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