While librarianship is an apolitical profession for many, I endeavor to practice advocacy and activism in the library and dispense with the fallacy of neutrality. In my first year as a librarian, I have not been successful in implementing the tenets of what may be called radical librarianship and I am still trying to figure out what it means to cultivate social justice in and through the library. The best way for me to do this may be to incorporate activism into youth programming. My first project is an Amnesty International chapter at the library.

My friends and I belonged to our high school AI chapter and Wednesdays after school consisted of a clutch of punks eating pizza and writing a letter or two but spending most of our time messing around. It was a good time and I talked to people I wouldn’t have talked to otherwise. I do not know yet how successful AI will be at the library. Young people are particularly interested in their freedoms and rights, which may easily extend to a concern for the freedoms and rights denied to political prisoners from China, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Burma, and throughout the world. Perhaps AI will provide a context for understanding about the Other, for fostering compassion, for fighting injustice. Maybe it will just be a fun gathering of letterwriting and pizza. That would be enough.

In a great interview in the November 2004 issue of Arthur Magazine musician and activist Kathleen Hanna said, “I think it’s completely political for people to feel joy in a joyless culture. That in itself really is doing a great service to the planet.”

This is a guiding principle for me. I think in our programing and outreach efforts, joy is a most worthy aim.

If anyone else wants to start an AI chapter at their library or school, there is some information here.

Previously I posted about what I have planned for Teen Read Week at my library and I asked what you have planned.  Today I am back with the first few responses.

Kimberly, a Teen Services Librarian from the Kingston Frontenac Public Library writes:

We usually put up dispays and have our municipalities declare Teen Read Week.  This year, we are also holding a teen membership drive throughout the week.  We will be holding a drawing at the end of the week, and the winner will get an iPod Nano Video.  Teens will get a ballot if they:

1. register for a library card
2. bring a friend who registers for a library card
3. use their library card to borrow materials or a book an internet station
4. visit the library’s teen website

There is no limit to the number of ballots they can recieve (other than, of course, they may only register for one card themselves!).

Molly, Associate Director of the Guthrie Memorial Library wrote:

In conjunction with Teen Read Week, a nationwide initiative by libraries to encourage teens to read for fun and discover their local libraries, the Guthrie Memorial Library - Hanovers Public Library and the York County Library System will welcome Robin Brande, author of Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature (Knopy Books for Young Readers, September 2007) for events in York County October 12-13, 2007.

York County’s Teen Read Week celebration is now in its fourth year.  Controversy surrounding the teaching of evolution in schools in Dover, Pennsylvania (kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District) in 2005 makes Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature an especially timely and important choice for York County.

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature tells the story of a ninth grade girl who has been ostracized by her friends and her church for doing the right thing.  She faces many tough decision during her freshman year: social pressure, parental relationships, faith, romantic relationshiops, and sense of self.  When her science teacher begins a unit on evolution, things get out of hand as Mena struggles to find a way to reconcile her faith and religion with science.

The book has already been selected as one of the Young Adult Library Services Association’s Best Books for Young Adults for 2007.  Additionally, Borders has chosen Brande as an Original Voice for September.

Brande will be part of a local initiative called One Book, Every Freshman, where she will speak to ninth grade students at area high schools who have read her book.  Nearly 500 copies of the book will be given away in conjunction with participating schools in preparation for Brande’s visits on Friday, October 12 to Hanover High School and Delone Catholic High School.  This program, based on the One Book, One Community model, will bring reading as a collaborative activity to high school students, as well as introduce them to a fresh voice in young adult literature.

Also on Friday, October 12, Brande will visit Dover Area High School for programming with drama and language arts students.

On Saturday, October 13, Brande will do a talk and signing at the Borders store on Whiteford Road in York, Pa at nooon, and then will be headlining at the York County Library System Teen Read Week Kickoff event at 5:00 pm at the Guthrie Memorial Library - Hanovers Public Library in Hanover, PA.

So what are you planning?

If you would like to share what your library has planned please send an email to jberns89@gmail.com with TRW in the subject line.  Include in the email a short description of your events, and make sure to let me know if you do not want me to mention your name or what library you work for.  As always, feel free to post information about your events in the comments as well.

Last year we posted a series about Teen Read Week.  The point of the series was for you, the readers, to share both with us and with each other what your plans were for TRW.  This was a good opportunity for all of us to share our excitement with each other, all while creating a resource for librarians who might be having trouble coming up with plans of their own.  Seeing as how everyone enjoyed sharing last year, I thought we could do it again this year for the TRW theme of LOL @ your library, which takes place October 14-20.

So, I will get us started by sharing what my library will be doing for TRW.  After that I am relying on you guys to tell me what you’re doing.  Email me at jberns89@gmail.com with a paragraph or two about what you are doing (programs, school visits, contests, etc…) and include TRW in the subject line.  I will try and post a few ideas every couple of days as I get them.  If you want me to post your email or other info about you so people can contact you with questions about the programs let me know.  I will try to post a first name and library for each person if it is given to me, unless you ask me not to.

We have a few things planed for TRW this year at my library, the first being a school visit.  I will be going into our local high school with one other staff member to book talk a bunch of books and plug a few of our programs.  Last year we talked to most of the freshman class as they cycled through the English classroom and while I am not exactly sure what the school has planned for us this year I suspect it will be something similar. 

While we are book talking in the schools we will be handing out a coupon, which students can bring in to our library in order to receive a free book, while supplies last.  This treat is provided for us thanks to our friends of the library group who are going to buy us 50 or 60 paperback books.  I have picked out 6 or 7 titles and these will be both the books we book talk and the books we give away.

Finally we will be hosting a comedy program called Laugh Out Loud.  We have a professional comedian, Dwayne L. Gill, who will be coming in to give a stand up comedy workshop to our teens.  I will, of course, be trying to drum up as large of an audience for this event as I can while I am at the school.

So, that is what my library has planned, what about yours? Email me at jberns89@gmail.com with a short description of your plans and don’t forget to include TRW in the subject line.  Feel free to mention your plans in the comments as well, or better yet, once your event has happened use the comments to tell us about how it went.

I finally finished my masters last December.  Although my husband and I aren’t entirely ready to uproot our family, I have tentatively been looking for jobs and my mind has been very focused on what my future in the LIS profession will hold.  Generally speaking, I only have a little bit of experience with teen services, mainly just the odd program here and there.  I do blog about teen services on occasion but most of that is gleaned from things I read.  I often wonder, even if I do know how to talk the talk, can I really walk the walk?  When actually faced with my first day as a teen librarian, will I even know where to begin?  I have a pretty good feeling that I’m not alone in this, that there are plenty of other new librarians coming into the profession wanting to be the best teen librarians they can but feeling a little overwhelmed and bewildered by the continuous flow of ideas being presented to them. So, here’s the scenario.  You’ve just landed your first job as a teen librarian.  Where do you start?   What’s the first step? 

The following is a draft of some of my own ideas.  I have yet to cross this threshold so it will obviously be a rather incomplete list.  What I’m really hoping for is that this post will help generate a dialogue with readers and other fellow teen librarians who have already been through this.  Together, hopefully we can help ease some of those first week jitters for us newbies out there.


1) Evaluate the services already in place

I figure the most logical first step would be to get to know your new library.  What services/programs are already in place?  Are there outreach services, school visits throughout the year?  Study the collection. Note any gaps that may need to be filled.  Is there a collection development policy or statement for your area?  Ask for the past years monthly reports, circulation stats, attendance stats for past programs.  What about regular library goers?  Do a lot of teens come into the library after school?  Have there ever been any behavior issues in the past, if so, how were they dealt with?  What about organizations in your community, are there any that your library has collaborated with before?  If so, collect and store their contact information in case an opportunity arises for collaboration in the future. 

2) Make yourself known to your demographic

In addition to introducing yourself to teens who come into the library, make your presence known to teens who aren’t regular library goers.  Begin with an online presence.  If your library doesn’t have one already, start a teen blog (see Josh’s post on Creating a YA blog for some guidance).  Make sure all your contact information is available on the blog, including a picture of yourself so teens know who to look for when they do come into the library.   I would also sign-up for Meebo and imbed a widget on the blog.  I wouldn’t worry about starting a MySpace or other social network profile right away.  A blog and Meebo are a good start to connecting with teens online.  Find out how they respond to that first.  Then create some snazzy brochures for your teen department that include the blog address and perhaps pictures of your teen area in the library.  Take the brochures with you when you go for school visits or just drop them off at various locations in the community frequented by teens. 

3) Start slow when it comes to programs

I’ve always had a hard time slowing down my brain when it comes to programming.  I hear about so many great ideas nowadays, it’s really hard not to just want to try them all.  But you’ll likely overwhelm not just your staff but also your teens if you try to plan for too much in the beginning.  Stick to the tried and true stuff.   Obviously, budget is going to be an issue here so check into that, maybe start with something cheap and easy first so you can reserve your money for bigger events once you’ve been on the job for awhile.  I think an online gaming event would be a safe bet to start with.  It doesn’t require much more than space and internet accessible computers, perhaps some pizza and pop for refreshment.  Runescape has always been a popular online game with teens but there are plenty of others out there for them to try (Gaia and Naruto Arena have become really popular with the teens at our library).  Then try a second event that’s completely different, like a Fashion show or Pizza tasting contest.  This way you’ll get a diverse sample of teens that you can size up and get to know.  Provide suggestion boxes at each event and maybe a sign-up sheet to see if anyone is interested in starting a TAB.

4) Organize your professional tools

I know they’re expensive but I do think it’s important to have subscriptions to some of the essential publications like YALS and VOYA (in many cases employers will pay for them).  If you can’t afford the subscriptions then remember to bookmark their websites and check them often for new links, resources and articles of note.  Keeping up with blogs is also important but…yikes…that deserves a whole post of its own.  There are a lot of good ones out there and it’s hard to keep up with them all.  I try to keep my list pretty condensed.  In addition to the Alt Teen Services blog, I also read Ypulse, Pop Goes the Library, the YALSA blog  (they even have a catagory especially for new librarians). 

5)  Contribute to the profession

I think anyone would agree that it’s important to wait until you’ve found some sort of sense of balance between work and home before piling on any additional responsibilities beyond your initial job requirements.  But after things have slowed down a bit and you begin feeling a little more comfortable in your position, it may be a good idea to look into contributing to your profession in some way.  There are a number of different ways to do this.  First, figure out how much time you are willing to commit.  ALA and YALSA have all sorts of committees and task forces you can join.  However, if that seems a little daunting then you may want to start with something a little smaller, perhaps on the state level (check your state library website for opportunities).  Or even something more local like a seat on the literacy council in your community.  If you like to write and do research about librarianship then start a blog of your own.  Don’t have time for your own blog? Then join a collaborative blog or do something that requires even more of an irregular committment like contributing to the TeenLib wiki.  Despite how small scale they are, these experiences have the potential of helping you on and off the job.

6) Advocating for teens

One of the most important aspects of being teen librarian is advocating for teens and their right to access information.  This is also probably one of the most difficult aspects about being a teen librarian.  Stay on top of intellectual freedom issues by being proactive.  Know your library’s policies and the steps taken when a request for reconsideration occurs.  Most important, know your support base (who to call if you need help) before an issue comes up in your library or community, as opposed to just reacting to it when it does.  Look beyond your own institution.  How can you as a teen librarian help fight censorship in your community?  Anticipating these situations before they happen will help you deal with them better when they occur.  In addition, make sure your teens are aware of their rights.  Post links to the blog or print out information for them to look at while they’re hanging around in the library.  Build a display around the theme of censorship.  One of the best times to do this would be during Banned Books Week  but you can also do it during the month of a Banned authors birthday. 

7)  It’s not always golden

Working with teens is a tremendous challenge but that is also what makes it so rewarding.  I hate to say it but there will likely be a number of disheartening experiences that you will go through…a program will completely flop, teens will look at you like your from Mars, a parent may get angry at you for suggesting that their child read a Gossip Girls novel…in the midst of all this you will likely make all kinds of mistakes and blunders, all of which you will learn from if you allow yourself to.  The important thing is to never loose your enthusiasm for what you do and never ever stop trying

Books for the Beast

Books for the Beast is a conference at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore on Saturday, October 27. While I look forward to attending, I am disappointed by the required reading. The literature is intended to be the best that YA can offer, but most of the books are terrible or mediocre. I know there are lots of great new young adult books (Twisted, Un Lun Dun, Alabama Moon, Strays, Beige, and An Abundance of Catherines are just a few that I’ve recently read and can remember.) Why haven’t these been chosen? Why are we saddled with garbage like Say it Ain’t So, What Happened to Cass McBride, Jason and Kyra, and Sleeping Freshmen Don’t Lie? Does anyone know how the literature is selected? I suspect it is related to the holdings at the hosting library. It is sad that as young adult literature is receiving positive attention for its relevance and literary merit—comix in particular— a significant conference seems to select such insignificant and poorly constructed novels.

Each participant reads from two of the genres (ten books). The genres include Science Fiction/Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Multicultural, Non-Fiction, Real Life, and Suspense/Horror. My chosen genres are Multicultural and Real Life and I have read a few other choices as well. I have read fourteen of the thirty books and found only a few worthy of positive notice. Cecil Castellucci’s Boy Proof, Sharon Flake’s Who Am I Without Him: Short Stories about Girls and the Boys in Their Lives, Siena Cherson Siegel’s graphic memoir To Dance, and of course Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese are complex, eclectic, and arresting works that transcend demographic marketing.

One of the interesting aspects of the conference is that teens are invited to attend for free and share their perspectives and perceptions on this body of literature written for them. Although YA novels have a clear intended audience, the opinions of young readers tend to be overlooked and discounted in favor of expert judgment. I am looking forward to a small shake-up in the hierarchy.

The conference runs from 9:00-4:00 at the Roland Park Country School, 5204 Roland Avenue, Baltimore, 21210. Speakers include author Gail Giles and Mark Siegel, graphic novel artist and editor. For more information, email beast@prattlibrary.org, call 410-396-5356, or visit the Enoch Pratt Free Library’s webpage

Recently my library system decided to start a YA blog.  Previously we did not have much of an online presence for our teens and this will hopefully mark a change in the right direction.   We have it ready, but we will not be officially launching it until the end of the summer.  I wanted to share some of our goals and thoughts behind the blog so they might aide other librarians, but also so those of you who already have one can advise us on what will and won’t work.  So let the comments fly.

            In regards to content, we decided we wanted to model it after a blog called The Atrium.  The Atrium is the blog for the Grand Rapids Public Library system and it is one of my favorite library blogs.  The thing we liked about The Atrium was that the bloggers discuss more than just books and events.  They talk about anything on their minds, from the weather, to knitting, and everything in between.   Then they find a way to tie it to the library.  I have seen a lot of teen blogs that talk about programs and or books, but not too many that go beyond those topics.  We wanted something a little more versatile so we could talk about the things that really interest our teens.  We plan to write about anything and everything, from sports, to music, movies, or books.  Basically anything that interests us and would interest our teens.

            This then presented a small problem.  How do we make this blog applicable to the library if we are not necessarily talking about library events or items?  Well we have two answers to that.  The first is that almost every topic we could write about can be tied to the library.  If we write about the latest movie in the theatres, we can link to our catalog showing some movies we carry with those actors.  We could write about playing fantasy baseball and give a plug for a new sports book, or mention an upcoming program with a local athlete.  Secondly we decided that every other blog entry should directly tie to a library item or event.  This should not be hard, because, as mentioned above, almost anything can be tied to our collection or programs. It does, however, provide a reason for us to stay on task and it also helps us defend the blog if our board or administration is skeptical about its purpose.

            So, we have our content ideas ready, what about commenting?  We were unsure what, if any, rules we wanted to have for commenting.  After consulting the 12 laws every blogger should know found on the Aviva Directory and reading the comment guidelines on a variety of other blogs, we came up with the following guidelines, which will appear on the comment form.

• Please use appropriate language.
• For your safety, comments containing or requesting personal information, including phone numbers, will be deleted.
• Feel free to speak your mind, but please be respectful to others; offensive and inappropriate comments will be deleted.
• Comments are moderated; CADL is not responsible for the content of posted comments.
• CADL reserves the right to delete comments at any time for any reason; comments not directly related to the discussion will be deleted.

Most of these guidelines are probably not necessary but we wanted to make sure that we had the right to moderate the comments if a need were to arise.  They basically just give us the right to not post a comment, or to delete a comment, and they explain why we might do that.

            That is where we are right now.  The blog is ready to launch and we are simply waiting on a name.  We have decided that a fun way to launch the blog would be to have a contest, in conjunction with our summer reading program, to name it.  For the next month or so our teens will hopefully be emailing us possible names.  The winner will receive a gift card for a book store, in addition to having the name selected for the blog.

            Hopefully these ideas help any other folks out there starting a blog.  I would love to hear from those of you who have been running a teen blog for a while now.  What has worked for you and what hasn’t?  What do you write about?  Do you moderate comments at all?  And of course how have you attracted your teens to it?

This past week, I joined the ranks of teen librarians attending the American Library Association annual conference in Washington, DC. The majority of the conference was spent networking, participating in meetings, and attending programs such as the To I-Pods and Beyond Presentation and Video Games as a Service: Hosting Tournaments @ Your Library.

One of the empowering aspects of the Washington DC trip was the tour of Capitol Hill that I worked into my schedule before the flight home. There I began reflecting on freedom and democracy while absorbing the sight of the Lincoln and World War II memorial. My thoughts drifted to all the soldiers that have died to secure the safety, culture, and democracy of the United States. You could say these people died for our freedom and I think the best way to repay them is to get involved with making the world a better place. I like to imagine that the soldiers would be proud to know that some of us are not taking our freedom for granted and are instead actively contributing to the progress of society.

By working with teens, I think this activism translates into several things. It’s about empowering teens and providing them with programs that support their developmental needs. It’s about being a friend when a teen needs someone to talk to. And sometimes this means being the only person in your library that is a teen advocate.

Activism is also about contributing ideas to national organizations like YALSA, so that it is relevant to all types of teen librarians. One of my colleagues complained to me that YALSA isn’t relevant to them and lacks the types of resource they want. So I encouraged this friend to take action by joining YALSA and attempting to start something new or at least get involved on some level to make a difference.

But even so, we still need outlets that aren’t tied to national organizations, where we can discuss teen library services without fear of a public relations stigma or having to express our ideas within Robert’s Rule of orders. Online communities such as the listservs and blogs can in many ways provide this type of grassroots forum. I hope that in some ways Alt. Teen Services can also be that type of resource.

A couple of months ago I mentioned the group Knitta in the post “Knitta pleasa for a causa” as a resource for inspiring teens. When I presented Knitta and other established Outreach groups to my teen knitters, I had not anticipated the ambition and readiness that would ignite them towards starting their own awareness-raising effort.

Perk up an ear
and listen here!
For this is our story,
in all it’s radiant glory!

THE BIRTH OF CREATIVE ACTIVISTS: Our teen library knitting group, the Purlers, began about 2 years ago amidst the craze of associating knitting with cool. Purlers attracted dedicated teens whom are now 16-18 yrs old and have been party to:

• throwing their knits down in frustrated torment
• jubilant outbursts upon the discovery that they’ve been purling without realizing
• twisting an item on a circular needle and despairingly surrendering to the act of frogging (frogging = to completely unravel your knitting)
• knitting a strip that stretched the length of the meeting room, approx. 50 ft.
• meeting Debbie Stoller during her 2005 Stitch ‘n Bitch tour

During our first years, Purlers meetings were delightful and energetic. But as teens became more expierenced in the craft, they comparatively became more restless. If Purlers were to survive, it was understood that the hobby alone wouldn’t continue as the group’s sole muse. Trails Teen knitters needed agendas, goals to cross off, and a purpose to knit other than pleasure; they craved empowerment. Twas the fall of ‘06 when I shared Knitta to the Purlers. Knitta’s theme of warming the city with knitted art appealed to Trails Teens and pumped their enthusiasm to “vandalize” our KC community using a similar idea. During this new venture, I realized Trails Teens would no longer be grouped with humble beginning knitters; I was now mentoring creative activists.

DANIELLE’S POLYCHROMATIC PURLERS: One teen in particular, a senior who started as a teen volunteer and became a library aide, took the leadership role in organizing and directing the actions of our Purlers knitting group. Danielle combined outreach knitting with tagging to create the Polychromatic Purlers. To garner support and spread the word to the knitting community, Danielle made flyers and arranged with local knit shops to distribute advertisements to their customers. She also created and currently maintains (with the help of other PolyPur members) online accounts on Blogger PolyPur and MySpace PolyPur.

To participate in planning for PolyPur’s annual event, members meet monthly to knit items that may benefit a child (ages birth thru 17). On Jan 2, knitters throughout the KC metro area will take their items and hang them throughout the city. Attached to every knitted garment is a tag listing information on statistics and websites pertaining to child abuse. For more information please visit the Blogger and MySpace accounts or contact us directly at polychromatic_purlers@yahoo.com (underscore between polychromatic and purlers).

JANUARY 2, 2007 and BEYOND: Teens from the Polychromatic Purlers met early afternoon 1-2-07 to “vandalize” the Plaza area with their knitted garments and informative tags. Two and a half months of planning yeilded approx. 14 knits from various knitters. Items were placed upon the city’s abundant statues, elegantly showcasing their hard work. Later that afternoon, teens observed a homeless man benefit from their giving spirit. A slideshow of the teen’s 01-02-07 event is available to view on the MySpace account.

There are still kinks to work out, nation-wide knitting groups to enlist, and other projects to develop. The group is currently scheduling knitting classes with local libraries and charging a small fee. Monies will purchase supplies for the PolyPur knitting group. A summer Knitting Olympics idea for the KC-Metro area is also in the works. I don’t think it necessary to delve into the postive characteristics resulting from this experience, frankly I think it’s all too apparent. But for the longevity of the PolyPur program, I’m reduntantly expressing a request for support. Please add the teens as a MySpace Friend to your library accounts, share this idea with your teens, and email us if you or your teens are interested in participating. Finally, any feedback and support is greatly appreciated.

A fellow kickbutt Teen Associate,
bloodymandy

Our community (Prospect to Clever) needs music. And we need somewhere to express ourselves among other teens and staff.– local library teen

During Teen Read Week, I administered a survey to find out the interests and needs of library youth. I was not surprised by the large request for programming and materials based on film, music, and creative expression. Teens not only want the latest music releases, but they want to make music themselves and to attend teen programs where they can share their talent with one another. One teen wrote, “I need a music studio,” when asked what the library should offer. Another teen wrote, “Youth Talent Shows”, as a possible library event.

Next week, I meet with many of these teens to share the survey results, and discuss the types of programs we can offer them. This conversation will take place in our first Teen Advisory Board meeting, in which I hope to recruit some core teens to help me prepare for my children’s programs, and to work on teen projects.

Next week, KCPL associates are meeting with Jeremy of the local Hip Hop Academy, and I think we’ll put some plans into place that will give the teens from clever to prospect, a forum of music expression. Here’s to hoping this all works out! (raises her Apple cider mug). I’ll send little updates of teen librarian madness, every now and then.

I just wanted to take a few minutes to mention that I absolutely love being a young adult librarian. Today I spent much of my day helping demonstrate how to play videogames to many of the library heads, and upper level administration in my library system.

As I mentioned the other day we are hosting a Dance Dance Revolution tournament for Teen Read Week. Part of convincing the system to host the tournaments involved convincing them to buy the Nintendo’s, games, and some other equipment. Now, mind you, thanks to our very awesome youth services coordinator and also great IT director this convincing did not take too much, but still, there were some issues to work through. One such issue involved both my coworker and I agreeing to write up directions for the equipment and games as well as offering to train everyone on them.

That brings me to today. I spent the better half of my day at our main branch talking about video games and teaching people how to use them. I have now been referred to as a “specialist” because of my knowledge of Nintendo. This is why I currently feel like shouting out to the rooftops that I love being a young adult librarian. I am now being singled out and respected because I know about and am somewhat good at video games. How great is that?

This is not to say that there isn’t a whole lot more that goes into being a young adult librarian, or even into planning and hosting gaming events, but it is a part of it. Other great parts involve keeping up with pop culture by listening to music, watching popular shows and movies, and reading YA books and comic books. Not to mention talking to and getting to know young adults. These are all things I would and do, do for free in my spare time but I get paid to do it for work. Anyway, I have no real knowledge or ideas to impart at the moment, but I just wanted to remind you all how much fun our job can be.

Previously, our library branch sounded like a noisy cafeteria. Among other issues, our equipment was often vandalized and fights broke out between patrons. Local educators were hesitant to schedule a field trip to library, for fear of exposing their students to dangerous environment. But with the arrival of new security staff, the safety level improved dramatically.

“I’ve never seen this place so quiet before. It actually looks like a library, and I can get some work done”, an elderly patron remarked.

“Wow, everyone in here is either on the computer or doing homework. This is amazing.” added one of our parents as teacher’s representatives.

How did this complete turn-around come about? It wasn’t easy, but the newly hired security worked with the branch manager to enforce rules that made the library a safe place. The rules were cut-and-dry and no exceptions were allowed.

But once our big safety issues were resolved, our non-problematic patrons started getting targeted over minor issues. Teens and youth who weren’t problematic started getting kicked out for violating minor issues. Sometimes these violations were in the eye of the beholder, or security enforcement. It was as if the “problem” teens has ruined it for the rest of the group. Yesterday, the final straw was drawn when three teens involved with the advisory board were asked to leave the library for the day.

As the children’s librarian, it is my job to advocate for the teens in my community, and I’ve been brainstorming some ways to create a security balance so that teens are not targeted as a problem group. How do I go about striking a balance that respects the safe place that security has established, but also protects teens that are not here to make trouble?

My plan is to work with both security and teens to accomplish this balance. I will have conversations with security about establishing constructive relationships with teens. In return, I plan to explain to teens the importance of our rules and maintaining a safe library environment. This is not a one-time conversation, but an ongoing discussion and process.

My question for you is this: If you have ever had to deal with such as situation, how did you go about working with security and staff so that teens were not kicked out for minor issues? What can we do as teen advocates to ensure our teens are not wrongly targeted as problem patrons? Any tips or stories would be greatly appreciated!