Running head: ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Adolescent Literacy and the Public Library

Michele Lockleair
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
19 April 2015

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Adolescent Literacy and the Public Library

What is literacy?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines literacy as the ability to read and write and
knowledge that relates to a specified subject (Merriam-Webster, 2015). Adolescent literacy in
the 21st century is more than decoding words on a page or knowing information about a subject.
It is more than simply being able to read and write, students need the ability to comprehend
difficult texts and to communicate socially and electronically in effective and meaningful ways
(Wendt, 2013). Even this is not enough in todays technological society. Comprehension may be
the next step in literacy, and even though the comprehension piece is important, one needs to
even go beyond that to the interpretation and making meaning place (Braun, 2004). Elizabeth
Birr Moje describes this process as being able to understand what the author is trying to say and
then making meaning of it (Braun, 2004). Even this step leaves something out. Students also
need to be able to make meaning across textsmake meaning out of one text and then make
meaning of that text in the context of another textto synthesize ideas across texts (Braun,
2004). Unfortunately, as studies have found many secondary students lack basic literacy skills
(Wendt, 2013). Todays students deserve better than this. They deserve an education that will
ensure their place in the workforce and as a healthy part of society. Heller explains that it is
increasingly impossible to find a decent entry-level job without at least a two-year college
degree, and even if they do get the job, workers are finding it increasingly difficult to climb the
career ladder unless they have the ability to communicate effectively, both in person and in
writing (The Scope of Adolescent Literacy Crisis, 2015). Heller states that according to a report
from the Educational Testing service that if middle and high schools continue to churn out large

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

numbers of students who lack the ability to read critically, write clearly, and communicate
effectively, then the labor market will soon be flooded with young people who have little to offer
employers and who cannot handle the jobs that are available (The Scope of Adolescent Literacy
Crisis, 2015). Most schools teach reading and writing through the third grade and believe this is
effective, but literacy skills need to be explicitly taught throughout the adolescent years
(Marchand-Martella, Martella, Modderman, Peterson, & Pan, 2013).
What is the problem?
America faces an education crisis. The problem should not be considered an elementary
problem, it is the problem of anyone that has contact with children of all ages from elementary to
middle to high school. According to The Alliance for Excellent Education the majority of
students are leaving high school without the reading and writing skills needed to succeed in
college and a career (Haynes, 2014). The National Assessment of Educational progress showed
that more than 60 percent of middle and high school students scored below the proficient
level in reading achievement (Haynes, 2014). This tells us that millions of young people
cannot understand or evaluate text, provide relevant details, or support inferences about the
written documents they read (Haynes, 2014). For the past three decades the majority of the
nations secondary school students have failed to demonstrate the expected competence in
reading and writing, and only a handful of students 3 percent of 8th graders, in 2007 have
been found to read at an advanced level (Heller, 2015). The statistics available show just how
dire our situation in the United States has become.

25% of all public high school students fail to graduate on time

74% of U.S. eighth-graders read below the proficient level

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

21% of public secondary schools do not have a paid, full-time, state-certified

librarian

49% of public libraries do not have one full-time staff member dedicated to youth
services
(YALSA)

The United Stated used to be the most powerful nation in the world and now they have slipped
in the world rankings to 11 out of 32 developed nations in college completion rates (Morrell,
2010). There needs to be increased federal attention to and funding for education (Morrell,
2010). Even though The United States holds only five percent of the worlds population, we
spend as much on our defense as the rest of the world combined (Morrell, 2010). If we believe
that education and literacy are fundamental to our nation then we have to spend on education
like we do on our national security (Morrell, 2010). The US Department of Education is playing
the blame game by stating that the problem lies with uninformed teachers, unskilled and
unmotivated students, and school districts that hold students to low standards (Morrell, 2010).
This only leads to increased standardization and increased assessment without increased
investment in the human capital of teachers and students and communities (Morrell, 2010).
Fletcher points out that Duffy and Hoffman questioned the emphasis on school and teacher
effectiveness being measured by increases in reading outcomes using standardised tests. They
expressed concern that as teachers are placed in a position where teaching to the test is
seemingly obligatory, that there will be diminished opportunities to use high order thinking
skills (A review of "effective" reading literacy practices for young adolescent 11 to 13 year old
students, 2014). This is a politically driven policy. On the other hand, this is a plus for the public
library because they are not bound by a certain curriculum that must be met, a certain

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

standardized test that students must pass, and so have a great deal of freedom that school
educators do not enjoy. The library is posed to be a great asset to the community and marvelous
supplement to schooling systems (Blair, 2010). Even so, the government needs to take
responsibility for its part in this situations because critical literacy is a matter of life and death
(Morrell, 2010). We must equip schools with the tools they need and the new media resources
that are required to tap into students facility with 21st-century literacies as we leverage this
knowledge and motivation to teach students academic skills and concepts (Morrell, 2010). Then
we need to invest in our youths and pay attention to them, we need to understand them - how
they live, what they do, who they are, and what they need (Morrell, 2010). We need to promote
youths and their talents and tell them that we believe in them, we are proud of them, we hear
them (Morrell, 2010).
What can public libraries do?
So, we can see that adolescent literacy is important and that change is needed, but that is
the job of the education system, right? Yes, the public education sector and the government need
to take steps to increase literacy across all sectors of education, but the public library is part of
the equation. Public libraries have always been part of the local community and have a vested
interest in the success of the children and teens, because they will grow up to, hopefully, be
productive adults in the community and supporters of the public library. Libraries are an
extension of the education system. They are a nexus for informal learning, offering interestdriven programming with the support of a librarian (Martin, 2015). Public libraries are
community information centers, informal educational centers, and cultural centers (Gilton,
2008). Libraries have always supplemented the work of teachers and school library media
specialists by providing homework assistance for teens in addition to cultural programs that

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

promote the love of reading (Gilton, 2008). The informal setting of the public library can
actually lead to better learning. Research shows that youth learn in completely informal spaces
such as fan fiction and video game communities (Martin, 2015). Public libraries that are tapping
into this technology can support inquiry-, interest-, and project-focused learning (Martin,
2015). The public library is situated in the perfect place between school and home to help youth
achieve (Martin, 2015). Many public libraries have already added anime clubs, gaming days,
and computer workshops to their programming lineup and Gale suggests programming that
includes content creation, problem solving, discovery, collaboration, and multiple literacies, such
as interactive media teen book clubs and video blog workshops (Martin, 2015) can help teens
succeed and leads to increased literacy.
Studies that looked at why teens dropped out of school revealed that 81% of dropouts
said they did not feel that school was relevant to them, and 47% of dropouts said that classes
were not interesting (Martin, 2015). Martin also expresses the fact that youth exposure to a
variety of experiences can have profound effects on youth interests and their approach to career
and future pathways (2015). Youth and teen librarians need to reach out to teens and show them
that they care and make connections between people and information (Jones, CONNECTING
YOUNG ADULTS AND LIBRARIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY, 2007). Jones goes on to say
that librarians that
respect the unique needs of teenagers will be approachable, nonjudgmental, and
accepting. They will be encouraging, tolerant, patient, persistent, and emphatic.
They will understand young adults their psychology, their literature, and even
their popular culture. They will advocate for intellectual freedom, for free access,

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

and for solving problems to knock down barriers to youth access. They will have
a sense of humour, involve youth, and be creative.
(CONNECTING YOUNG ADULTS AND LIBRARIES IN THE 21ST
CENTURY, 2007)
In order to produce healthy teens and healthy communities we need to create environments that
support the social, emotional, spiritual, physical, moral, and cognitive development of young
people. (Jones, CONNECTING YOUNG ADULTS AND LIBRARIES IN THE 21ST
CENTURY, 2007). Public libraries, just like public schools, cannot do all of this on their own it
needs to be holistic and include families, teachers, and other members of the community who
work to provide healthy youth development activities for young adults (Jones, New directions
for serving young adults means building more than our collections, 2002). We need to engage
teens daily with text and technology in such a way that they become more successful students
and healthier human beings (Jones, New directions for serving young adults means building
more than our collections, 2002).
There also needs to be more collaboration between public teen librarians and school
media librarians as well as teachers. Teen librarians should visit the school library and the school
media librarian should spend more time at the public library. This communication can help
increase literacy across all areas. Of course, teen librarians should not try to do everything that
is the main responsibility of the existing school library media specialist; but they should
definitely creatively supplement and support what school library media specialists already do
(Gilton, 2008).
The public library has an advantage over the school and other systems because they can
offer a space where teenagers can come and enjoy using technology they may not get anywhere

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

else, where they can interact with their peers in formal and informal ways. They can also interact
with adults in an open environment receptive to possibilities and take an active part in
community partnership programs (Blair, 2010). Young people are using computers and social
media in ways that could have never been imagined just ten or twenty years ago. This presents
new opportunities, needs, and challenges for libraries (Tripp, 2011). Public libraries have
always played an important role in helping young people gain access to computers and the
Internet (Tripp, 2011). For those that do not have the means to have their own computer and
Internet access libraries provide a technological lifeline by offering reliable Internet access
needed to complete school assignments, apply for jobs, or secure government services (Tripp,
2011). The question to ask is not what do young adults find in a school or public library when
they enter it, but rather what happens to those young adults as a result of checking out a book,
attending a book discussion program, spending time as a student assistant, or learning how to
locate information on the Internet (Jones, New directions for serving young adults means
building more than our collections, 2002)?
Teenagers have unique needs and another factor found to be uniquely impacting
teenagers is a biological shift in sleep cycles. A change in the circadian rhythm of teenagers
causes a transition to later sleepiness and later wakefulnessThis situation often creates a sleep
debt for teenagers during the week which they often try to recover from during the weekend.
While there is not much librarians can do about the academic schedule of the adolescents they
work with, knowing about the sleep and waking schedule of teenager can help then plan events
during prime waking hours when teens will be most alert. The public library is in a prime
position to offer activities during young adult waking hours by offering after school
programming during weekdays and trying to schedule weekend programs later in the afternoon

ADOLESCENT LITERACY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

(Blair, 2010). There is so much that has been recently found out about the brain development of
teens and if librarians are to properly serve this population we need to try to meet them on their
ground, and to do that we must understand as much as possible about the ground they stand on
(Blair, 2010).
Playing
Literacy can be achieved by other means than sitting with a book and learning to decipher
and comprehend it. Gaming is a new way that young adults can learn and that librarians can use
to teach literacy skills. Gee states that simply because the playing child is not studiously
deciphering the words on a printed page of a book does not mean he is not acquiring valuable
skills (Blair, 2010). At the beginning of the 21st century, students more than ever need to learn
the skills to solve information problems and become information literate, in many schools they
are instead focused on drills to learn skills used primarily to pass a politically mandated test
(Jones, New directions for serving young adults means building more than our collections,
2002). The public library needs to offer services that include increased student learning and
achievement (Jones, New directions for serving young adults means building more than our
collections, 2002). Many public libraries have gaming systems and are offering evenings where
teenagers can come to the library and play together (Blair, 2010). This is a great idea and it
appeals to a commonly known interest of teenagers and displays a willingness on the part of
librarians to cater to different intelligences and facilitate learning in various semiotic domains
(Blair, 2010).
Digital Youth Project
Youths use different terms to describe what it is they like to do. These are categorized as
the 3 modes of engagement-hanging out, messing around, geeking out, and even though they

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may seem trivial- they are highly motivating and deeply meaningful to young people (Tripp,
2011). Teens maintain social relationshipsthrough and mediated by media and
communication technologies, access to media for hanging out makes it possible for young people
to participate in important aspects of social life and development (Tripp, 2011). When we allow
them time to experiment and tinker with media as they pursue self-directed interests, this can
provide a stepping-stone to deeper engagement, and help them to actively seek out new ways
to learn and improve their skills (Tripp, 2011). This learning cannot happen at school because
the nature and quality of this access is routinely constrained by institutional policies and norms
that emphasize adult-driven assignments and task-oriented activities (Tripp, 2011). The library
of the 21st century needs to be reinvented to become a place with relevant resources for teens.
YouMedia in Chicago has come up with a plan focused around the interests of teens. They have a
space for teens where workshops address a range of topics, such as video production, graphic
design, gaming, digital music, fan fiction, and anime (Tripp, 2011). Libraries need to
experiment with gaming nights, anime clubs, digital story stations, social network pages, book
blogs, or podcasting shows and show a commitment to continual growth and innovation to
provide the resources and services that users need and want (Tripp, 2011). As librarians, we
must pay attention to play as a way to deliver services since stories exist in more than one
modality (Ward-Crixell, 2007). In the 21st century, games are the ideal model for combining
content in different ways and incorporating problem solving into the gaming experience (WardCrixell, 2007). Jenkins said Its about thinking what it means to play as an alternative system of
learning (Ward-Crixell, 2007).

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Social media
Social media is a variety of web-based tools used to connect, collaborate, and create web
content and experiences (Young Adult Library Services Association, 2011). There are many
positive uses it provides an ideal environment for teens to share what they are learning or to
build something together online (Young Adult Library Services Association, 2011). Social
media also gives teens meaningful ways to use and improve reading and writing skills (Young
Adult Library Services Association, 2011).
What does it all mean?
According to the National Collaboration for Youth, youth development is a process
which prepares young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a
coordinated, progressive series of activities and experiences which help them to become socially,
morally, emotionally, physically, and cognitively competent (Waddle, 2001). The public library
can offer these challenges and other educational resources. Teens visit the library for a variety of
reasons, the top three reasons teens report for using public libraries was for research, to
volunteer, and to use the Internet (Loertscher & Woolls, 2002). Students know that the library is
a great source to help them in all of their endeavors:

79.6% public libraries offer online homework resources

89.6% of all public libraries offer access to online databases, with content
in virtually every school subject including history, literature and science

90% of students recognized that the school library helped boost their
confidence as proficient information seekers and users

91.8% of the students appreciated the school librarys help in sorting and
analyzing information and gaining media literacy

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Students in programs with more school librarians and extended library

hours scored 8.4 to 21.8% higher on ACT English tests and 11.7 to 16.7%
higher on ACT reading tests compared to students in schools where
libraries had fewer resources
(YALSA)

The work of the teen or youth public librarian is important and provides necessary service to the
community. Adolescent literacy is important and can be a focus of the public library. Clubs,
games, and workshops can all add to the literacy of adolescents and prepare them for a
successful future. As Jones said, being a librarian is not about buying the best books; it is about
developing better lives (Jones, New directions for serving young adults means building more
than our collections, 2002)

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References
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Blair, N. (2010). Raising the Bar in Public Libraries: Literacy, Adolescent Development and
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Braun, L. W. (2004, January/February). Making Meaning: An Interview with Elizabeth Birr
Moje. Public Libraries, pp. 30-32.
Fletcher, J. (2014). A review of "effective" reading literacy practices for young adolescent 11 to
13 year old students. Educational Review, 66(3), 293-310.
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