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.