LibraryTrax

I just caught up with my mail, including four issues of YALSA’s “Young Adult Library Services.”  This magazine fairly quivers with news about exciting teen services each month.  We’re quivering too as we look ahead to October’s Teen Institute.   Here’s some food for thought if you are reviewing and planning for your library’s teen services. Millenials approach the library with expectations that may conflict with existing library services, according to research conducted at the Florida State University Libraries by Chuck Thomas and Robert H. McDonald in 2005.  What are these expectations?  Teens believe:

• You can’t assume that anything you find online is true
• The trial-and-error approach a la gaming is a viable model for learning
• Multi-tasking is a way of life
• Typing is better than writing
• Staying connected is essential
• There is zero tolerance for delay

Contrast those beliefs with older library customers’:

• What the librarian (the expert) tells you is true
• Learning is serious business, games are frivolous
• Concentrate on and master one thing at a time
• Note-taking is essential (this may be your one chance to capture the information)
• Waiting for answers to be provided and materials delivered, is standard procedure

Here’s a reminder that the Libri Foundation donates new, quality, hardcover children’s books to small, rural public libraries through a recurring grant process.  Several libraries in South Carolina have won these grants. The Libri Foundation will match any amount of money raised by your local  sponsors from $50 to $350 on a 2-to-1 ratio.  Thus, a library can receive up to $1,050 worth of new children’s books.  After a library receives a grant, local sponsors contribute the matching funds.   Each participating library selects  books for children age 12 and under from a booklist provided by the Foundation.   County libraries should serve a population under 16,000, should be in a rural area, have a limited operating budget, and an active children’s department.  “Rural” is usually considered to be at least 30 miles from a city with a population over 40,000.   A branch library may apply if the community it is in meets the definition of rural.    

Remaining deadlines to apply for funds in 2007 are:  (postmarked by) April 15th and August 15th.   Find application guidelines and forms on the Foundation’s website:  http://librifoundation.org/

That’s the way the creators of  “BookCrossing”  describe the phenomenon that they hope will “make the whole world a library.”    BookCrossing is a social software application that encourages reading, sharing books, and commenting on them.  Members “release” a favorite, loved book by leaving it in a public place.  The book is marked and labeled with instructions.  The finder of the book will, it is hoped, log in to bookcrossing.com and journal about where and when he or she found the book.  The finder will then re-release the book for others to find.   

The idea is to share the good karma of good books, passing along the pleasure of reading.  The web site contains chat and email features where members can meet and discuss the books they love. Over half a million people are members of BookCrossing. Operating since 2001, the service now signs up about 300 new members every day. More than 3,750,000 books are currently roaming out “in the wild.”  If you find one here in South Carolina, let us know!

Kathy Sheppard and I were talking about social networks and how they are being used in todays world. She commented that her Dad was into amateur radio, a social network from the 20th century. Amateur radio was a wonderful way to meet people from all over the world and it has been around for about 75 years. In order to get “online” individuals would have to pass certain tests by the FCC, but once the tests were completed and the equipment was purchased, thousands of people spent all of their free time talking to people all over the world. Friends that you would never meet in person were in contact via amateur radio on a daily basis. Amateur radio and real time IM are very similar — so I guess social networking is not as new as we thought!

I’ve posted updated PowerPoint slides from the podcasting/vodcasting classes. These slides now include many screenshots from Libsyn and Feedburner. We had some technical difficulties at one site and were not able to get to all of the sites so I wanted to make sure you had a nice overview of what these sites can do for you. I have also posted FAQs from the classes and a few recent articles that relate. If you have further questions, please contact me at stetterton@statelibrary.sc.gov. I’d be happy to help. Have a great afternoon!