Michael Stephens is talking about what books would make good discussions for incoming LIS students

It got me thinking about which books would make good reading for prospective teen librarians.

Not necessarily things like Connecting Young Adults and Libraries,though everyone should read that before they start. I was thinking of more general titles about teen development or culture. Such a list might include:




The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries About the Teenage Brain Tell Us About Our Kids
by Barbara Strauch
Why do they do that? Strauch, a science and health editor at the NYT, includes recent research and conversations with teens and parents to try to shed some light on the mysteries of teen behavior.


Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids: American Teenagers, Schools, and The Culture of Consumption by Murray Milner Jr.
Milner talks about social strata in high school and suggests that cliques and teen relationships as a whole are shaped by teens' lack of power in the other areas of their lives.



Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers by Alissa Quart
Quart follows how marketers target teens and how it affects them. Though weakened by a focus on the upper and upper middle class this book still provides a lot of material for discussion.





What books would you pick?

Back to School

Sorry for the break, I always try to take a library-free vacation before school starts, sometimes I even have a chance to read a book published for adults. YA librarians around the country are preparing for the back to school rush. Here back to school means we go from 6 kids in the library to 60.

We tried something new this year, having a very short orientation for the teens on the first day of school to give them a heads up. Topics included:

• Library card sign-up campaign
• Reminder that I am happy to order books from other branches but it takes a few days and they should plan ahead
  
• How to sign up for teen programs (held nearly daily)
• The leadership training program I am offering this year
  
• Our three strikes and you are out for the day behavior policy
• Our unfortunate but much needed zero tolerance for food and drink policy
  
• That we now have reference copies of their text books

How do you handle back to school?