Teen Tech Week '08

What are your library’s plans for Teen Tech Week? It’s March 2-8 and marks only the second year of a national promotion sponsored by the Young Adult Services Association of ALA. The theme is “Tune In @ Your Library.” Aimed at teens, parents, and educators, Teen Tech Week helps to teach kids to be competent and ethical users of technologies, focusing on the tech tools offered through libraries. You’ll find lots of resources and ideas here: http://wikis.ala.org/yalsa/index.php/Tune_In_@_Your_Library_resources And be sure to share your plans with others by commenting here!

A Love/Hate Relationship

So you love using the new technology! So you hate using the new technology. It's a love/hate relationship all the way around. Some days it's perfect and makes life so much easier. Some days you have nothing but trouble. Well I have the perfect quiz for you to take. This is from the Pew Internet and American Life project. They have a little rubric set up so you can see where you fall in your love and tolerance for all things technology. It's kind of fun!
"Do you cringe when your cell phone rings? Do you suffer from withdrawal when you can't check your Blackberry? Do you rush to post your vacation video to your Web site? The questions below allow you to place yourself in one of the categories in the Pew Internet Project's Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users. To identify the typology group to which you belong, please answer the questions below. When you press the 'Calculate My Results' button, a new page will tell you in which group you fit, along with a description of the general characteristics of that group" Have fun! Now you know why you love/hate the computer!

TOOTING OUR HORNS

How many times do you need to tell them, before your patrons realize they can get information from your website? Do the know that they can actually go to your website and find: what books are in the library, what books they have checked out, the schedule of events, pictures of the summer program, policies (ok, so they're not really interested in what your policies are!) what to read next, book blogs and a whole lot more! Do they know you have a website? Or for that matter, do they know about programs, teen councils, book discussion groups and the whole range of things availible? We must be better at marketing ourselves. You know, and I know, that we have amazing things to offer the public. Unfortunately, for the most part our patrons don't realize it. One thing we as librarians must do is Toot Our Own Horns! Advertise, Market, Inform. We have to do it many times, and in lots of different formats. I think what is the problem for us is how MANY times we are saying the same old thing. And still people don't get it. That is all the more reason for us to keep repeating ourselves.


Here is a fabulous blog that lists a lot of ideas for sharing the library with our public. It gives links to sites with marketing plans, tips for marketing, and ideas from libraries with unusual ad plans. I love the idea about library staff pushing book carts in parades! (Do you think I could get NWILS staff,i.e. Bonnie and Janie to join your parade?)

Library visit in Costa Rica

Our own Sandi Neary is still in Costa Rica. Here is her report on the state of libraries elsewhere!

Thought I would regale you with another small library in Nuevo Arneal Costa Rica. The town is about the size of Laurens and the library has been open only a few days. The first picture shows a young patron enjoying"Spot" in Spanish. The second picture is the children's craft area, called Cotton Corner. They name comes from a young boy who wanted to name the library "Cotton". When asked why, he explained he had a thin cotton "blankie" at home and he always felt safe with his "blankie" and the library should be a safe place. Although the "board" did not think that was an appropriate library name, it was appropriate for the kids corner.