Dr. Abigail Leigh Phillips

Category: young adults

Guest Blogging: Transforming Youth Services: Supporting Youth Through “Adulting”

I wrote a guest post for YALSA’s blog in November as part of a “Transforming Youth Services” series that I’ve been contributing to since last summer. If you would like to check out the blog itself, take a look here!

Adulting programs are generally geared towards older teens (16 -18) and emerging/new adults (19 – early 20s) and support these young patrons in developing life and college ready skills. News articles and similar commentary about library adulting programs appeared somewhat flippant and even disrespectful or disparaging of young adult attendees. Yet through such programming, libraries are providing a unique service which appeals to two underserved age groups and impacts their lasting success, health, and wellbeing.

(more…)

2017-12-11
“Girl” Books and “Boy” Books: Reading Without Labeling

A few nights ago I read an article where the author ended with a recommendation list for “girl-friendly” science fiction books. I understand seeking out books that may get boys/girls more interested in reading particularly reluctant readers. There is research that suggests that boys lag behind girls in reading comprehension. And I do realize that the covers selected by publishers and authors that aren’t particularly appealing to boys or girls. Most of us (me) do judge a book by its cover. And middle school and high school peers aren’t kind to boys would display excitement or even interest in reading. It’s not seen as a “masculine activity”. It’s uncool and nerdy. At least what I witnessed and friends’ experienced in K-12 schooling.

(more…)

2017-11-03
Guest Blogging: “Transforming Teen Services: Getting Teens Passionate About Civics (It can happen!)”

My monthly YALSA blog post is up! This time about it’s about something that is particularly relevant to what’s going on in the world around us. Check it out on the YALSA blog or read it below! Don’t worry. I’m still blogging here and not just guest blogging everywhere else. Another blog post tomorrow!

As democratic strongholds, libraries are open to all, serving as a space for community engagement, open discussion, and intellectual development. Not only does the library space serve as a civic forum and information hub, libraries are community conversation initiators and civic guides (Gutsche, 2012; Kranich, 2012). Often when discussing civic engagement, the focus is on adult participation. However, teens should be brought into the discussion as young citizens with powerful voices that can effect change on local, state, and national levels. Libraries provide teens with “genuine and meaningful opportunities to work with each other and with policymakers to impact issues of importance” (Center for the Study of Social Policy, 2011, pg. 2). Civic engagement is tied to healthy youth development, introducing opportunities for teens to become comfortable expressing themselves, learn to think critically, and hone empathy and compassion skills.

Teens must develop the skills necessary to fully participate as engaged and informed citizens. Librarians can, and frequently do, help by providing youth programming that supports the development of 21st century skills. YALSA’s report, The Future of Library Services for and with Teens: A Call to Action, highlights the essential literacies that youth need to acquire to be work, college, and life ready. Through knowledge and skill accumulation, teens are more confident entering a world where sometimes opportunities for personal and professional development are few and far between. Additionally, within the safe space of a library, teens feel liberated to share their opinions, thoughts, and concerns with willing, involved, and engaged peers and adults. Growing up in a small rural town in Georgia, my library became one of the few places where I could learn about cultures, belief systems, and opinions that were far removed from my tiny hometown. These experiences have had a deep impact on how I serve my local community, country, and profession.

While often not spotlighted as civic-minded programming, school and public libraries are already motivating youth to become civically active in the world around them. A look at YALSA’ Teen Programming Guidelines touches on the library’s role in aiding teens’ development of leadership and mentorship skills, partially through teen-lead programming. Whether these programs are book clubs, Teen Advisory Boards, or technology workshops, they give teens the room to feel a sense of ownership and self-confidence. Forming a TAB is an excellent way to encourage youth to learn more about and take part in civic activities. Teens build mentorship skills, collaborate with peers, find their voice, and learn about community outreach. Also, Board involvement (in a small way) introduces youth to the dynamics of governance. Many libraries have volunteer programs within the library that introduce youth to library community service as a worthwhile and positive expression of civic participation. Not only does the library serve as a civic space, it acts as an incubator to support and grow teen confidence, determination, and kindness.

Getting teens (and adults) more engaged in civic activities is part of the library’s role as a community hub, informal learning space, and “conversation catalyst” (Kranich, 2012, pg. 81). Right now, librarians can demonstrate how to advocate and campaign for important causes. The current political situation offers many ways library-supportive teens can become civically involved on a local, state, national level, including supporting libraries during YALSA’s District Days, in the fight for IMLS funding, and on National Library Legislative Day. There’s so much we can do and so much teens can do to support each other.

References

Braun, L., Hartman, M. L., Hughes-Hassell, S., Kumasi, K., & Yoke, B. (2014). The Future of Library Services for and with Teens: A Call to Action. Chicago, IL: Young Adults Library Services Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/yaforum/sites/ala.org.yaforum/files/content/YALSA_nationalforum_final.pdf

Center for the Study of Social Policy. (2011). Results-based public policy strategies: Promoting youth civic engagement. Retrieved from http://www.cssp.org/policy/papers/Promoting-Youth-Civic-Engagement.pdf

Gutche, B. (2012, August 31). The engaged and embedded library: Moving from action to talk. WebJunction. Retrieved from http://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/Engaged_Embedded_Library.html.

Kranich, N. (2012). Libraries and civic engagement. Retrieved from https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/37218/

Young Adult Library Services Association. (2015). Teen Programming Guidelines (pp. 1–18). Chicago, IL: American Library Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/yalsa/sites/ala.org.yalsa/files/content/TeenProgramingGuidelines_2015_FINAL.pdf.

2017-04-28
Guest Blogging: “Transforming Teen Services: The Empathetic Librarian”

On Monday, March 24, my post for the YALSA blog appeared. It’s my first blog post in a monthly series of posts on Transforming Teen Services. You can read the post on the YALSA blog here. Or you can read it below! Please share your thoughts. I would love to hear from you all!

While libraries have long participated in the struggle for social justice and equality, it hasn’t been until recent months thatour efforts have reached the attention of the public. We’ve pushed diversity and inclusiveness to the forefront with movements like Libraries 4 Black Lives and Libraries Are For Everyone. Libraries and librarians have also begun to incorporate social services alongside more traditional library services. We’re connecting patrons with mental health agencies, public health workers, and housing assistance. Libraries including San Francisco Public Library and Denver Public Library are offering themselves up as safe havens for the homeless; places where these patrons can find support and compassion.

Although the majority of these programs are directed towards adults, many libraries are reaching out to teens. School librarians are collecting materials specifically for LGBTQ youth while public librarians are providing outreach to homeless teens. The YALSA Futures Report explicit calls out for libraries to serve underserved youth including those incarcerated, homeless, or otherwise in crisis. At the root of these services is empathy. By empathy, we mean the “ability to understand and share the feelings of another” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2017). It requires that librarians look beyond collection development, teen programming, and readers’ advisory as tasks to carry out. Instead, we need to carefully assess how we explicitly (but sometimes not) provide help and support to teens through this work. Empathy is inherently a part of the work we do every day. Libraries serve as community hubs and safe spaces, stepping beyond the traditional perception of libraries as warehouses for books. As community anchors, libraries advocate for teens through political engagement and outreach. Advocacy itself is an empathetic activity, nurtured by understanding and compassion. By promoting services and advocating for underserved youth, we demonstrate our commitment to and empathy for teen patrons along with promoting the well-being of our community as a whole.

However, our empathetic work with youth is often overlooked or ignored. In the research and professional literature, empathy in libraries is frequently referred to as customer service. Yet this work is much more than that providing a teen patron with a library service. Being empathetic requires us to be active and engaged listeners who have a mindset of helping. This is already a core component of librarianship. Librarians impact the lives of youth by offering the library as a welcoming space for teen emotional, social, and psychological development. By being empathetic, we reach out to youth who may not have anyone else or feel misunderstood by peers, parents, or teachers. Through our engagement with teens, we display compassion and understanding that improves that quality of all library services.

Libraries serve as a critical “third place” for youth, particularly underserved youth. Separate from home and school, libraries act as a judgement free space where teens can express themselves, hang out, and find support. Whether through teen mentorship, interest-driven education, or teen library space design, librarians place great value on teens and serving teens. A transformation of teen services and the ways in which a library can support teens is in progress. By incorporating empathy into library work with teens, librarians illustrate the continued importance of libraries in communities.

You can find great resources about serving diverse and underserved teens at this YALSA wiki.

Abigail Phillips, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences at Utah State University. You can find her on Twitter (@abigailleigh) and by e-mail (abigail.phillips@usu.edu).

2017-03-24