Zen Master Allie Kat Flash

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Lifelong Learners

While the slideshow was dull ...
the message is true ....
for lifelong learners
it's never too soon, or too late ,to learn something new!

This is why I love working in youth services!
We work to inspire lifelong readers and library users. From baby storytimes to teen events, we have to keep convincing parents and children that we still have what they need and keep them interested.

This also what keeps us on our toes. We have to be on top of the latest trends and continually learn what's HOT and deliver it to the public. Especially with young adults and children, they are hardwired into technology - they are the key lifelong learners because they will always want to be ahead of the game and will constantly learn to keep up with those trends. We have much to learn from them.

MOST DIFFICULT PART FOR ME??

Using technology to my advantage!
It's a piece of cake using technology to my PERSONAL advantage. I love my ipod! .... and I'm addicted to RSS feeds and blogs and YouTube. And admittedly - MySpace.
However, trying to incorporate these technology trends into the library has often been met with resistance.

"If you don't offer them something they value now, you're going to be irrelevant to them for the rest of their lives. It's not a risk we can afford to take."
- Eli Neiburger, ALA Gaming in Libraries Symposium, December 2005


That's my difficulty ... convincing others that it is beneficial and NEEDED to incorporate social software on the library teen webpages, teen advisory boards need blogs and mysapce pages, teens should be allowed to podcast, we should be able to hook up our ipods for story time music instead of using cassette tapes, staff should have a listserv, patrons should be able to comment about books on a blog, the library director should have a blog, patrons should be able to text or IM a PBCLS librarian with questions, gaming should be promoted in full force!!

Especially since all this is fun! Web 2.0 technologies promote the sharing of ideas, creativity, and online communities.

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