep warm.
15 U.S. High school

sometimes hard to find info and not as quick as the internet
15 U.S. High school

when the book you want has been checked out –librarians aren’t always the most considerate people
15 U.S. High school

you have to have a membership you have to have the books back in short periods of time
15 U.S. High school

policy drivenness
16 U.S. High school

Researching for school papers Broken down computers
16 U.S. High school

sometimes too much information
16 U.S. High school

the stereotypical librarian, the concept that books are unintresting
16 U.S. High school

Uncool Nerdy
16 U.S. High school

Unqualified libriarians. Complicated search services
16 U.S. High school

BORING!! No fun in library!
17 U.S.

fines, impatient librarians
17 U.S. High school

Musty Book Smell A Mean libranian
17 U.S. High school

old people, old books, fines, outdated information, archaic research tool
17 U.S. High school

Only losers go to libraries Going to a library for research is outdated
17 U.S. High school

overdue fines homeless people like to stay there sometimes
17 U.S. High school