CBAL 2012 Book List

Name  of Book	Author
Botany of Desire	Micheal Pollan
Marley and Me	John Grogon
Before I Go To Sleep	S J Watson
A Walk in the Woods	Bill Bryson
A Most Wanted Man	John Le Carre
Skin of the Lion	Michael Ondaatje
The Girls	Lori Lansens
Twenties Girl	Sophie Kinsella
The Friday Night Knitting Club	Kate Jacobs
Say You Are one of Them	Uwen Akpan
Anne of Green Gables	Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Deed of Paksenarrion	Elizabeth Moon
To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee
Captian Corelli's Mandolin	Louis de Bernieres
The Five People you Meet in Heaven	Mitch Albom
Kate - Biography of Katherine Hepburn	Willian J. Mann
A Complicated Kindness	Miriam Toewes
The Host	Stephanie Meyer
The Enchanted April	Elizabeth Van Arnim
A Fine Balance	Rohintin Mistry
Other Recommendations:
The Education of Little Tree	Forest Carter
The Sparrow	Mary Doria Russell

Youth Programming

As a Literacy Coordinator, I have tried to run a variety of youth literacy programs in my community.  These programs always seem interesting to me, but they never attract the droves of youth that I always expect.  My colleagues and I always try to speculate on why the programs just are not successful.  Our list of reasons always include:

• It's on a bad day of the week (there's basketball, or hockey, or Lego Club that day)
• It's at a bad location (kids have to walk too far to get there)
• We hired the wrong facilitator (that person just doesn't know how to connect with youth)
• Kids are busy and just don't want to add something else to their schedule
• The program is too much like school, so kids just don't want to participate
• The topic isn't interesting to youth
• We didn't advertise the right way, or in the right places

Earlier this school year, we surveyed youth in two different schools.  The results confirmed that youth are busy.  The vast majority of youth are already involved in extra-curricular activities.  We also found out that a lot of kids are interested in things like creative writing, web design, and photojournalism.  The most surprising result was that kids are most comfortable attending programs that happen at the school.  This is all very interesting, but as I write this paragraph, I realize that I still don't have the information I need to create a dynamic youth program.

A few months ago, I began researching effective youth programming.  In my reading and endless Google searches, I discovered some essential practices engaged in by all successful youth programs.  They were:

1. Youth Leadership
2. Mentorship
3. Community Involvement

Youth Leadership

It is very difficult for adults, some of whom are further removed from the teenaged years than others, to remember what is like to be in that transitional stage between childhood and adulthood.  As such, we often assume certain things about youth habits and interests that are no longer relevant.  Even if we do understand current youth culture, our tendency as adults to "lead" sometimes turns youth off of the opportunities we are creating for them.

The key to creating dynamic youth programs is involving youth in all stages of the program development and implementation.  Handing over this control ensures that:

• The program topics are interesting and relevant to youth;
• The program location is appropriate;
• The facilitator is someone youth can connect with;
• The program happens on an appropriate day;
• The advertising is designed for youth, and is released through relevant media;
• The format of the program is enticing for youth.

As you can see, involving youth clears up all of the problems my colleagues and I identified when our programs failed.

Mentorship

As I was doing my research, the recurring discussion around the importance of mentorship in youth programming was surprising to me.  I assumed that youth would want as little interaction with adults as possible in extra-curricular programming, but that is not the case.  The effective implementation of mentorship programs makes for a highly successful youth program.  This shouldn't have surprised me as the development of meaningful relationships has resonance at all stages in life.

Mentorship can be a double-edged sword, however.  If implemented without the necessary training, supervision, and mentor screening, mentorship can have a detrimental effect on youth, especially on at-risk youth.  If a full-fledged mentorship program isn't possible, involving adult members of the community in regular and meaningful ways can provide youth with valuable role models.

Community Involvment


It takes time for a program to become entrenched in youth culture.  Long term programs need sustainable, long term funding sources, which cannot always be provided by the point organization.  The involvement of a variety of community members can ensure the survival of a program on a financial level.

The benefits of involving the community in the youth program, and the youth program in the community, reach a lot further than finances.  By recognizing and being involved in a youth program, community members bring importance and legitimacy to the project.  They also provide knowledge and opportunities to youth.  Youth become contributing members of the community as they volunteer, and interact positively with community members.  As a result of community involvement, programs can become a great deal more holistic.


Adults who are attempting to institute youth programs in their communities obviously care about youth, and want to create successful programs.  However, our ideas, no matter how good, are still our ideas.  We need to put the power of planning into the hands of our teenagers, while offering them strong support in order to be effective.  By working together, we can develop highly relevant youth programs that address literacy needs, develop new interests and passions, and raise up strong leaders.




Credit for most of the information in this blog post is attributed to a report entitled:

Best Practices for Youth Programs

Jennifer Bonnell, Tom Ziys

Prepared for the United Way of Greater Toronto

http://www.unitedwaytoronto.com/downloads/whatWeDo/reports/YouthBestPractices-FinalPublicReport.pdf