Day 4 of my Practicum

I got to see some really cool stuff on Thursday, including a rough edit of a TV show segment about library services that HCLIB is doing in conjunction with a local Somali television program. They are aiming to have the video ready in time for an early November Somali book festival so that they can distribute it...and they will also be broadcasting it on local and statewide television statements! It is really neat to see a video that directly addresses the Somali community and is made in collaboration with respected members of the Somali community leaders. I hear that the teens that are in the video can't wait for their television debut!

I also had a chance to visit the North Regional branch, which is in an impoverished area on the North side of downtowm Minneapolis. I had a great talk with the youth services librarian, who told me lots about what they are doing with kids and teens at their branch. School was out Thursday and Friday for MEA days (statewide professional development days), so I watched several teens as they lay down beats using a program called GarageBand on a MAC computer that is on loan as part of a collaboration with the Science Museum. The library opened at 12, and every computer was filled by 12:30 - just like a day with no school at Northern Lights!

Like most Minneapolis libraries, they offer homework help throughout the week, and North Regional also offers various activities for kids right after school, Tuesday through Thursday. Tuesdays are "wordplay" activities, Wednesdays are "science" and Thursdays are "crafty" activities. I love this idea, and it works well here in part because they have a beautiful space called a "discovery room." They do homework help in this area for younger kids and the teens work in the upstairs area. There is an open lab and teen gaming room upstairs, and they often let teens do gaming once they finish their homework as a special reward. They also have regular teen gaming programs once a week. They offer an impressive roster of computer and business classes, as well as regular storytimes for young children.

I particularly like that when they redesigned the space several years ago, they flipped the adult and kids areas so that the adult area is sort of off to one side and has a lower ceiling that creates a more soundproof environment. This is a "quiet zone," and the computers are only available for adults. All of their computers are limited by age range, depending on where in the library they are located. I am so unhappy that I forgot my camera yesterday, or I would share photos!

I finished my evening at the Franklin Learning Center and got to meet staff and talk for a while with Lily about their teen center. I am excited about bringing some of these ideas back to CML, because they are really working...more on that later!