Teen Tech Week 2009

Celebrate YALSA's third annual Teen Tech Week, March 8–14!

News

Apply for a Teen Tech Week Mini Grant! YALSA will award up to twenty grants consisting of $450 in cash and $50 in Teen Tech Week products to libraries planning innovative programs, services or resources to celebrate Teen Tech Week. Read the rules and apply using this form (Google doc) or this application (Word doc) by Jan. 19, 2009. Winners will be notified the week of Feb. 9. Funding provided by the Verizon Foundation.

Registration is now open! Last year, more than 1,500 libraries across the U.S. registered for Teen Tech Week.

About Press Play

Teen Tech Week 2009, which will be celebrated March 8-14, is about connecting teens with different technologies, especially those available through the library. Teens can literally press play on digital devices such as mp3 players, DVD players, gaming controllers and more. Press Play @ the library can be interpreted broadly to make it work for you in your own library. One way to interpret the theme is to emphasize the word "play." Play can be about teens creating and sharing their own content for the fun of it, like videos, music, and digital artwork. Play through games can be encouraged with tournaments, tech trivia contests, and video games. The theme can also take a more educational direction. Teens can "press play" on various digital devices to learn more about the world around them. They can press play to watch film documentaries, listen to an audiobook, get online homework help, learn a new language and more. YALSA encourages librarians and educators to be creative and take the theme in a direction that works for them and their teens!

Why Celebrate?

Teens, in order to gain the skills necessary to compete in today's job market, need access to digital and online information and trained professionals who can help them use these resources effectively, efficiently and ethically. Librarians and educators know this and work with teens on a regular basis to ensure they develop these skills. Teen Tech Week is a chance for libraries to throw open their physical & virtual doors and show their communities all the great things they're doing for teens with technology.

Nearly 1 in 4 youth aged 8 to 18 do not have Internet access at home.
A June 2007 study conducted by Harris Interactive for ALA found that one-quarter of teens who regularly visit the public library and nearly one-third who regularly visit the school library said their primary reason is to use the library's computers for fun.
Multiple studies have shown that the majority of teens lack the critical thinking skills and technical expertise to use the Internet and other electronic resources effectively.

About Teen Tech Week

Teen Tech Week is a national initiative sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association and is aimed at teens, their parents, educators and other concerned adults. The purpose of the initiative is to ensure that teens are competent and ethical users of technologies, especially those that are offered through libraries such as DVDs, databases, audiobooks, and videogames. Teen Tech Week encourages teens to use libraries' nonprint resources for education and recreation, and to recognize that librarians are qualified, trusted professionals in the field of information technology. Teen Tech Week began in 2007 and has a general theme of Get Connected @ your library.

Teens’ use of nonprint resources has increased dramatically in recent years, yet more teens are doing this from home instead of the library. According to a recent study by Harris Interactive, in 2005, 86% of youth aged 8-18 have a computer in their home, and 74% have Internet access in their home. On average, 8-18 year olds spend 6 hours and 21 minutes per day using media (including TV, video/DVDs/movies, video games, audio media, computers and print media). Furthermore, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 71% of teens report that the Internet is their primary source for completing school projects. Yet multiple studies have shown that the majority of teens lack the critical thinking skills and technical expertise to use the Internet and other electronic resources effectively. Teens need to know that the library is a trusted resource for accessing information and that librarians are the experts who can help them develop the skills they need to use electronic resources effectively and efficiently.