1. Serving Teens and Young Adults
in the 21st Century
Stephen Abram, MLS
iSchool University of Toronto
Jan. 18, 2012

2. Me= Stephen Abram, MLS
 Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog, Librareo, etc.
 Author 2 dozen books & 1,000’s of articles and
columns
 100+ keynotes annually & Conference
Committees
 Leader: CLA, OLA, AIIP, SLA, IIC ITAC, SSP, etc.
 Adjunct Professor and Academic board
member
 Guest Professor at 100+ universities
 Library Journal Top 50 Influencer, Awards
 2 kids, 8 nieces/nephews, etc.
 Awards . . . Advocate . . . Advisor

3. Questions for Today
1. Why serve young adults differently? Does it
matter?
2. Is this the end of libraries as we know them?
3. Is this change in learning permanent?
4. Where is all this change taking us?
5. Do people still value the book? Teens?
6. What’s next for tech? Does it really change
everything?
7. What is the role for librarians with young people?

5. So, what exactly is changing?
Books In a word:
Media Everything
Mobility connected to
Collections
your world!
Libraries

6. News Flash #1
Librarians play a vital role in building the
critical connections between
information , knowledge and learning.

7. Very Big Secret
The Elephant in the Room

8. Change can happen very fast

9. 6 Things have Changed . . A LOT!
1. Learners, Students, Scholars, Research
ers, Teachers, Professors, Cardholders,
Users, Members, Patrons, Clients, Cust
omers
2. Books
The History of
3. Media Unintended
4. Mobility Consequences &
5. Collections Unpredictability
6. Libraries

10. “Choose . . .
To be a victim and feel these changes are fated and blame storm
OR
Create the future we need and take collective responsibility for
the conversation and development.”
Find Reasons not Excuses.

12. As technology advances

13. Emboldened Librarians hold the key

16. Using Customer Mindsets to Explore
Strategic Needs
 Librarians
 Professors
 Teachers
 & more

17. Personas Defined
Personas are hypothetical representations of a
natural grouping of users that drives decision-
making
They are not real people, but they represent real
people.
 They are defined by goals.
 They focus on what is valuable to the user and
subsequently on how he or she behaves.
17

18. Examples:
 Doctors
 Nurses
 Lawyers
 Librarians
 Teachers
 Professors
 Administrators

19. Doctors

20. Nurses

21. Lawyers

22. Librarians

23. Conan the Librarian

24. Librarians 1918

25. Librarians

26. Don’t piss them off.
Ok, sure. We’ve all got our little preconceived
notions about who librarians are and what they do.
Many people think of librarians as diminutive civil
servants, scuttling about “Sssh-ing” people and
stamping things. Well, think again buster.
Librarians have degrees. They go to graduate school
for Information Science and become masters of data
systems and human/computer interaction. Librarians
can catalog anything from an onion to a dog’s ear.
They could catalog you.
Librarians wield unfathomable power. With a flip of
the wrist they can hide your dissertation behind piles
of old Field and Stream magazines. They can find data
for your term paper that you never knew existed.
They may even point you toward new and
appropriate subject headings.
People become librarians because they know too
much. Their knowledge extends beyond mere
categories. They cannot be confined to disciplines.
Librarians are all-knowing and all-seeing. They bring
order to chaos. They bring wisdom and culture to the
masses. They preserve every aspect of human
knowledge. Librarians rule. And they will kick the
crap out of anyone who says otherwise.

27. RELEVANCE

28. PROGRAMS

29. Confusing
the
Customer

31. What is the Sun?
InfoTrac
GVRL
GDL
PowerSearch
Persistent URLs
Training Support
Apps, Webpages &
Mobile
Marketing Support
Etc.

33. Gateways / Experience Portals
1. Jobs & Careers (Career Transitions)
2. Business
3. Education PK-12 (In Context)
4. Home, Hobbies
5. Health & Wellness
6. History
7. Your Community & World (MyGovernment)
FUTURE
Adult Education(Lifelong Learning)
Literature

39. HOW MANY MOONS ARE THERE IN
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM?

40. 146 Moons plus 23 provisional moons
 Earth 37. Euporie 76. Tarvos 115. Mab 2. S/2003 J3
1. Earth's Moon 38. Orthosie 77. Ijiraq 116. Belinda 3. S/2003 J4
39. Sponde 78. Suttungr 117. Perdita 4. S/2003 J5
Mars 40. Kale 79. Mundilfari 118. Puck 5. S/2003 J9
2. Phobos 41. Pasithee 80. Albiorix 119. Cupid 6. S/2003 J10
3. Deimos 42. Hegemone 81. Skathi 120. Miranda 7. S/2003 J12
43. Mneme 82. Siarnaq 121. Francisco 8. S/2003 J15
Jupiter 44. Aoede 83. Thrymr 122. Ariel 9. S/2003 J16
4. Io 45. Thelxinoe 84. Narvi 123. Umbriel 10. S/2003 J18
5. Europa 46. Arche 85. Methone 124. Titania 11. S/2003 J19
6. Ganymede 47. Kallichore 86. Pallene 125. Oberon 12. S/2003 J23
7. Callisto 48. Helike 87. Polydeuces 126. Caliban 13. S/2010 J 1
8. Amalthea 49. Carpo 88. Daphnis 127. Stephano 14. S/2010 J 2
9. Himalia 50. Eukelade 89. Aegir 128. Trinculo
10. Elara 51. Cyllene 90. Bebhionn 129. Sycorax Saturn
11. Pasiphae 52. Kore 91. Bergelmir 130. Margaret 15. S/2004 S7
12. Sinope 53. Herse 92. Bestla 131. Prospero 16. S/2004 S12
13. Lysithea 93. Farbauti 132. Setebos 17. S/2004 S13
14. Carme Saturn 94. Fenrir 133. Ferdinand 18. S/2004 S17
15. Ananke 54. Mimas 95. Fornjot 19. S/2006 S1
16. Leda 55. Enceladus 96. Hati Neptune 20. S/2006 S3
17. Thebe 56. Tethys 97. Hyrrokkin 134. Triton 21. S/2007 S2
18. Adrastea 57. Dione 98. Kari 135. Nereid 22. S/2007 S3
19. Metis 58. Rhea 99. Loge 136. Naiad 23. S/2009 S1
20. Callirrhoe 59. Titan 100. Skoll 137. Thalassa
21. Themisto 60. Hyperion 101. Surtur 138. Despina
22. Megaclite 61. Iapetus 102. Greip 139. Galatea
23. Taygete 62. Erriapus 103. Jarnsaxa 140. Larissa
24. Chaldene 63. Phoebe 104. Tarqeq 141. Proteus
25. Harpalyke 64. Janus 105. Anthe 142. Halimede
26. Kalyke 65. Epimetheus 106. Aegaeon 143. Psamathe
27. Iocaste 66. Helene 144. Sao
28. Erinome 67. Telesto Uranus 145. Laomedeia
29. Isonoe 68. Calypso 107. Cordelia 146. Neso
30. Praxidike 69. Kiviuq 108. Ophelia
31. Autonoe 70. Atlas 109. Bianca
32. Thyone 71. Prometheus 110. Cressida
33. Hermippe 72. Pandora 111. Desdemona  Provisional Moons
34. Aitne 73. Pan 112. Juliet 
35. Eurydome 74. Ymir 113. Portia  Jupiter
36. Euanthe 75. Paaliaq 114. Rosalind 1. S/2003 J2

44. THE
Business
Jobs & GCL
Careers FUTURE
Home &
In Hobbies
Health Context
Wellness
Our
World
History

45. Don’t Sink into a Climate of Poverty

46. Is there still a future for
libraries in a web world?
Yes, but . . .

48. Change: Are libraries
Future Ready?

50. 1
2.0 Fill That Gap
3

54. What Are Libraries Really For?
• Community
• Learning
• Discovery
• Progress & Support
• Quality, Unbiased Answers
• Research (Applied and Theoretical)
• Cultural & Knowledge Custody / Conservation
• Economic Impact

55. Key Strategic Directions
Community Economic Support – SME’s,
entrepreneurs, jobs
K-2 Education Support – engaging the next
?
generation of users, teen programs
Supporting continuous learning, distance ed.
Alliances and Partnerships (e.g. COC, etc.)
Demographic alignments – Census, economic
reports, changing sectors / industries, seniors…

56. PROGRAMS

57. Smelly Or
Yellow Sex
Liquid Appeal?

58. Considering the Whole Experience

59. News Flash
“The Internet and technology have
now progressed to their infancy”

60. My son: Zachary

63. News Flash
News Flash
Shift Happens

64. E-Learning

65. E-Learning

78. People

80. What We Never Really Knew Before
 27% of our users are under 18.
 59% are female.
 29% are college students.
We often
 5% are professors and 6% are teachers.
believe a lot
 On any given day, 35% of our users are there for the
that isn’t
true. very first time!
 Only 29% found the databases via the library website.
 59% found what they were looking for on their first
search.
 72% trusted our content more than what they found
on Google.
 But, 81% still use Google.

81. People are Changing
 Demographic– Millennial, Boomer, Seniors
 Increased educational attainment & engagement
 eBooks outsell hard cover books, and will outsell
paperbacks soon (2011)
 Some libraries are crediting most cardholder
growth to e-book accessibility
 Personal device proliferation
 Some sectors are very tech-dominated
(farming, cattle, trucking, natural resources…)

82. People Have Changed
 Twitter & Facebook are dominated by the
middle aged
 Gaming too. . . Mothers in their 30’s
 Social networks fastest growing populations
are seniors and will be more international and
less urban and English.
 eBooks usage is largely middle-aged.
 Mobile data usage is growing beyond youth
very quickly, workplace use is huge

83. Have
Students
Changed?

86. NextGen Differences
 Increase in IQ - 15-25 Points
 Brain & Developmental Changes
 Eye Movement Changes
 Massive Behavioural Changes
 Major Decline in Crime Rates – 65%+
 But still a 70% behavior overlap
with Boomers (see Boomers &
Beyond)

87. Discovery & Ideas

88. Has the future changed?
Has our future changed?

90. COWS, etc.

94. The Future Discovered
• Stem Cells
• fMRI and The Brain
• Cloning
• Trucking and GPS
• Wind and other energy
• Nanotechnology
• Robotics
• Massive Book Digitization
• Music
• Translation
• Streaming Media
• Seed Bank

96. A 1965 iPhone

97. Can libraries keep up with change?
Can you recall buying a 45? Can you recall dials on TVs? Can you recall dialling?

99. Books

105. What does all this mean?
 The Article level universe
 The Chapter and Paragraph Universe
 Integrated with Visuals – graphics and charts
 Integrated with ‘video’
 Integrated with Sound and Speech
 Integrated with social web
 Integrated with interaction and not just
interactivity
 How would you enhance a book?

109. Borders Kobo, B&N Nook, Amazon Kindle, Apple iPad, Sony, etc. . . .

112. Mobility

113. Broadband
 You must clearly understand the latest US FCC
Whitespace Broadband Decision – THIS IS
TRANSFORMATIONAL and going global
 Local wired, mobile access ‘everywhere’ to
the home and workplace
 Geo-awareness: GIS, GPS, GEO-IP, etc.
 Wireless as a business strategy (Starbucks)
 Mobile dominates
 Largest generation

118. Grocery Stores

121. Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

122. Cookbooks, Chefs . . .

123. People Need Meals

128. Trans-Literacy: Move beyond reading & PC skills
 Reading literacy  News literacy
 Numeracy  Technology literacy
 Critical literacy  Information literacy
 Social literacy  Media literacy
 Computer literacy  Adaptive literacy
 Web literacy  Research literacy
 Content literacy  Academic literacy
 Written literacy  Reputation, Etc.

131. Can we frame the e-book issue so
that it can be addressed rationally?

132. MindMap: What is a book?
1. Reading
2. Learning
Reading 3. Pedagogy
4. Scaffolds
5. Research
6. Exploration
7. Reference
8. Engagement
9. Enjoyment
10.Evaluation

133. MindMap: What is a book?
1. Reading
2. Learning
3. Pedagogy
4. Research
5. Exploration
6. Reference
7. Engagement
8. Enjoyment
9. Evaluation

135. Books

136. Fiction

137. Non-Fiction

138. Encyclopedia

139. Reference

140. Directories

141. Dictionaries

142. Textbooks

143. Steal
This
Idea

145. The Baker’s Dozen
1. Health and Wellness / Community Health / Nutrition / Diet /
Recovery
2. DIY Do It Yourself Activities and Car Repair
3. Genealogy
4. Test prep (SAT, ACT, occupational tests, etc. etc.)
5. Legal Questions (including family law, divorce, adoption, etc)
6. Hobbies, Games and Gardening
7. Local History
8. Consumer reviews (Choosing a car, appliance, etc.)
9. Homework Help (grade school)
10. Technology Skills (software, hardware, web)
11. Government Programs, Services and Taxation
12. Self-help/personal development
13. Careers (jobs, counselling, etc.)

146. Library Goals
Be the Bee
Or be the Hive
Care

147. Strategic Thinking for Libraries
1. Choosing a Future
2. Setting Phased Priorities
3. Making Choices
4. Taking Action
5. Doing the Next Step
6. Adjusting Tactics with Experience
7. Seeking Feedback and Adjusting
8. Measuring Progress

148. Choosing Top Priorities
 Suppose that in three years:
 Majority of library use will be virtual – yes even
rural!
 Majority of Non-fiction Book circulation will be e-
books and Fiction will split 50/50 – digital/print
 All learning will be blended and continuous
 DVD is circulation is dead and most other [physical
formats in decline.
 Majority of questions will be virtual
 Use will be 20 / 40 / 40 (in house, virtual, mobile)
 Every user will be socially networked, connected and
engaged

151. Be More Open to the Users’ Paths -
Filtering

152. What do we need to know?
 How do library databases and virtual services
compare with other web experiences?
 Who are our core virtual users? Are there gaps?
 Does learning happen?
 What are user expectations for true satisfaction?
 How does library search compare to consumer
search like Google and retail or government?
 How do people find and connect with library virtual
services?
 Are end users being successful in their POV?
 Are they happy? Will they come back? Tell a friend?

153. Serve
Everyone!

154. To whom do I listen and follow?
 Justin Hoenke  Rebecca Jones & Jane
 YALSA Dysart
 Michael Stephens  Seth Godin
 Sara Houghton  Blake Carver
 Buffy Hamilton  JP Porcaro
 Bobbie Newman  Patrick Sweeney
 Gretchen Caserotti  Aaron Schmidt
 David Lee King  Don Tapscott
 Aaron

157. Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLA
VP strategic partnerships and markets
Cengage Learning (Gale)
Cel: 416-669-4855
stephen.abram@cengage.com
Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog
http://stephenslighthouse.com
Facebook: Stephen Abram
LinkedIn / Plaxo: Stephen Abram
Twitter: sabram
SlideShare: StephenAbram1