Beyond Gaming Tournaments June 29, 2008, 8am - 9:30am. Elizabeth Saxton, Cleveland Public Library, Craig Davis, Youth Digital Arts Cyber School, Amy McNally, Ridgedale Library with teens Karina Grimaldi and Brigit Boler.
The WORST presenter at the conference goes to Craig Davis. Craig Davis sounds like an interesting guy. He heads up the Youth and Digital Arts Cyber School. Students create artwork, using electronic media and sell it. I don’t know what he was thinking, but it was apparent that he did not test out his demonstrations before the presentation. He didn’t know how to conduct the audio so a music demo he was showing didn’t work. His next example of a video game his student created proved even worse. “I haven’t learned how to move around though so I can’t show you how to enter the building” What? You’re showing us something you haven’t used? A video game which a 13yr old student created of using the Durham Library was really cool. The character marched up stairs, could jump into books, collect Dewey coins. I could imagine kids enjoying the video game format to learn about library services - very clever and fun. But Craig kept saying “oh I can’t show you that - takes up too much time” Groans from the audience could be heard so he grudgingly moved the character into a book to stop us from leaving the auditorium. Needless to say, he did not get any applause after his presentation.
Elixabeth Saxton’s presentation was much more organized. Popular programs at her library included a gaming club where members would organize gaming events, write about gaming topics using blogs, wikis, newletters, and zines, and promote gaming events to other teens. Another interesting program was World Building. Teens literally create imaginary worlds. She suggested using the Science Fiction Writers Association guidelines www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding1.htm They would meet to create maps, back story for characters, intricate details about daily life and activities, commerce, art, food, etc.
The most interesting part of the workshop was the Cosplay discussion with teens, Karina Grimaldi and Brigit Boler. Cosplay is a combo of costume and roleplaying, usually involving manga, anime, tv characters. Teens create costumes based on characters and take on their identities. Popular cosplay series are Death Note, Fruits Basket, Bleach, Tsubasa, Zelda, Final Fantasy. They have programs such as a Cosplay sewing clubs and dances and random battles. I learned with random battles there is “no god-modding”, translation, you can’t have infinite powers
"Reference Service to Teens" on Monday at 8 a.m. featured Sarah Flowers and a panel of 3 teenagers. Flowers gave out copies of the new ALA "Guidelines for Library Service to Teens, Ages 12-18", which will soon be posted on the ALA Website. The most interesting part was hearing the teens speak about the kind of reference service they find helpful: library staff who are open-minded, friendly, accepting, non-judgmental, willing to help, not condescending, not appearing "scared" of that particular age group, listening to their requests, and making a genuine effort to help them. Flowers suggested building relationships with teens and creating Pathfinders or other guidelines to help all staff serve teens well. The teens felt that people in their age group did enjoy hanging out at the library. When asked what things in the library they found appealing, they mentioned teen events and ample library seating.
In the question and answer time I asked the teens what things they found appealing in a library Website, blog or My Space pages. They liked the convenience of being able to put books on hold online and appreciated a Website that was good looking, professional, and easy to access and navigate. One of the teen panelists mentioned friends that had come to library events because of the library's My Space site.
Suggestions for things we could add to the Website: links to top books and movies of interest to teens (something we could ask in person or in an online survey), or links to help with school assignments, such as the ones that recur year to year. One student mentioned that library databases were publicized in a PowerPoint presentation done in local schools, so perhaps this is something we could consider.
When I found the workshop on "Valuing Staff" filled to overflowing I butted my way in the room enough to make sure Michelle had made it in then chose "Between Home and School: The Third Teen Space".
The term "third place" was coined in 1990 by Ray Oldenburg to describe social surroundings separate from work and home (for teens substitute school and home).
First up was Kimberly Bolan, a consultant and author on teen spaces for libraries. She showed lots of examples of library spaces designed for teens and encouraged involvement of "regulars" in creating policies for teen service and spaces. Be ready for food, drink and vending machines as well as lots of teens in the library. The encouraging part was seeing what some libraries have done with very little money.
Dr. Anthony Berrier spoke next. He is associated with LAPL and San Jose State's SLIS. More photos of teen spaces with a focus on furnishings. He advocated "spacial equity" for teens. Libraries should devote space to teens commensurate with their numbers in the population.
Finally Angela Sigg, web developer for Denver PL spoce on the virtual 3rd space. Statistically she said 93% of teens use the Internet. Frankly I'm surprised that figure isn't higher. She talked about teens as digital natives since they have known of and been on the web their entire lives.
What I took away from this was the possibility of creating a space for teens even though space, staff and resources maybe in short supply. Involving teens is a great idea to tap into their energy and creativity.
After the Teen Reference program Monday morning, I walked through the Teen Technology poster session. There were close to a dozen displays featuring various technology-related exhibits, each with one or two teens or library staff who work with teens. The one most applicable to us was from the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (North Carolina), which has done teen tech weeks featuring tech classes, game nights and other programs. I grabbed a couple of their brochures. I was also interested in www.flamingnet.com, a site featuring young adult book reviews.
YA Literature, Graphic Novels, and Books on Popular Culture: How do they attract Reluctant Readers? GN author Kazu Kibuishi and YA fiction authors Barry Lyga and Holly Black (Tithe and Spiderwick Chronicles).
This was my first program of the Conference and a good one to warm up with. I spent a lot of the time thinking how *young* these presenters were and feeling old, but was also impressed with their enthusiasm and love of teen literature. Basically, they’ll admit, they’re all teens in adult bodies.
Of course pop culture hugely influences all teens and as authors the trick is to include enough pop culture to engage teen readers, but not too much or too specific that books get dated, which turns teen off quickly. The presenters also stated the importance of digitally reaching teens, whether it’s the graphic novelist who creates webcomics, or just a good author website and responding to teens who contact them through their websites or live chats.
Holly Black was a really good presenter and it was interesting to see someone in person who has rapidly achieved pretty decent fame through her Spiderwick books and movie. She was about 30, very down to earth, funny, and still very much an author with a concern for reaching teens. She talked about how much fantasy influenced her as a teen. I recognize what she said in many of the teens who come looking for fantasy (or any books) in the Teen Scene.
This was an inspiring, fun program that showed teens and teen authors in a very positive light!
The Youth Advocacy program was interesting, if not informative. The teens from the Oakland PL TAG talked about what they do as a model for other libraries. They send their teens to Legi Day in Sacramento, they send a teen representative to their city council, they put on programs for teens at the library, etc. Sound familiar? At least we know that we are on the right page with our teen programs!
I attended the Schools and Libraries program with my TAG group in mind. The presenters discussed how they set up connections between the Washington State Library and local schools. The most important piece of information that I got from this program was the importance of making and keeping connections with school libraries as a feeding ground for my TAG group.
7 comments:
Beyond Gaming Tournaments June 29, 2008, 8am - 9:30am. Elizabeth Saxton, Cleveland Public Library, Craig Davis, Youth Digital Arts Cyber School, Amy McNally, Ridgedale Library with teens Karina Grimaldi and Brigit Boler.
The WORST presenter at the conference goes to Craig Davis. Craig Davis sounds like an interesting guy. He heads up the Youth and Digital Arts Cyber School. Students create artwork, using electronic media and sell it. I don’t know what he was thinking, but it was apparent that he did not test out his demonstrations before the presentation. He didn’t know how to conduct the audio so a music demo he was showing didn’t work. His next example of a video game his student created proved even worse. “I haven’t learned how to move around though so I can’t show you how to enter the building” What? You’re showing us something you haven’t used? A video game which a 13yr old student created of using the Durham Library was really cool. The character marched up stairs, could jump into books, collect Dewey coins. I could imagine kids enjoying the video game format to learn about library services - very clever and fun. But Craig kept saying “oh I can’t show you that - takes up too much time” Groans from the audience could be heard so he grudgingly moved the character into a book to stop us from leaving the auditorium. Needless to say, he did not get any applause after his presentation.
Elixabeth Saxton’s presentation was much more organized. Popular programs at her library included a gaming club where members would organize gaming events, write about gaming topics using blogs, wikis, newletters, and zines, and promote gaming events to other teens. Another interesting program was World Building. Teens literally create imaginary worlds. She suggested using the Science Fiction Writers Association guidelines www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding1.htm They would meet to create maps, back story for characters, intricate details about daily life and activities, commerce, art, food, etc.
The most interesting part of the workshop was the Cosplay discussion with teens, Karina Grimaldi and Brigit Boler. Cosplay is a combo of costume and roleplaying, usually involving manga, anime, tv characters. Teens create costumes based on characters and take on their identities. Popular cosplay series are Death Note, Fruits Basket, Bleach, Tsubasa, Zelda, Final Fantasy. They have programs such as a Cosplay sewing clubs and dances and random battles. I learned with random battles there is “no god-modding”, translation, you can’t have infinite powers
"Reference Service to Teens" on Monday at 8 a.m. featured Sarah Flowers and a panel of 3 teenagers. Flowers gave out copies of the new ALA "Guidelines for Library Service to Teens, Ages 12-18", which will soon be posted on the ALA Website. The most interesting part was hearing the teens speak about the kind of reference service they find helpful: library staff who are open-minded, friendly, accepting, non-judgmental, willing to help, not condescending, not appearing "scared" of that particular age group, listening to their requests, and making a genuine effort to help them. Flowers suggested building relationships with teens and creating Pathfinders or other guidelines to help all staff serve teens well. The teens felt that people in their age group did enjoy hanging out at the library. When asked what things in the library they found appealing, they mentioned teen events and ample library seating.
In the question and answer time I asked the teens what things they found appealing in a library Website, blog or My Space pages. They liked the convenience of being able to put books on hold online and appreciated a Website that was good looking, professional, and easy to access and navigate. One of the teen panelists mentioned friends that had come to library events because of the library's My Space site.
Suggestions for things we could add to the Website: links to top books and movies of interest to teens (something we could ask in person or in an online survey), or links to help with school assignments, such as the ones that recur year to year. One student mentioned that library databases were publicized in a PowerPoint presentation done in local schools, so perhaps this is something we could consider.
When I found the workshop on "Valuing Staff" filled to overflowing I butted my way in the room enough to make sure Michelle had made it in then chose "Between Home and School: The Third Teen Space".
The term "third place" was coined in 1990 by Ray Oldenburg to describe social surroundings separate from work and home (for teens substitute school and home).
First up was Kimberly Bolan, a consultant and author on teen spaces for libraries. She showed lots of examples of library spaces designed for teens and encouraged involvement of "regulars" in creating policies for teen service and spaces. Be ready for food, drink and vending machines as well as lots of teens in the library. The encouraging part was seeing what some libraries have done with very little money.
Dr. Anthony Berrier spoke next. He is associated with LAPL and San Jose State's SLIS. More photos of teen spaces with a focus on furnishings. He advocated "spacial equity" for teens. Libraries should devote space to teens commensurate with their numbers in the population.
Finally Angela Sigg, web developer for Denver PL spoce on the virtual 3rd space. Statistically she said 93% of teens use the Internet. Frankly I'm surprised that figure isn't higher. She talked about teens as digital natives since they have known of and been on the web their entire lives.
What I took away from this was the possibility of creating a space for teens even though space, staff and resources maybe in short supply. Involving teens is a great idea to tap into their energy and creativity.
After the Teen Reference program Monday morning, I walked through the Teen Technology poster session. There were close to a dozen displays featuring various technology-related exhibits, each with one or two teens or library staff who work with teens. The one most applicable to us was from the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (North Carolina), which has done teen tech weeks featuring tech classes, game nights and other programs. I grabbed a couple of their brochures. I was also interested in www.flamingnet.com, a site featuring young adult book reviews.
YA Literature, Graphic Novels, and Books on Popular Culture: How do they attract Reluctant Readers? GN author Kazu Kibuishi and YA fiction authors Barry Lyga and Holly Black (Tithe and Spiderwick Chronicles).
This was my first program of the Conference and a good one to warm up with. I spent a lot of the time thinking how *young* these presenters were and feeling old, but was also impressed with their enthusiasm and love of teen literature. Basically, they’ll admit, they’re all teens in adult bodies.
Of course pop culture hugely influences all teens and as authors the trick is to include enough pop culture to engage teen readers, but not too much or too specific that books get dated, which turns teen off quickly. The presenters also stated the importance of digitally reaching teens, whether it’s the graphic novelist who creates webcomics, or just a good author website and responding to teens who contact them through their websites or live chats.
Holly Black was a really good presenter and it was interesting to see someone in person who has rapidly achieved pretty decent fame through her Spiderwick books and movie. She was about 30, very down to earth, funny, and still very much an author with a concern for reaching teens. She talked about how much fantasy influenced her as a teen. I recognize what she said in many of the teens who come looking for fantasy (or any books) in the Teen Scene.
This was an inspiring, fun program that showed teens and teen authors in a very positive light!
The Youth Advocacy program was interesting, if not informative. The teens from the Oakland PL TAG talked about what they do as a model for other libraries. They send their teens to Legi Day in Sacramento, they send a teen representative to their city council, they put on programs for teens at the library, etc. Sound familiar? At least we know that we are on the right page with our teen programs!
I attended the Schools and Libraries program with my TAG group in mind. The presenters discussed how they set up connections between the Washington State Library and local schools. The most important piece of information that I got from this program was the importance of making and keeping connections with school libraries as a feeding ground for my TAG group.
Post a Comment