How to Raise Boys Who Read (Hint: Not with gross-out books and video-game bribes) I think what I hate seeing in these types of articles is the general “GAMES BAD BOOKS GOOD” thing (for the full effect, imagine The Incredible Hulk saying that). Perhaps I’m only seeing this because of my interest in gaming (I am one of the co-founders of 8BitLibrary.com). I don’t know. I try to read articles like that from the approach of my parents, who are middle class, everyday blue collar folks who have their high school diploma. What would they think? I think they’d come […]
Tags Justin Hoenke
67 posts
At my library, we recently started up a circulating video game collection. Since we didn’t have a huge budget and we knew the collection was going to be rather small, we opted to go stark naked with security. There’s also an amazing vibe here in Portland, Maine. People really have a lot of trust in each other and everyone has a lot of faith in each other. We put the games out on the shelf in the cases, did our best to monitor things, and went about our business at the library. Recently, we’ve had some stuff stolen. Instead of […]
Two teens from Italy in Portland, ME over the summer. One teen librarian. What the heck is gonna bring them together? It’s not a mind blowing idea. But I will tell you this…it works. Here’s our simple story about how we bonded thanks to some technology. For the first two days, our interaction was limited to “computer” and “yes”. They wanted the computer and I was happy to provide them with access. It seemed to be the one bright point in their time at the library. They could log onto to Facebook and chat with their friends back home. Smiles […]
Three weeks have passed since the Portland Public Library reopened after a lengthy renovation (which I wrote about here). The addition of a teen area is a completely new idea for the community of Portland, Maine. At first, teens didn’t really understand that this was THEIR space. However, over the last week or so they’ve started to trickle in and discover the space. So what are they doing? They’re connecting with their friends on Facebook in our computer lab. They’re relaxing and tweeting on their IPads in our teen lounge. They’re using their netbooks anywhere they can find a spot. And don’t […]
Let me say this: change is extremely difficult. It’s also not a quick fix, but a process that may go on for many years. Change also has many hills and valleys and sometimes you can’t see the destination. In the end, however, change is totally worth all the ups and downs that come with it. Over the past few months, I’ve experienced a lot of change in my career as a librarian. I started off the year as the Teen Librarian at the Cape May County Library in Southern, NJ. In February, I accepted a position as the new Teen […]
It’s easy for any library to have a social media presence these days. Translating that into success with serving a teen population? Well, that’s another thing… Be Yourself The discussion of personal and professional profiles always comes up. I didn’t want to have two profiles (done it before, hated it) so I had to make a decision: add teens to my own accounts or hide myself far, far away. I went with what some may consider to be the unpopular route. I added them to my own accounts. I feel like it has made a world of difference. I am […]
Note from Michael: I’m serving as a mentor for ALA Emerging Leaders Group J this year. One of the members of this outstanding group is Justin Hoenke, who’s joining the TTW family as a contributor. This is his first post. What does it mean to be an ALA Emerging Leader? I’ve heard a lot of things come out of peoples’ mouths. Some have told me that it’s just something fancy to put on my resume, others that it’s just a lot of work that will remind you of a library school project. I’m not big on negativity, so I’ve […]