Happy 2007! I was thinking today that I've been a librarian -- mostly working with teens -- for more than 10 years now, and began musing about how the profession has changed in that time. I came up with a few ideas, but I'm sure you can think of many more -- please leave a comment with your input. I would love to start a discussion on where teen books and library services are headed.
My top trends:
1. Manga and graphic novels. This area has exploded -- it's actually very exciting. Now every bookstore, and just about every library, has a graphic novel/manga section. Kids and teens (and adults) are reading Japanese comic books in huge numbers. I love that the teens I'm working with are so enthused about reading the next book in their favorite series, and that they are leaving libraries with stacks of these books.
2. Fantasy. Maybe it was Harry Potter, maybe just the mood of the moment, but I see teens reading and loving fantasy novels more than every before. I read mostly fantasy as a teen, but felt like it wasn't necessarily the coolest thing to do (and it was mostly from the adult fantasy/science fiction shelves of the library). Now there is still a demand for realistic fiction, of course, but almost everyone seems to be reading and talking about the latest fantasy series. Really wonderful!
3. Technology. I'm very excited about opportunities to offer services to teens online. Libraries have had web pages for teens before, but now with blogging, instant messaging, social networking, wikis, podcasting, etc. there are so many ways to reach teens. Web 2.0 also offers opportunities to let teens contribute, rather than being passive consumers of information. I'm looking forward to seeing more book discussion and reader's advisory services online, and more online communities of teen readers.
4. Teen participation. This has always been important -- I had a teen advisory council when I first started out as a librarian -- but I think that more recently librarians have realized that this is absolutely crucial. Adults may have a lot to offer teens, but they have just as much to offer us, and instead of trying to give them what we think they need, we have to let them shape the services.
What else? I know there are many things I'm missing from my list. I'm looking forward to hearing what others think!
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