Serving Immigrant Teens

All of our libraries serve individuals who speak English as a second, third or even fourth language. We offer many services to help teens get through middle and high school, one of the most difficult times for many people in terms of being challenged in a formal and required educational context. So what does it look like to help teens who not only struggle with the experience of these school settings, as well as language acquistion in a country completely new to them?

Below is a link to an article from the New York Times outlining some of the concerns presented and how educators can possibly remedy some of the frustrations encountered for these unique students.

Medina, Jennifer. Immigrant Teens Struggle with Formal Schooling. NyTimes. 24 January 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/education/25ellis.html?pagewanted=3&ref=education

Fiction Reading Increases for (Young) Adults

Publishing houses, bookstores and libraries must be doing something right!

This recent article from the New York Times highlights the increase in fiction / recreational reading by adults. The author Motoko Rich outlines what studies attribute this recent wave of interest, especially among the 18 to 24 year old who are said to have the reading rates increase "most dramatically... (when they) had previously shown the most significant declines."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/books/12reading.html?ref=books

Rich, Motoko. Fiction Reading Increases for Adults. New York Times. 11 January 2009.

Teens Save MA Libraries

From Library Hotline:

"A group of teens from Milford, MA may have been too young to vote on Election Day, but their efforts to save their state's public libraries have paid off big time. They and other library supporters around the state embarked in a massive campaign to get voters to reject a ballot proposal -- and it worked. Some 70 percent of Massachusetts residents shot down a referendum to eliminate the state income tax, a move that would have had dire consequences for public libraries."

The teens of Milford put together a 3 minute video describing what their library means to them. Check out the responses that helped save their community libraries...



--. "Teens Helped Save MA Libraries Campaigning Against Tax Cut." Library Hotline. 17 November 2008.

College Now Unaffordable?

From New York Times Online:

The rising cost of college — even before the recession — threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans, according to the biennial report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

For more information on this significant issue in education, check out the related article:

Lewin, Tamar. "College may become unaffordable for most in the U.S." NYTimes Online. 3 December 2008.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/education/03college.html?_r=1&ref=education

Using the Kindle with Teens in the Library

The Horn Book for November/December 2008 has an article by a teacher about how he uses the Kindle in his middle school language arts classroom that I thought might be adaptable to the public library.

He downloaded sample chapters of twenty young adult novels he thought his students would like and then watched in delight as they browsed on the Kindle in their free time and then went to the library to check out the actual book.

Even the kids who don't usually read much loved trying out the new gadget which made him feel it had the potential to hook a reluctant reader.

It isn't difficult to master the Kindle, so when you have a group of kids waiting for the computers or waiting for the program to start at your library, you could share the Kindle that belongs to the library district for which you have spent some time choosing chapters to download.

At the present time Pamela Bagby has the Kindle and there is a signout sheet on the Z drive under AST. Let Pamela know you would like it sent to you and thenb try it out for a week or two. It is free, easy to do, motivating to kids who want to see the new gadget and who probably already know that digital reading is here to stay.

Teen Literature Awards

Below are a few of the more popular literary awards that recognize stellar publications for young adults. If you have any related recognitions you follow, please post the information about that in response to this article :)

ALA Micheal L. Printz Award
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/printzaward/Printz.cfm

YALSA Teen Top Ten
http://www.ftrf.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/teenstopten/teenstopten.cfm

National Book Award: Young People's Literature Awards
http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2008.html

Colorado Blue Spruce Award
http://www.cal-webs.org/bluespruce/

Virginia Library Association Jefferson Cup Award
http://www.vla.org/cyart/jefferson_cup/2008.htm

Coretta Scott King Award
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/emiert/corettascottkingbookaward/cskpastwinners/cskpastwinners.cfm

Edgar Allen Poe: Young Adult Literature Award
http://www.theedgars.com/nominees2.html#YA

Posted by Monica Owens, Youth Services Librarian.

Great adult titles to recommend to teens from bookseller Alison Morris:

Morris, Alison. "New Adult Books to Give to High School Students." PW. 12 November 2008.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/660000266/post/490035849.html