Thursday-June 25

I arrived in San Francisco on Thursday and the first thing I was excited to do was to see The Mix at SFPL.  I received a tour from the awesome Teen Librarian, Erich Haddon.  The Mix is the new digital media and learning lab for teens ages 13-18 where teens can explore their passions.  The Mix is partnering with five San Francisco, Bay Area organizations that will be offering programs for teens in areas of STEM, video creating/editing, music making and more.  There is also a makerspace where teens can create, make and collaborate.  The Mix is offering roughly 15 programs per week for teens.

Saturday June 27

I spent a couple of hours at the YALSA table with the fabulous Stephanie Charlefour, Teen Librarian at the Wixom Public Library.  It was the first time for me tabling at YALSA and it was a great opportunity to connect with other teen librarians focused on the meeting the mission of YALSA as well as connecting with librarians interested in joining YALSA.

Voices of Youth: Community Partnerships for video production session featured a panel of six teens involved in the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) Board of Advising Youth and they talked about their involvement in working with the library, architects and other advisors in building and creating the new teen space; The Mix.  The partnerships that SFPL has built with five Bay Area organizations will bolster teen programming and expose teens to areas of video creation and editing through the organization BAVC, music creation and editing, a makerspace that has endless possibilities and STEM programs by the California Academy of Sciences

Empower Your Teens! Civic Engagement Strategies that Work.  Five teens from the Youth Leadership Council of the Oakland Public Library presented on their work with the library.  The presentation was a phenomenal, completely youth led panel where each member talked about what the YLC does; building leaderships skills by engaging with members of civic institutions, improving library services by having this group be so imbedded in a number of decision making endeavors for teens and bridging the gap between youth and library staff.  Hands down the best session I went to!  The teens took the lead to share what they do and what they’ve learned from their experience with the YLC.

YALSA President’s Program: Taking a Deep Dive Into Digital Literacy:  Shark Tank for Library Staff

I’m one of the members of the YALSA President’s Program Task Force and it has been a great experience serving on a committee with such dedicated teen services librarians.  The Shark Bowl program is based off the reality show “Shark Tank” that features aspiring entrepreneurs pitching their ideas to business experts, the YALSA version features six teen librarians pitching their digital literacy ideas to a panel of sharks-Susan Del Rosario (Tutor.com), Crystle Martin (Digital Media and Learning Hub UC Irvine) K-Fai Steele (National Writing Project) and David ten Have (Makey Makey and JoyLabz).  The winners are; Ricah Quinto, Shanna Miles and Erin Durrett with their projects.