Darla Lager - SELCO-PLA Scholarship Recipient
Owatonna Public Library

I drove today, Bonnie Krueger rode with me, we didn’t get lost, imagine that. 

Catch a Northern Star:  Minnesota Authors Who Speak to Teens was my first program of the day. Authors Lois McMaster Bujold, Pete Hautman, Mary Logue, Adam Stemple and Caroline Stevermer spoke about how they had started out writing mostly for adults and how those books have now been embraced by teens. They spoke about now writing for teens and younger.  They spoke about the market and what publishers want.  Do you write what publishers want or what’s in you?  It was a good program.   Is Adam Stemple Jane Yolen’s son?  I wondered. Something he said made me think he is.  He is. 

My second program of the day was, Optimizing Space for Results: Library Spaces for Today’s Services.  This program was about space reallocation and improving the physical experience.  We listened to the speakers talk about the use of appropriate seating, a family focus in youth areas, a need for a café or informal seating, so the library can serve as a neutral meeting place, and that over crowded shelves discourage use.  We want the library to be the “third place” between home and work.  There are steps to take when getting started; define the project, plan the project, prepare the committee…make recommendations and finally implement changes.  There are 10 steps. Each is important to the success of any changes. 

The Young Adult Luncheon featuring Nancy Pearl was by far the best “event” of the day.  She was funny and great.  She talked about the joys of being a reader, but also the perils.   

The most intense and thought provoking program of the day for me was Raising Mediawise Kids. I wanted to go to Everyone is Getting Crabbier but it was full.  Now I am glad that it was.  The speaker, David Walsh, started out by saying, “Media is Powerful”.   I will share with you some of the statistics that blew my mind.  99% of households have a television set.  The average household has 2.6 television sets.  68% of children have a television set in their bedroom. 28% of babies under age 2 have televisions in their bedroom.  93% of American kids play video games on a regular bases. 

The following surprised me:  A week in the life of an American school-age child.  Computer time – 7 hours, Video games – 9 hours, television watching – 25 hours, time with dad -- .5 hours, time with mom – 2.5 hours,  homework – 4 hours and the one you’ve all been waiting for, time spent reading for pleasure in one week -- .5 hours. I won’t share all his statistics but I do want to tell you about the end of his talk.  Walsh talked about kids growing up in a “yes culture” where everything is “more-easy-fast-fun” and that kids are growing up with a lack of self-discipline.  He called it DDD, discipline deficit disorder and the symptoms are “a culture of disrespect, impatience, a need for instant gratification, unrealistic expectations, a sense of entitlement, self-centeredness and rampant consumerism.”  When he was talking, I was seeing some of the kids at the library.  Now I understand, I don’t like it, but I understand.  Dr. Walsh’s website is Mediawise.org 

The last program of the day for me was Making Space for Teens in Libraries.  When making a space for teens, it is important to involve teens in the planning.  Making a space for teens can be as simple as changing the decorations or as complicated as making over an existing space or creating a whole new design.  The speakers pointed out that teens make up 25% of a libraries core population.  One of the points they made was that teens do not sit like adults or younger kids, there are physiological reasons for this, we have to realize this and choose seating accordingly, not a table and chairs, but comfortable seating that allows the teens to sit anyway they choose.  They also said that the social experience is more important than the library collection; we need to build a space that reflects that. 

End Day 2

Darla Lager – Owatonna Public Library

Bonnie stayed in Minneapolis.  I drove home by myself, got lost. Surprise, surprise, I am directionally challenged.