Your Name and Title:

Rebecca Renard, Teens of Distinction Program Coordinator

Library, School, or Organization Name:

DC Public Library

Co-Presenter Name(s):

 N/A

Area of the World from Which You Will Present:

Washington, DC, USA

Language in Which You Will Present:

English

Target Audience(s):

Public librarians, teen services librarians, school library media specialists

Short Session Description (one line):

Learn about DC Public Library’s teen volunteer program, Youth202—engaging teens in information-based content creation via social media and radio podcasting

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

In late summer of 2010, some teens were having a discussion about what would make the library an ideal “third space”. They said (roughly quoted), “We need something that we can go to, to get information about stuff that’s for us. You adults have the Washington Post and the City Paper and everything. We don’t have anything like that.” And thus, Youth202 was spawned. Youth202 (named after the area code for Washington, DC) is DC Public Library’s latest initiative in youth development, media literacy-development, and civic engagement for teens. In exchange for community service hours for school, local teens learn radio production, web writing, and research skills, to create the city’s first and only youth-maintained information-based radio podcast, web site, and Twitter feed. It’s teens researching and sharing information, to meet the information needs of other teens, fully exploiting the power and potential of web 2.0, community partnerships, and 21^st century library services.

Learn more about the Youth202 initiative and the promise of Library 2.0 for teens.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:

Twitter.com/youth202