This week, I commented on the official Young Adult Library Services Association blog (YALSA). The original post is titled Teen Read Week: Fiction Science (about the positive effects reading fiction has on our brains). A link to YALSA is here:
http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2012/10/11/fiction-science/comment-page-1/#comment-20301
Canadee, Amy. “Ten Tips for Starting a Teen Advisory Group”
Chapman, Jan. “The Care and Feeding of a Teen Advisory Board”
Canadee and Shapman's articles brought up similar points regarding Teen Advisory Boards (TABs). Both articles mention that any TAB should include time for teens to be social. Chapman points out that it's far more logical and realistic to plan for social time rather than attempting to ban it. I must agree, even though I have never created a TAB. The idea of social time, to me, is important for any group of people, regardless of their club's mission or their age. Socializing is important, and prevalent, throughout our lives. Book clubs, baby lap time sessions, church meetings - you name it, there is a social aspect associated. It's only natural, if we consider the implications. When people (teens or otherwise) go for a week or more without seeing one another, they're likely to check in once they do re-group. I worry that adults put teens in a box and treat them as separate entities. Teens are people like the rest of us: they want to feel welcomed, witness the completion of projects, and have an enjoyable time while doing so.
Forget about a week or more, teens tend to need social time if they are apart for an hour. Projects seem to be a logical extension to book clubs, and group projects can be very useful if all of the members of the group are really interested in the topic.
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