Public libraries have always been at the heart of community development and growth in the United States. In the third century of their service to the nation, public libraries exemplify a unique source of cultural experiences and space for socialization and inclusion (McCook, 2011).
Public libraries in America and elsewhere make a concerted effort to follow and meet the changing demands of diverse communities. Young adults have already become one of the main cultural targets of public libraries in the U.S. (Sannwald, 2007). Morrow Branch of the Clayton County Library System is no exception: professionals at Morrow Branch offer a variety of public programs and socialization opportunities for teenagers.
Regular movie evenings add to the assortment of events held by Morrow Branch on a regular basis. In this way, public librarians try to enhance the development of self-conscious, literate, and independent citizens and, simultaneously, enrich and educate young adults through inclusion and lifelong learning.
Clayton County Library System, Morrow Branch: An Overview
Clayton County Library System is well-known for its commitment to providing community members with a diverse set of library services (Clayton County Library System, 2011). The organization’s mission is
to contribute to the success of the citizens of our diverse community by offering a full range of library services that meet their informational, educational and leisure interests, fostering the love of reading in our youth and the lifelong pursuit of knowledge for all. (Clayton County Library System, 2011)
The system operates through six different branches, with the total of 475,740 books available to readers and over 4,500 participants in the 2010 Summer Reading Program (Clayton County Library System, 2011).
Morrow Branch works six days a week, covers almost 10,000 square feet of library and meeting space, with shelf space for 60,000 books, general seating for at least 100 visitors, and a meeting room for 50 people (Clayton County Library System, 2011). Morrow Branch has a well-designed area for children, with a story time corner (Clayton County Library System, 2011).
The amount and scope of library events offered by Morrow Branch are difficult to overestimate. In September alone, the branch featured a number of public library events for teenagers, including movies and board game fun arrangements (Clayton County Library System, 2011).
The branch provides teenagers with regular movie viewing opportunities. It goes without saying, that all movies and movie events are designed to promote inclusion and foster socialization among local youths.
For October 2011, Morrow Branch’s schedule includes five different events, from Monday Night Movie to Creepy Crafts (Clayton County Library System, 2011). Certainly, five events per month can hardly suffice to increase youth’s participation in public activities, but Morrow Branch of Clayton County Library System is doing everything possible to foster community growth and enhance the quality of youth’s out-of-school time.
Movie ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ – Adding Value to Social Activities among Teens
On September 26, 2011, Morrow Branch invited teens to watch the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. The program began at 6PM and lasted until 8:15PM. The movie itself lasted 130 minutes, with the remaining time devoted to the discussion of the questions raised by the movie.
The program was initiated and introduced by the Senior Library Assistant Doug Iberg, who offered a brief insight into the meaning of public library programs and expressed hope that the event would help the teens to understand the meaning of personal and community values.
Fried Green Tomatoes is a story of a housewife unhappy in her marriage, who develops a unique caring relationship with an old woman living in a nursing home. This friendship allows the woman to become more assertive and stubborn in achieving her goals. The movie uncovers the significance of friendship in any person’s life and teaches teenagers to value their relationships with each other.
The public library program ran for more than two hours, which gave teen participants enough time to share their experiences about friendship. The event was part of the series of movie programs held by Morrow Branch on a regular basis. On September 26, 2011, sixteen teenagers aged 10-13 attended the event. Most were from well-established middle-class families and confessed they were looking for quality time beyond school.
Whether or not the program was of high quality is difficult to define. The absence of strict and universal quality criteria makes such evaluations challenging and problematic. It would be fair to say that the discussed event was not a program in a usual sense of this word. Rather, it was an unstructured movie-watching activity, and teen participants were free to choose discussion questions and topics.
More important is the question of appropriateness: is movie-watching an appropriate way to engage youth in meaningful social activities? The answer to this question is: yes, it is. Actually, the problem of public events for youths dates back to the beginning of the 1970s, when the lack of book stores, movie houses, and drop-in centers turned into a serious barrier to youth development and maturation (Manthorne, 1971).
Public libraries were among the first to welcome and encourage the inflow of young people into community activities (Manthorne, 1971). Even a simple movie-watching event is appropriate, when it provides a better understanding of life and its complexities and expands inclusion and socialization opportunities for teenagers. Movie watching is what many teenagers find attractive and interesting (Quinn, 1999).
It is an engaging and constructive community program that keeps teens involved when school is out (Quinn, 1999). Teens naturally seek safe places to learn and socialize during nonschool hours (Quinn, 1999). They also want to have fun, and this is what public library events can guarantee (Quinn, 1999).
Teenagers make up approximately 25% of all library users in the U.S. (Hughes-Hassell & Miller, 2003), and simple and non-intrusive movie-watching activities can keep young people interested in other public library events. They encourage creativity and imagination (Garcia & Nelson, 2007).
In a community where teenagers seek quality nonschool time, movie-watching events are appropriate and meet the needs and expectations of the local youth.
The program targeted the youth segment of the community. Young people aged 13-17 were invited to participate in the movie-watching activity. The program itself and the number of attendees raised two important questions: first, whether public library programs are exactly what teens want and, second, whether public library programs can make a difference in how the entire community develops and grows.
To begin with, many young people report boredom and willingness to diversify their nonschool activities (Marczak, Dworkin, Skuza & Beyer, 2006). Most claim that ‘hanging out with friends’ provides activity and involvement that keep young people satisfied (Marczak et al, 2006). Young people also want to participate in small-group interest-based activities (Marczak et al, 2006).
Young adults need public library spaces, where they can watch television, listen to music, and be as loud as they want without disturbing other visitors (Sannwald, 2007). It goes without saying that the discussed event exemplified a unique blend of socialization, involvement, flexibility, leisure, and small-group interest-based activities, which could keep teens interested and, simultaneously, expand their outlook.
Even an event as simple as movie watching can contribute to the development of self-conscious and independent youth. Public libraries can and do make a difference in how communities develop and grow.
An event like this can promote the development of self-confident citizens, meet the informational and emotional needs of teenagers, enhance their capacity for self-improvement, and empower teens and the rest of the community by offering easy access to new ideas, information, and lifelong learning (Durrance & Fisher, 2003).
Unfortunately, the program lacks a social marketing angle. That is, Morrow Branch fails to utilize the social media potential to the fullest. The only way public events are advertised is through the library’s official website. Morrow Branch does not disseminate information about events through other media.
This is probably why the number of attendees was so small: with the meeting space for up to 50 people, 16 attendees created an impression of emptiness. To improve the program, Morrow Branch professionals must finally recognize the value of social marketing tools.
Other improvements must include:
- increased collaboration with school teachers;
- increased use of technologies and information resources during public library events;
- parent involvement in the development and provision of public library activities;
- free and easy access to books related to the topic of each public library event.
According to Koechlin and Zwaan (2002), public librarians must collaborate with school teachers, to establish connections between public library events and curriculum content.
These improvements will allow for providing quality leadership and improved capacity for teen individual growth and academic achievement. Eventually, it is through these program improvements that Morrow Branch will benefit the entire community, through participation, growth, maturation, socialization, and inclusion.
References
Clayton County Library System. (2011). Morrow Branch. Clayton County Library System. Retrieved from https://claytonpl.org/
Durrance, J.C. & Fisher, K.E. (2003). Determining how libraries and librarians help. Library Trends, 51(4), 305-334.
Garcia, J. & Nelson, S. (2007). Public library services responses. Public Library Association.
Hughes-Hassell, S. & Miller, E.T. (2003). Public library websites for young adults: Meeting the needs of today’s teens online. Library & Information Science Research, 25, 143-156.
Koechlin, C. & Zwaan, S. (2002). Making library programs count: Where’s the evidence? Student Achievement, 22(2), 21-23.
Manthorne, J. (1971, October). Provisions and programs for disadvantaged young people. Library Trends, 416-431.
Marczak, M.S., Dworkin, J., Skuza, J. & Beyer, J. (2006). What’s up? What young teens and parents want from youth programs. New Directions for Youth Development, 112, 45-56.
McCook, K. (2011). Introduction to public librarianship. 2nd edition. New York: Neal- Schuman Publishers.
Quinn, J. (1999). Where need meets opportunity: Youth development programs for early teens. The Future of Children, 9(2), 96-116.
Sannwald, W.W. (2007). Designing libraries for customers. Library Administration & Management, 21(3), 131-138.