Each year in the Spring, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream runs a “free cone” promo at their stores. Kids (and parents) line up around the block—last year my two ice cream junkies waited 40 minutes—40 minutes on line and the cone was gone in five! Luckily, the goodies from Free Comic Book Day should last quite a bit longer (and could bring returns for years).
All you need to do is stop by a participating comic store and make your free pick from a selection of titles like Archie, Superman, Hellboy, World of Aspen, X-men, Tiny Titans and many more. Seriously. These are free. I know you are thinking: “What’s the catch?” Nothing is free, right?
This seems like a fitting topic to tackle as we wind down Teen Tech Week 2008. As many of you are no-doubt familiar, a recent IMLS-sponsored Pew Internet Study looked at library use (among other things) and came to what some are calling surprising conclusions.
According to the study results, it appears that libraries indeed remain relevant in this internet age. In fact, the study found more than half of all Americans manged to visit libraries last year. Even more surprisingly, those tech-savvy, web-loving, Wikipedia using Gen-Yers were the biggest library users of all.
To start a discussion on the topic, WebJunction member alatreil asked:
“Would you say that Generation Y (18-30-year-olds) are your library’s heaviest users? What do you think this means for your library—and what does it mean for the nation’s libraries?“
As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Please post in the original thread, or here in the blog comments.
We’re on the cusp of the second annual YALSA Teen Tech week. The program encourages teens to “tune-in” and use their local library as the place they can become competent and ethical users of technologies ranging from research databases to DVD authoring to music downloads.
We’ve started a discussion thread to help the WJ community to share creative ideas for activities, promotions, and events. Come to think of it, this is also a great place for procrastinators (we know who we are) to harvest compelling, last-minute programming ideas.
As part of next week’s event, YALSA is conducting a two-phase survey to learn more about how teens access and use technology, including social networking sites; one bonus outcome of the week should mean a better understanding of teen technology habits and skills for all of us.
As always, we encourage you to post your ideas and experience (and images!) here and in the forums. Here are a few resources to get you started:
We look forward to hearing about your plans and experiences!
Start planning now for 2008 Teen Tech Week, March 2-8. The YALSA committee is providing you with a great way to start: a podcast on Blogging About Teens & Teen Services. Be sure to check out all the ways to get onboard, including the mini grants available (Jan 7 deadline) to YALSA members.
WebJunction is always looking for your stories about Teen Tech Week or other ways you’re promoting your Services for Teens. Keep us posted in discussions or share your comments here.