This month I
had the exceptional opportunity to attend the Young Adult Library Services
Association (YALSA) Annual Symposium in Portland, Oregon. It was my first time
attending the conference and I was blown away by the experience. All of the
programs I was able to attend were incredibly useful and inspiring and the
camaraderie amongst the all the attendees was invigorating. I have only been a
YA library associate for a little over two months but this experience affirmed
that I am in a profession where my colleagues are by and large a wonderfully
supportive and passionate group of people.
It’s difficult
to pick a highlight of the conference since so much of the experience was
positive. Some of the programs I attended that I particularly enjoyed were on
the subjects of: starting teen theatre groups at the library, creating welcoming
physical space for teens in the library, helping LGBTQ teens transition out of
high school, using graphic novels to teach about race relations, and how to
introduce middle school students to more advanced YA literature. I learned so much from these sessions about why
YA library services are meaningful and about what fellow YA librarians are
doing to meet the ever-changing needs of their adolescent patrons. One phrase
in particular that I heard used over and over again which really stuck with me
as a simple yet all-encompassing objective for the YA librarian was “buy-in.” Like
stake holders in a business, the goal of “buy-in” is to get teens to be
supporters of library services by making them feel like active and significant
participants in the endeavor. This principle has been particularly helpful to
me as I start new teen programming at Waverly. My services will be most
effective if I can get the teens and young adults who use this branch to feel
invested in their library and rewarded for their commitment. I feel that after
attending the YALSA Symposium this year I am much more confident and prepared
to make the teen services at Waverly the best they can be!
Isabelle Briggs
Library Associate
Waverly Branch
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