By: Library Services for Younger Adults « Catch and Release

Library Services for Younger Adults « Catch and Release — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 03:45:46 +0000

[...] Iâ€™m in agreement with Steven Bell that the year 2008 will be the year of innovation. I hope this means it will actually be the year of innovation, not just the year of â€œinnovationâ€ being the buzzword for business as usual. I think it is always wise to look to the young adult specialists at public libraries for clues as to where innovation is really going to take place. YA librarians do their best (and it is hard work) to keep up with the fleeting, impressionable, subjective, speed-of-light tastes of young minds absorbing information at peak pace, during the time that the human mind is biologically fit and hungry to consume and process text and images like machine gun bullets. Consumer electronics and their content are like jewelry to teens: the brand, the packaging, and the content all are part of a fashion statement, a statement of what they are as individuals and groups. Teens are early adapters with these technologies, which means they define the future of information formats via the law of supply and demand. If teen cash (or teenâ€™s parents cash spent by the teens) defines what products will be successful, and we, the librarians, are supposed to be the innovators in providing service, it seems clear that we need to take a close look at what they want, at what is popular. The patrons define public library services, not the librarians. [...]

Comments on: Innovation, Not Information Overload, May Be What 2008 Is All About

By: Library Services for Younger Adults « Catch and Release