Readers’ Advisory for Teens

• Would you like to learn more about young adult literature and the kinds of books and media that teens are interested in?
• Would you like to be more comfortable in recommending books and media to teens for pleasure reading, listening, and viewing?
• Are you looking for more ways to effectively share your library's collection with teens?

This four-week online course will help you become a better readers' advisor to the teens in your community by providing the opportunity to learn more about young adult literature. During the course you will explore what teens are looking for in pleasure reading, listening, and viewing, and get some tips on how to help them find what they're looking for. Along with a variety of good reader's advisory tools, instructor Sarah Flowers will also guide learners through the process of developing their own customized tools, including booklists, displays, book trailers, and booktalks.

Course Description: Through readings, assignments and discussion forums, learners will have an opportunity to know more about the history of young adult reading interests. They will learn some techniques to help them both direct their own reading and offer appropriate suggestions to the teens in their library. There will be one live online meeting on Thursday May 3 @1pm Pacific time during which learners will explore ways of promoting and marketing materials to teens.

Course Outline: When you log in to the Infopeople online learning site, you will see weekly modules with these topics:

• Week 1 Topic: Getting Started
  • What is readers' advisory?
  • What is YA Literature?
  • Genres vs. formats
  • Whole library approach
  • Diversity
  • Approaches to teens
  • How readers' advisory for teens differs from readers' advisory for adults
  • Judging a book by its cover
• Week 2 Topic: Why do we like the books we like?
  • Understanding Appeal
  • Pacing/Plot
  • Characterization
  • Setting/Frame
  • Style (straightforward, layers, etc.)
  • Identifying Appeal
  • Readalikes
  • Keeping Track
• Week 3 Topic: Making Connections
  • The RA Interview
  • Resources for RA
  • Keeping up
  • Using Book Prizes and Selected Lists in the Library
  • Writing annotations
• Week 4 Topic: Sharing
  • Booktalks
  • Displays
  • Book trailers
  • Booklists
  • Book clubs

Pre-course Assignment: None

Time Required: To complete this course, you can expect to spend 2 ½ hours per week, for a total of ten course hours. Each week's module contains readings and various options for assignments, discussions, or online meetings. You can choose the options most relevant to your work and interests. Although you can work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night, it is recommended that you complete each week's work within that week to stay in sync with other learners.

Who Should Take This Course: Anyone who works with teens in a library setting and would like to improve their skills in recommending materials to teens. Teen librarians, school librarians, children's librarians, adult services librarians, library support staff.

Online Learning Details and System Requirements may be found at: infopeople.org/training/online_learning_details.

After the official end date for the course, the instructor will be available for limited consultation and support for two more weeks, and the course material will stay up for an additional two weeks after that. These extra weeks give those who have fallen behind time to work independently to complete the course.

Keywords: Reader's advisory , Teen services