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Want to offer more hands-on learning opportunities for and with the teens in your community?  3D Systems Corp., in partnership with YALSA, is giving away up to 250 3D printers to members of YALSA.  Learn more and apply online by Oct. 30^th.  Are you not a YALSA/ALA member yet?  Membership starts at $60 per year.  Contact Letitia Smith at lsmith at ala dot org, or 312.280.4390, to get the best rate and to learn about paying in installments.  And don't forget to check out all of the great maker and connected learning resources on YALSA's wiki!

Those in the YALSA community would probably have no trouble agreeing with the statement that teen services in libraries could benefit from broader support from the library community and beyond.  In an effort to help advance library services for and with teens, YALSA and its Future of Teens & Libraries Taskforce have submitted a grant proposal via a competitive challenge organized by the Knight Foundation.  If funded, the project would help libraries improve their overall teen program by providing them with free tools and resources to incorporate connected learning into their existing services.  In order for this to have a chance at getting funded, the proposal needs to get a significant number of ‘applauds’ and comments from visitors to the site.  We encourage you to ‘applaud’ the proposal and/or leave a comment, but also to take a moment to share this link out with your library networks, advocates and colleagues and ask them to leave a comment or give us some applause as well.  The post is open to comments and applause until Oct. 21^st, so timing is limited!  Thank you for all that you do to help teens succeed in school and prepare for college and careers.  The great work that you do makes a difference in so many lives, and together we can have an even bigger impact!

Welcome to August and the first in a series of YALSAblog posts all about getting ready for the new school year.

I don’t think there is a better way to get started thinking about going back to school then to check-in with YALSAblog readers about how you are implementing the ideas in the Future of Library Service for and with Teens: A Call to Action report published by YALSA in January of this year.

Thinking about the fall and the programs and services we’ll work on with and for teens during the school year is a great time to learn about what others are doing that connect to the ideas in YALSA’s report. At the YALSAblog we’d love to hear what you have made happen that connect to what’s outlined in the report. For example:

• Have you added or expanded or started connected learning opportunities for teens in your library? If you have questions about what connected learning is all about and what you might do with teens in that area check out the YALSAblog’s previous posts on that topic or pages 8-10 in the report.
• In what ways are you giving teens opportunities to connect with mentors and coaches in order to help them learn about the topics in which they are most interested? See pages 21-23 in the report for more on this topic.
• Are you finding new or expanded ways to integrate services that help teens to gain a variety of literacy skills from print literacy to media literacy to digital literacy? See pages 6-8 in the report for more on this topic.
• Have you found a new way to think about the way you staff your teen services in order to better support the current and future needs of teens? See page 24 in the report for more on this topic.
• Are there new ways you are thinking about the way that you provide space to teens? See pages 23-24 in the report for more on this topic.
• Have you expanded or re-thought your ideas about collaborations and partnerships in order to move into the future of service for and with teens? See pages 13-14 and 23 in the report for more on this topic.

I bet lots of YALSAblog readers are doing great things that demonstrate the ideas in the YALSA “futures report.” And, I bet that there are library staff working with teens that wonder, “how do I get started implementing the ideas in the report?” There is no better time to start talking about the successes and challenges of bringing the future of library service to teens in your libraries than as you plan for the 2014/15 school year in your library. Let’s hear what you’ve been able to try out as a result of reading the report and/or what you are struggling with in terms of the report in the comments.

The discussion of the future starts now!

And, by the way, there are some great ways for you to keep up with what’s going on in the world of libraries and education as it relates to the future of services for and with teens. Try these Twitter hashtags to get started:

• #act4teens – the tag started by YALSA for all ideas related to how libraries and others are supporting the needs of teens.
• #connectedlearning – all about what connected learning is and how we can improve the lives of youth through connected learning experiences.

We are only one away from discussing connected learning at the ALA Annual YALSA President’s Program, A Burning Need to Know: How Passion Connects to Learning. One thing about this event that grabs me is the word “passion”, something I strive to foster in the teens that come to our library. We hope to give them a voice, and a place to share their passions and interests with each other through anime clubs, cosplay groups, book discussions and more.

This summer, we are featuring a series of fandom events for teens. Some programs focus on a specific fandom, some celebrate all fandoms from Doctor Who to photography. If you love it, we want to help you dive deeper into it. As I prepared for these programs I encountered the challenge of at the intersection of fandom and fair use.
Trying to explain to my anime club why we can’t just stream their favorite anime from Crunchyroll or making Frozen buttons in the button maker can be a disheartening activity for any librarian. Their eyes are lit up, they are excited, passionate about what they are doing…and you have to gently let them down. I try to see this as a learning opportunity, that via our favorite movies, TV shows and books we can talk about copyright and the rights of creators to maintain control of their work.

In our fanart and animated gif workshops we encourage our teens to bring their favorite fandom with them, to use as a launch pad for the skills they will acquire. Writing up some notes on animated gifs, I thought it might be a good opportunity to talk about fair use and copyright law when you are dealing with your favorite Disney movie, or a clip from Supernatural. As I tried to translate fair use and copyright from legalese to English, I realized, even I (a librarian) hadn’t thought about fair use in a long time.

We tried to look at it from the creators perspective, sympathizing with an artist on DeviantArt, if their work is copied all over the internet without their consent. Although it can be hard to muster sympathy for multi-billion dollar companies like Disney, my teens lovingly agreed that they would want control how their work is shared or used (even if they want to share it freely).

Passion leads to learning opportunities and I find that often that learning starts with copying someone or something you love. Imitation is a great way to practice skills, learn new ways of doing things, and the passion that drew you to the topic in the first place will keep you hard at work through the dead-ends and bugs in your project. But we need to remember that when we borrow from someone else, we want to make sure we do it the right way.

When offering learning opportunities based on your teens passions and interests, think about including information about copyright and fair use. Let’s foster a generation of library users that always uses attributions, both in their research papers, and on their Tumblr accounts.

Have you been reading for the past year or so on the YALSAblog about connected learning and libraries?

Have you wondered, how the heck can I integrate connected learning into my library’s teen program of service?

Have you thought, I just can’t make connected learning work in my library?

Did you answer “yes” to any of those questions?

If so, then the ALA Annual YALSA President’s Program on Monday, June 30, from 1-3 PM at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Rooms N255/257 is the program you don’t want to miss. At this program you will:

• Hear Crystle Martin, YALSAblog Manager and postdoctoral research fellow for the Connected Learning Research Network at the Digital Media and Learning Hub at University of California-Irvine, talk about what connected learning is and how libraries working with teens can make it work in their libraries.
• Have a chance to talk with connected learning coaches who will help you figure out the best way to bring connected learning into your setting.
• Get a chance to hear from other library staff working with teens about what they are doing when it comes to connected learning, and brainstorm with them how best to make it work for the teens in your community.
• Learn that you probably don’t have to make that many changes in what you already do in order to start on the road of providing connected learning experiences for youth.

In other words, don’t miss this program!

And, if you want to read up on connected learning before this awesome program check out these other YALSAblog posts and resources.

• Connected Learning.TV
• The Future of Libraries For and With Teens: A Call to Action
• Connected Learning: An Agenda for Research and Design
• Connected Learning Supporting Teens’ Passions in 10 Minutes a Day
• Connected Learning: How Sailor Moon Taught Me to Code
• Connected Learning is Passion-Based Learning

Connected Learning is a phrase for something teen librarians have known about for a long time and for something that is probably already happening in our libraries. Our libraries may be supporting or leading an interest-based program, but it’s even more likely that teens are pursuing their passions in the library right this second by playing Minecraft on the computers, watching videos on YouTube, or doing something else of their own choosing in the library’s space.

When we notice what they’re doing, we have a few choices.
1.Leave them alone
2.Create a library-sponsored club or program in which teens can pursue their passions

Leaving them completely alone doesn’t support the kind of relationships we need to be successful in working with teens, what if we didn’t create a program right away?

Many libraries are supporting teens’ interests by creating a program or club, but given the many demands on library staff time, that may not be the most practical solution. What if we put our energy into connecting the interests they already have to library, school, online and community resources – without pulling them together in a library-sponsored club? We can do this work in 10 minutes a day when we’re on the public floor or on desk.

The teens in our spaces aren’t asking for our help in a transactional reference-interview kind of way, but what if we translated our observations of them into a reference interview with ourselves?

•What are they doing? Do I know anything about that? Could I ask them?

•What skills do I see them demonstrating? How could I articulate that to them?

•What do I see them learning over time? Do they see that? How might I help them see that?

•What connections do I see between them, their learning and their future? How can I talk about that with them?

•What parts of our conversations do they seem the most interested in? How can I build on that?

Connected learning happens in our programs and in our library space as well – let’s tell that story!

To find out more about connected learning please start with the wonderful posts on the YALSA Blog, starting with this one (/) and don’t forget to attend the ALA Annual program: YALSA President’s Program, A Burning Need to Know: How Passion Connects to Learning, Monday, June 30, 1-3 pm.

Last week the Metropolitan Museum of Art revealed the renovation work on its fashion galleries, reopening them to the public. Michelle Obama remarked about the important role galleries like this play in the fashion world. Showing everyone that fashion isn’t just for the elite, or only worn on the runway.

Fashion is something we all interact with every day, but many of us overlook the complicated skills needed to work in the industry. Journalism pieces like Planet Money’s T-Shirt Project have shed light on what it involves to take a drawing and turn it into a piece of clothing. Michelle Obama also commented on the variety of tools a designer needs to have at their fingertips. “It’s a career that involves, science, engineering, accounting, marketing and so much more. Maybe they’ll learn about the math behind Charles James’s designs. And they’ll think to themselves, maybe I should pay closer attention in geometry,” she said speaking to students. This is another perfect example of connected learning, providing opportunities to learn new skills while diving into a passion for fashion.

Our teen cosplay club printed this crown with our 3D printer to go with a costume.

The Johnson County Library has been encouraging teens to show their style since 2008 with our first teen fashion show (pictured above). Since then we have branched into a cosplay club that meets regularly to design, sew, critique and wear costumes from their favorite books, movies and TV shows. The cosplay club is a great example of connected learning happening naturally and quietly at the library. Club members are required to make a project plan for each costume, set goals and deadlines, define budgets, and critique designs and help other member learn new skills (like 3D printing). The club has made appearances at local conventions in group costumes (most recently the Sailor  Avengers) and continues to encourage members to grow and improve. Not all of these teens will become fashion designers but the skills they have learned to budget, plan and collaborate will serve them well in whatever career they choose. The Library is happy to provide a place for them to explore their passions.

If you want to find out more about connected learning please start with the wonderful posts on the YALSA Blog, starting with this one. Don’t forget to mark your calendars to attend the YALSA President’s Program, A Burning Need to Know: How Passion Connects to Learning, Monday, June 30,  1-3 pm.

Over the past two weeks, the YALSA President’s Program task force has been meeting with connected learning coaches who will facilitate discussions in Las Vegas to discuss their experience with and use of connected learning ideas. The diversity of these discussions cemented the feeling that connected learning comes in all shapes and sizes and we can’t wait to hear from you at our program at ALA Annual.

As we dove into discussion with the coaches a few themes kept recurring and we wanted to share them with you. Connected learning is already happening in many libraries, some just don’t have that term in their vocabulary to label what they are already doing. Libraries are poised to be the place where passion-directed learning happens. Already a community hub, we can help connect teens with the resources, mentors and spaces that will help them follow their passions. Now that we know what connected learning is and can see it already happening in our libraries, we can begin to foster it with intention.

As we begin to plan programs, services and classes with connected learning in mind, we have to stay flexible. Self-directed and passion-based learning is difficult to direct without derailing the learners enthusiasm. This is an easier goal for public libraries, who likely do not have to prove the learning happening at their programs, and can let the process take as long as it needs to. Schools face the challenge of identified outcomes to every class or program, but there are some great examples of librarians using the concepts of connected learning to add additional value to their testable outcomes.

Connected learning is happening in all types of libraries, as evidenced by the diversity of our coaches. At A Burning Need to Know: How Passion Connects to Learning they will help participants identify connected learning already happening in their environments, and as a group we will discuss ways to level up what we are already doing. There are small things we can do to bring big rewards to our teens.

If you want to find out more about connected learning please start with the wonderful posts on the YALSA Blog, starting with this one. Don’t forget to mark your calendars to attend the YALSA President’s Program, A Burning Need to Know: How Passion Connects to Learning, Monday, June 30,  1-3 pm.