Home  Michele Gorman Spotlight

Group Name: Wired @ Carver! Teen Advisory Group Library Name: George Washington Carver Branch of the Austin Public Library Advisor(s) Name: Michele Gorman Program Name: Wired for Youth What year did the TAG start? 2000 How often does the TAG meet? monthly How many members does your TAG currently have? Currently, 10. However, it varies by year and I have had as few as 8 and as many as 17 active members in past years. How do you recruit members for your TAG? Word of mouth, flyers in the library, rave cards, school visits, the Wired for Youth E-mail Distribution List, postings on the WFY Web site, and active recruiting in the library. Does the TAG have a particular focus? For example, do members work primarily on collection development, intergenerational projects, reading projects, technology-based projects, and so on? If so, how did this focus come about?  As a group, they help create the Wired@Carver! Newsletter, participate with collection development (I have several sub-committees that help select YA fiction, graphic novels, manga, CDs, and DVDs.), help plan programs and special events, give community feedback when applicable, and basically keep their proverbial thumbs on the pulse of the library’s large teen community.

What recent projects have TAG members developed?  We have just recently moved into a newly renovated library and so we have some extra funding to fill in the gaps of our collection. Therefore, TAG members are currently helping me select materials (with an emphasis on graphic novels and fiction for teens) by going through lists of recommended titles and finding books that we don’t currently have in our collection. They are also getting recommendations from friends at school, church, and the neighborhood so we can develop a more authentic, “teen oriented” collection of popular materials. They also recently helped develop teen-friendly questions for a series of citywide Teen Focus Groups that were held to help the Austin Public Library create a Strategic Plan for the future.

What is a favorite or unique project that your TAG developed?  My favorite project was when they helped plan and carry out a celebration in honor of Women’s History Month where we celebrated women in the community and threw a party in honor of the contribution of women from politicians to media personalities, to sports heroes, to moms everywhere. They helped develop the theme (Celebration of Women: Cornerstones of Our Community), select members of the community to honor, create promotional materials, decorate, and actively participate during the ceremony and after party.

What advice do you have for someone starting a TAG?  The best advice I can give anyone planning any project that centers around teens is “Be flexible!” My advice specifically for teen librarians interested in developing a teen advisory group is to be sure you are allowing for meaningful participation. When you ask them for their advice - take it. If for some reason you cannot take their advice (e.g. ordering certain titles or planning a lock-in), let them know why and work together to come up with an alternate plan. Carry through with their suggestions, allow them to actively plan events, and remember that the whole idea behind having a teen advisory group is so teens can meaningfully contribute to the library community.

What do you think is the hardest part of running a TAG and how do you handle that difficulty?  I think the hardest part is that you are dealing with a bunch of teens who have extraordinarily busy schedules. I deal with this by having a set time each month for meetings and keeping the meetings short and to the point. I also have e-mail addresses for my committee members and often ask questions and/or get feedback from them as a group via an e-mail distribution list. What is your favorite part of running a TAG?  I love seeing them be active, contributing members of the library community. I also really like interacting with the teens on a more personal level because I feel like each interaction helps them realize that I do care. I care about them and I care about making the library a interesting, easy to use, teen-oriented place where they can feel comfortable asking for help, finding something to read, or simply hanging out after school and reading a magazine or sending an e-mail.

Are there materials you suggest librarians planning a TAG read/access to help them get started?   The new, 3^rd edition of Connecting Young Adults and Libraries by Patrick Jones, myself, and Tricia Suellentrop (Neal-Schuman 2004) has a lot of really great information for LSTs (librarians serving teens) about teen advisory groups including reproducible forms such as a TAG Participation Survey, a TAG Application, a Teen Comment Card, and more. I also think Topica’s Teen Advisory Groups - Advisory Discussion (TAGAD-L) Listserv is a good resource for librarians interested in being a part of virtual community of like-minded librarians who are also in the trenches and dealing with issues related to the development and continuation of teen advisory groups. To subscribe send en e-mail to tagad-l-subscribe@topica.com.

You can reach Michele at michele.gorman@ci.austin.tx.us