JPL Teen Magazine
By Andrea Connolly, Youth Services Librarian, Jaffrey Public Library
August 14, 2019
Jaffrey Public Library used its funds from the YALSA/Dollar General Summer Learning Resources Grant to address some of the risk factors for teens who are struggling academically by increasing engagement with library activities and resources. To that end, teen staff proposed the creation of JPL Teen Magazine. The digital magazine will host teen-related content, developed by our teens and moderated by professional library staff, on our official library website. Content creation will serve to engage at-risk teens who already visit the library, while the content itself will create a safe, digital space that reaches beyond the library walls to other at-risk teens.
To provide both content and tools for the creation of JPL Teen Magazine, we purchased titles from ALA’s “2018 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers”, as well as an iPad with an Apple Pencil. Having introduced new and appealing resources, we worked them extensively into the Summer Learning Program and planned to launch JPL Teen Magazine as an ongoing outcome. Some major features of the program as designed are:
Active Programming: For the most part, programming at the Jaffrey Public Library is intergenerational, encouraging mentoring and leadership skills as all ages work together to problem solve. The iPad was therefore used extensively to introduce video editing technology, as well as other programming that supported digital literacy. Additionally, our teen STEAM Learning Assistant, a second-year student at art school, offered one-on-one workshops on Digital Art 101 to familiarize teens with the technology and enable them to use our iPad and other graphics design resources to create content independently in future.
Book Trailers: In the lead-up to summer, we asked members of our teen book club, Book Buzz, as well as regular teen library attendees, to begin creating book trailers for the newly purchased titles. Book trailers doubled both as content for JPL Teen Magazine and a method of drawing interest in the most accessible parts of the teen collection. As the summer began, we launched biweekly meetings for a new Teen Advisory Board to create content. We played the book trailer videos in the library’s public spaces and during programs with high teen participation to elicit interest in the titles and in the creation of more content.
Passive Programming: Jaffrey Public Library uses a Bingo Challenge model for structuring Summer Learning. Each age group receives a bingo card tailored to their age group with a new activity or challenge in each square. This allows us to highlight the full extent of the library’s resources, engage with multiple literacies, and offer participants freedom in the level and kind of participation they are comfortable with. To this end, the YALSA/Dollar General grant focus was worked into the teen bingo cards on multiple levels. Squares challenged participants to check out and read books from our Summer Learning display, make a book trailer using the library’s new iPad, attend a library program, and otherwise engage with content available to them.
Type: Self-directed
Age: High school
Optimal size: 20+
Estimated cost: $100+
Planning time: 5+ hours
Frequency: Daily
Learning outcomes
Through content creation activities and online engagement with JPL Teen Magazine, we sought to impact teens’ textual, visual, and digital literacy skills, while also promoting the development of interpersonal skills as they worked together and interacted with each other. Furthermore, we expect that gaining ownership over which parts of the collection were promoted and how will have positive effects on student self-esteem and academic performance. Including teens in intergenerational programs reinforces their sense of community and leadership as they are able to share their skills with those not directly considered their peers, at the same time offering a wider forum for creative expression. Finally, the self-direction combined with positive incentives for participation provided by the Summer Learning Program’s passive programming allows for a greater sense of autonomy and openness in exploring personal interests, fostering greater self-confidence and positive self-esteem.
Instructions
Most of the preparation for this program involved the timely ordering and processing of materials and marketing. Teen staff assisted in the selection process by checking ALA’s “2018 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers” list against our current collection and submitting a list of the titles we didn’t own to the Youth Services Librarian. Part of the grant budget was set aside for marketing, and yellow starburst stickers were purchased for the cover of each book to identify it as a “Summer Learning 2019 YALSA/Dollar General Grant” title. Banners and flyers were also printed for in-library promotion and, once the books arrived, a central display was set up in our teen space.
In addition to printed marketing materials, the Youth Services Librarian visited the high school in the final weeks of the school year to speak to both the Interact Club and National Honor Society students about the YALSA/Dollar General grant, the formation of a new Teen Advisory Board, and JPL Teen Magazine. They were encouraged to participate during the summer and to share information with anyone they felt might be interested.
Another way in which teen staff participated in executing the grant was in the creation of Summer Learning materials for all ages. They included squares labelled “Make a book trailer using our new iPad” and “Check out a book from the Summer Learning display” on the teen bingo cards. One Learning Assistant familiarized herself with using a variety of video editing software, making book trailers on the iPad, downloading a variety of apps, and creating a helpful handout that covers the basics. Another Learning Assistant familiarized herself with the Ozoblockly and Sphero apps in order to use the iPad in the Code Club and STEAM Lab programs, and help teens feel comfortable with the new technology.
Book trailers were uploaded to the library YouTube channel as they were completed and played on a loop on the library’s big screen during programs with a high teen attendance. Since watching a video on our YouTube channel was also a bingo square on many age groups’ bingo cards, the videos were discoverable even to those not actively attending programs.
Evaluation
The book trailers provided a visible promotional tool for the new titles purchased from ALA’s reluctant reader pick list. There was noticeably increased interest in the titles for which trailers had been completed. An interesting side effect was that there were a number of families reporting watching our YouTube channel from home, as well as discussing the content with younger children and siblings.
Program attendance, as well as passive programming participation, was significantly higher this year than ever before. Registration by middle and high schoolers in the Summer Learning Program went up 70% over the previous two years, and engagement went up by 50%. All three sessions of Digital Art 101 had attendees. Code Club was a consistently popular program with all ages (teens and adults included!), and attendees’ evaluation forms self-reported positive learning outcomes such as, “I learned to keep going.”
The success was not, however, driven by engagement with the Teen Advisory Board, as initially anticipated. What we discovered was that even teens who attended more than one meeting and expressed interest in more solid commitment during the school year found it difficult to commit to regular meetings during the summer. The greatest engagement from teens came from the at-will aspects of our Summer Learning Program. As a result, not enough content was generated to launch JPL Teen Magazine during the summer months. Staff anticipate renewed engagement during the school year as schedules become more regular, and we look forward to both a vibrant Teen Advisory Board and JPL Teen Magazine in the months to come.
Other resources
Click here to see one of our most-viewed book trailers of the summer: https://youtu.be/PV6xnemOhBk