Running Head: DRAWING TEENS INTO THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Drawing Teens into the Public Library

Best Practices and Case Study

Amanda C. Bernard

Completed as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Master of Library and Information Science Capstone

Valdosta State University

April 17, 2016

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Abstract

There has been a slow and steady decline of teenagers in some public libraries

over the past years. This is due to many factors that affect the lives of today’s teens

(extracurricular activities, homework, jobs, etc.). Other factors that can influence a teen

presence are from the library itself: staff attitudes, sense of welcome and ownership by

the teens, lack of teen services, the state of the teen collections, and even lack of

marketing. An exploration of the literature reveals a variety of methods that public

libraries could use to help grow a teen presence and keep these teens in and using the

services and opportunities offered by the libraries. This paper also presents a case

study involving a smaller, rural library implementing some of the practices found in the

literature, as well as successes, failures, and lessons learned.

Keywords: teenagers, young adults, public library, teen advisory board (TAB), teen

presence, marketing, library staff attitudes, teen spaces, teen collections

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Drawing Teens Into the Library

Public libraries, especially more rural libraries, have been observing a trend of

decreasing teen involvement in the past few years. There have been many studies

concerning how to create a teen friendly environment, thus drawing in teens, but most

of these studies involve libraries that already have a teen presence or teens who use

the library consistently. This study will examine the factors that will attract and keep

teens in the library, with a case study involving a library that put some of these factors

into practice.

Literature Review

Traditionally, the public library has been viewed as an information source for

everyone, regardless of age, race, sex, or any other factor. It has also been able to keep

up with the public’s demands for technology and internet access, as well as the

traditional requests for books and periodicals. Because of this, the library has been able

to maintain a client base; in other words, people keep coming back to the library.

However, many studies have found that the presence of teens (ages 13-18 for most

research purposes) has been decreasing. This will ultimately be a major issue, because

this population represents the library’s future users. Snowball mentions in her article,

“as children get older and become teenagers, they can be forgotten in the public library”

(2008). This remains a common problem for public libraries, as they are attempting to

keep up with technology, provide early literacy programs, and assist the older patrons

who may be comfortable with using the library. However, teenagers tend to be either

ignored or discounted, due to their unique and sometimes complicated needs (Nowak,
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2011). It is essential for libraries and librarians to do something now if they want to keep

these users in the library.

Developing a teen presence is a daunting and difficult task to many librarians.

The following literature review highlights some of the main factors that keep teens away

from libraries, as well as the methods that seem to be helpful when trying to attract

teens into the library.

First, one of the main reasons teens do not come into the library is because they

feel as if they are not welcome, despite their inclusion when they were children (Steele,

2013). Jones (2007) mentions a few mistakes that librarians and staff make when

dealing with teens: viewing them as a problem that needs solving versus customers

who need service, feeling as if teens have to be served because they are future

taxpayers, and assuming that adults know best. Teens are a unique subset of the

population, with unique wants, needs, and desires. Therefore, all staff members need to

“understand those needs, to accept them, to accommodate them, and to provide

services which help meet those needs” (p. 49). Howard (2011) reveals that teens had

very little connection with the library staff, meaning that they were one of the least

important personal influences on their library habits. Teens also seem to have a “sixth

sense” about those who work with them; they have the ability to tell if the person is

sincere or if they do not like them (Tuccillo, 2005).

However, when all staff is involved, and there is at least one person who is willing

to advocate for them, the experience is drastically different. LaRue (2015) summarizes

three different articles, all of which show how teens experience the library. One of the
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articles shows how accepting teens as they are, welcoming them and becoming access

points for them influences their library experience.

“Because the library welcomes teens to be themselves while encouraging

them towards responsible behavior, they know they have a place to

belong, developing responsibility for the library atmosphere and physical

property. All this happens because the library staff spend time talking to

the teens…” (p. 20).

Secondly, another determining factor in whether or not teenagers use the library

is explained by Alessio and Buron (2006) who discuss how dedicated teen services

impact the public library. Overall, it appears that it does have an impact, and a rather

large one. “When teens feel that they are getting positive library service and are

engaged in various activities at their local library, teens enjoy a sense of ownership,

resulting in positive behavior” (p. 50).

Another important element of creating a teen presence is to use the teens in

every aspect possible. Derr and Rhodes (2010) present several, easily accomplished

methods to use, especially if your library is lacking a dedicated teen space or area. Let

them design programs (or at least drive the design). Allow them to make suggestions

and recommendations on the collections. Create a teen advisory board, which will allow

teens a voice in the library. Listen to the suggestions they provide. This group, made up

of teens from the community, will be a wonderful advocate for your library. This group

will be responsible for making decisions on the programs and activities for teens (again,
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creating a sense of ownership), as well as bringing others to these programs (Houston,

2011).

A third factor that draws teens to a library has to do with visual cues. “Teens take

cues from visual and interpersonal messages” (Houston, 2011). This means that teens

view the physical appearance of the library as important as how they are treated in the

library. This means that it is essential to get teens involved in all areas of teen service,

from designing the space, planning the programs, and having input on the collections.

When they are allowed input, and are listened to, teens feel more welcome, they

“develop a sense of being a part of something larger” (Jones, 2007). Also, when you

involve them in planning, the library becomes meaningful to them (Snowball, 2007), so

they now have an incentive to keep coming back.

Several studies show that marketing plays a role in teens coming to the library.

LaRue (2015) states that the library is in a competition for teens’ time and attention.

Teenagers often have more on their schedule than younger, or even some older,

patrons: school, socializing, television, sports, hobbies, family, and more just to indicate

a few (Snowball, 2007). Because they are so active and so involved, it is important to

market constantly, so they can remember. Houston (2011) suggests that reminding

teens three times seems to be one of the better practices. This way it is on their mind

more often.

Urquhart (2013) lists the top ten marketing strategies that seem to work best in

drawing teens in and keeping them in the library. In addition to building trust with and

listening to the teens, she suggests that marketing should be kept simple and honest,

use images when possible, and be consistent. She also mentions the best marketing
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device of all: crowdsourcing, or using your patrons to spread news about the library and

its activities. This is especially useful when marketing to teens because “teens are more

likely to accept the words of a peer over an adult or organization” (p. 23). Subtle

marketing was also suggested. Use websites with links and write-up of events. Post

flyers in spaces where teens congregate. Use the local newspaper; even if the teens

don’t read it, their parents may. Open houses, trivia events, gatherings at the library: all

of these are excellent ways to invite teens in without making them feel awkward about

coming, because many others will be there too.

Finally, one of the best ways to keep teens coming to the library is to provide

fun-filled and varied programming. Hannan (2011) lists programs that her library setup

for teens. The more popular programs involved scavenger hunts, trivia nights, and

anything else the teens were actively involved in developing or specifically asked for.

Another, more technological aspect that kept teens interested was the blog that was set

up for them. Not only was it a marketing device, but teens were able to interact closely

with the librarians in this manner, which made them feel welcome and wanted. She

stressed the importance of planning programs with the teens, rather than for them. If it

was a program that they designed, they were more likely to come and bring friends!

Hannan also provides a list of what not to do if you want to keep teens coming into the

library. The first warning she gives is that teens are unpredictable; attendance will vary

due to trends, so do not get discouraged. Be prepared for changes and be flexible. If

you decided to offer prizes as incentives for participation, make sure it is something

teens actually want. Keep up to date on social media and trends; make sure teens are

still using the same sites as you!

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Overall, attitude towards and treatment of the teens seems to be the main

determining factor in how teens respond to the library. If they are respected, they will

feel comfortable using the library and be more willing to participate.

The Barnesville-Lamar County Library and Teen Services

The Barnesville-Lamar County Library is the only public library within Lamar

County; it is part of the Flint River Regional Library System, which includes seven other

libraries in the surrounding counties. It serves a population of around 18,317 people

(U.S. Census Bureau), the largest concentration of which are located in the county seat

of Barnesville (6,755 people). The county is on the lower end of the socioeconomic

scale, with 17.2 percent of the population living below the poverty level. Of this 17.2%,

1,089 are children under 18 (University of Georgia). What this means is that the public

library is the only non-school resource some of these teens have for internet, leisure

reading, free activities, and more.

Case Study

I was recently hired as the teen librarian because the local manager saw a need

for teen programs and knew that I was passionate about trying to reach out to our

teenagers. So, during the fall and winter of 2015, we spent months researching and

planning on how to accomplish this goal.

Teen Advisory Board

Our first effort was to create a teen advisory board (TAB), as most of the

literature agreed that this was a great way to get teens involved with the library. We sent
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out applications to the local high schools, as we thought it would be easier the first year

to have older teens; this way, when it came time to recruit for the next school year, we

would have people who could help train the new members of the board. Of the three

schools in the county (one public, two religious-based private), we had two respond. We

selected a board of seven teenagers, all between the ages of 15 and 17. We had a fairly

good representation of the population, and most of these teens had not been in the

library since they were children, which was both a blessing and a problem. It was a

blessing because they would not have very many biases and they would have fresh

insight, but it was also a problem because this just proved that the library was letting

children slip away as they aged.

The first meeting with the TAB at the end of 2015 proved insightful. They

mentioned the reasons they had not been to the library in the past (lack of time,

materials were not appealing, no programs for the older ages, etc.), which we had

assumed were the issues, but this verified our thoughts. These teens also provided

great ideas on what they wanted to see from the library. As we continued our monthly

meetings, the teens grew more comfortable in the library, and even visited more

frequently outside of planned meetings and programs. The TAB proved to be an

excellent first step because they not only helped plan out events, but they also provided

the marketing that the group needed. They designed and distributed flyers, spread the

word to their friends and peers, and also helped reach out to their parents and teachers

to help spread the word on events.

From what has been observed in this library, a TAB should definitely be

considered a crucial first step to increasing a teen presence in a public library.

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Programs

When we began developing programs, our TAB was essential; they provided

ideas, confirmed what they would like to see or do, and also were key in promoting

these events. However, we assumed that just because these seven teens liked the

ideas, other teens would as well. We decided it would be best to host a teen event

every month, as spring sports, vacations, and other events were about to be

approaching. We held each program on a Wednesday night, from six to eight in the

evening. Not only was this one of the few days that the library was open late, but the

meeting room was free most Wednesday nights, as opposed to the library’s other late

days.

Our first big teen program for the community was in February, a Black History

Month presentation by the local JROTC commander, who spoke on the various

accomplishments and achievements by African Americans in the past 150 years. It was

very well received by the community, with over thirty people attending; however, of this

number, only twelve were teens, seven of which were the TAB members. We were not

disheartened, because that did show that our methods of marketing were being

successful. Considering the fact that we usually had less that two teens a week in the

library, we determined this small increase as progress.

In March, the TAB decided that it would be beneficial to plan a program on

college searching and scholarship information, as most of the younger high schoolers

would start their searches soon; the majority of the TAB are in tenth and eleventh grade,

so this was a big issue to them. They also suggested that it be a shorter session, and to

make it more interactive. So, I ordered plenty of books on the topic and created a
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PowerPoint presentation to cover the basic information. For the interactive element, I let

the teens create a mock profile of a student applying for college. This allowed them to

see how the use the program first-hand and also gave them a chance to be a part of the

program. This time, we only had about fifteen people, and seven of them were parents.

However, all of these teens were new faces, so we did manage to reach out to more

people. They seemed to enjoy the more interactive aspect of the program, but what they

liked most was after the short presentation, they each had a chance to create their own

profile and get individual assistance. With such a small crowd, and a few knowledgeable

parents, we were able to help all of the teens see how to get started on their searches,

and how to proceed with their applications.

However, with this program came some of the first minor issues that some teens

were encountering with our efforts. We had approximately five teenagers come in at the

beginning, looking for handouts, because they had to go to church. Luckily, it was

possible to email the presentation to them, but because I had planned the program to

be interactive, the presentation was simplistic and I had neglected to make handouts.

These few teens missed out on the majority of the presentation, and also the ability to

ask questions and get one-on-one assistance. In the emails, I did include my contact

information and the list of books that we had available at the session, so hopefully that

was helpful to them. These particular teens have not been back to any of the programs,

but that could be due to the time conflict.

The most recent program that the library hosted was a test cram session, with

two local teachers on hand to assist. The program was originally intended to be a SAT

cram session, with the test occurring the following weekend at the high school.
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However, some of the TAB decided to market it as a study session, mentioning to me

that most of their friends were not taking the SAT until the next year. Their initiative was

successful, and we had ten teenagers, all new faces, show up that night. The teens

were very excited to receive the help from the local teachers and more that one of them

claimed that if we hosted study sessions like this every week, they would be there.

Marketing

When we began marketing the new teen advisory board, we decided to make it

as straightforward and simple as possible: we used the local high schools and asked

the teachers and media specialists to tell their students about it. With no budget and no

teen specific social media pages, we thought this would be the best idea. We also

advertised within the library, at the front desk and in the young adult shelves. Most of

our applicants received their applications from a teacher.

At first, for the monthly programs, we did use the library’s main Facebook page,

which allowed us to reach so many more community members, which was why that

program’s attendance was so high. However, it did not reach the teens as well as we

would have liked, so we attempted other methods. The most effective method of

marketing that we have been able to use is what Urquhart (2013) called

“crowdsourcing”: word of mouth advertising by peers. For the study session and the

college/scholarship night, this proved to be the most successful method, according to

what was observed. Other methods that we have used with limited success have been

advertising in the newspaper, having the TAB hand out flyers, advertising in the school

announcements, and advertising in the library. It seems that these methods have not
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been as well received because the teens either do not use these resources (newspaper,

the library itself), or it is just one more thing to ignore at school (announcements, flyers).

Space and Collection

Unlike most libraries, the Barnesville-Lamar County does not have many

incentives for teens in terms of space or collection. The collection consists of one row of

shelving (approximately 12 feet long), holding less than 500 books, most of which are

older than ten years. Because of the lack of demands on the collection, it is not one that

grows frequently or takes priority when it is time to order books. We have managed to

add in over thirty new and popular books in the last month, which has increased interest

and checkouts. The regional system has also created a new section for young adult

nonfiction, so we are slowly growing that section, removing relevant books from the

juvenile stacks and also purchasing books especially for this section. We have even

managed to reorganize space in order to make a young adult display section, with new

displays every month; it has been used to display the books for each program, but it will

also be used to show off the new books.

As for space, there is no dedicated teen space, either. The children’s programs,

the teen’s programs, and any other community program use the joint meeting room. It is

a challenge sometimes, because there is the potential for scheduling conflicts or set-up

issues if the room is being used, but everything usually runs smoothly. It is the only

separate and closed off meeting area in the library, which makes it the only place to hold

programs and not disrupt library patrons.

Library Staff
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If the Barnesville-Lamar County Library does have one thing that is highly

recommended by all the literature, it is a willing and enthusiastic staff (Joseph, 2010).

All of the staff have not only been highly supportive of my new position, but they have

also been highly supportive of the teens. They do not shy away from them or treat them

as if they are a problem. They actively seek the teens out, making sure that they are

finding everything they need and making recommendations for them. When I am not

available to help them with planning or research, the other librarians take the time to

work with them and make suggestions on what they could do. It is extremely helpful to

have these coworkers be as excited and willing to work with the teens as I am, and this

initiative would not be successful without them.

Lessons Learned

Throughout these past few months, we have learned a lot about what works,

what does not, and what needs improvement.

One of the first things that we learned is that our marketing strategies are not as

strong as they should be. When I have talked with some of the teens about what they

think would be a better outreach method, all of them mention the newer social media

platforms that most of the staff have never used, such as Instagram, Snapchat, and

Tumblr. Some of the literature suggest blogs, and that is another option we are looking

into: a teen designed, published, and maintained blog, with a librarian making sure

everything is suitable for publication. The TAB members are in the process of assisting

the library in setting up these accounts and training some of the staff on how to use the

basic features. We are making accounts for both the library itself and for the teens,

which will increase the amount of people we are able to notify about events, and also
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make it more appealing to teens, as they feel as if they have their own special account.

The blog would also aid with that appeal, making it something created solely by the

teens and therefore more relevant to them. We have also been told that it would be

helpful if we put flyers in places that the teen frequent outside of school. We have

formed a relationship with the local coffeehouse, and they have been more than helpful

in displaying our flyers and advertising our events, but we need to figure out what other

locations would work.

Another issue that we may need to re-evaluate is the meeting times. Because

they are on Wednesday nights, a high number of teens are unable to come because

they have commitments at their churches. The only other options we have are Monday

nights, which have a tendency to conflict with most sports, and Saturday mornings,

which tends to conflict with most teens’ sleeping schedules. We are planning to send

out surveys next school year to the local high schools and see what the teens prefer;

this will allow us to plan programs and events for times where more teens can attend.

Teens like food. That is already one lesson I thought I knew when I started these

programs, but I never realized exactly how much they like food, and not just simple

snacks. Most of the teens come straight from after school activities or from doing

homework. By the time they get to the meeting a six in the evening, they are starving.

So, while smaller snacks are okay for the TAB meetings, there seems to be a need for

larger items (pizza, sandwiches, etc.) for the teen programs. While it is not in the budget

now for the library to provide items like this, hopefully we will be able to find willing

donors or perform some fundraisers so that we can provide food/meals for the teens.
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Finally, the most important lesson that we have learned is that teens appreciate

being respected and treated as individuals. With these new teen services, the teens

have seen that the library is willing to help them and provide for them, and it makes

them more willing to visit the library and less afraid of asking the staff to help them

locate items. They do not rush past the desk and hide in the stacks, trying to find books.

They come in and great the staff by name, chat for a little while, and then ask us to help

them. They are actively engaging with the library and its resources because they feel

like they have a place. It is a great thing to witness this happening and hopefully we will

be able to continue with this effort.

The Future of the Library

In the next six months, the Barnesville-Lamar County Library will hopefully be

starting a major renovation, adding a significant amount of space and reorganizing the

layout of the library to make it more accessible to the patrons. One of the great things

for teen services is that there will a dedicated teen space, with new study areas,

redesigned and increased shelving areas, a meeting area, and more. And what is extra

exciting to the teens is that they are getting the opportunity to help design and decorate

the space, allowing them to have a sense of ownership of the space. We will be having

teen events during the Summer Reading program on art and photography specifically

for them to create items to decorate the space. We will no longer only be a youth

friendly library, we will be a youth friendly library with a dedicated youth space (Bourke,

2010).

Because we have shown this need and this growth to the library board and the

community, we may have an opportunity to get our own line in the budget, as for now,
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we are operating off grant money. We have planned a few fundraisers, one of which we

hope will be an annual event, a Race for Reading 5k. All proceeds go directly to the

teen services, to help fund programs, purchase materials, and support an increase in

teen attendance at the library.

Conclusion

Our efforts are working slowly, but surely, and we need to keep trying. In the past

few months, we have seen the teen presence in the library grow. On average, there are

around 15 teens coming in to use the library outside of program days each week. They

are looking at the book displays, using the computers, doing research, and even just

hanging out. They are no longer afraid or too shy to approach the staff and ask for help,

knowing that they will get what they need in a format that is friendly for them.

Another great thing that we see happening is that the teens are speaking up

more when it comes to telling the library what they need. They are suggesting books to

order, both popular titles and nonfiction ideas. They are all, TAB members and others,

making suggestions for programs, especially for the upcoming summer reading

program, which has never included a special section for teens before.

The Barnesville-Lamar County Library has made progress in reaching out and

drawing teenagers into the library. There is a lot of work ahead, especially with

implementing the newer outreach methods and developing programs, but that will come

with practice and experience. There are some plans that have been suggested to help

improve our teen services, primarily training with other libraries who have established

and vibrant teen services (Macchion and Savic, 2011). We hope to begin this training

soon, so that we can better understand how to serve our teens. Until then, we have
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seen our efforts bear fruit and will continue to work as hard as we can to draw the teens

of the community into the public library.

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