Teens at VPL: Vancouver Public Library

Photo Credit: Vancouver Public Library

Vancouver Public Library. (2015) Teens at VPL. Retrieved from http://guides.vpl.ca/teens.

The teen website for the Vancouver Public Library looks very similar to the course guides here at Dalhousie University. It has the main page with links across the top, "What's Happening", "Community Service Opportunities", "Books and More", "Resources", "citizenU" and "TeenRC". In the "What's Happening" link there is a section for programs and contests which leads you to the Events Calendar. In the "Community Service Opportunities" there are the, Teen & Tween advisory group, the manga group, reading buddies and another link for community service opportunities. THe "Books and More" link has lists that help you figure out other things to read if you like certain titles or authors. The resources tab has things like health, education, and relationships. CitizenU is a program to combat bullying, and TeenRC is the teen reading club website. The reading club is for people who are 12-18.

The Vancouver Public Library Teen section doesn't look like it would be appealing to the teens. However the resources that are on there look like they would be very helpful. They have a wide variety of resources that the teens might need, from  reading advisory, to heath and homework help. The age group that would find this appealing would be wide because of the variety of resources available.

Rating: 4/5

Teen Zone - Annapolis Valley Regional Library

Photo Credit: Annapolis Valley Regional Library

Annapolis Valley Regional Library. (2015). Teen Zone. Retrieved from http://www.valleylibrary.ca/teen-zone.

The Annapolis Valley Regional Library has a sections for teens called the "Teen Zone" the main page has quick links to "My account", "Ask Us" as well as "Get a Library Card". There are also links for "Teen Council", "Girl Power", and "March Break 2015" as well as a list of other activities and latest news for the library. Along the side of the main page there is a small list of new teen books. I clicked through to the Girl Power page to see what it was about. It is a program for any girl that is age 10-15 they do a variety of things, they talk, they do crafts, write, surf the web bake play games among other things. I don't understand why it wouldn't just be marketed to all teens instead of making it just for girls however. The Teen Council is for teens who are 13-17 years old who meet at the Kentville Library on Sunday afternoons. From the looks of their website they hold parties for the teens as well as other things throughout the year.

The main page of the teen section doesn't seem like it would be appealing to anyone much less to a teen. When you click through to some of the sections of the website you get taken off of the library's website and to wordpress sites. These look like someone made an effort to make the sites more appealing to teens. The Girl Power site is clearly directed towards girls but it doesn't look like they are targeting the younger end or the older end of the age bracket. The Teen Zone website looks like they tried to be neither too "girly" or too boyish. They chose to stick with black and grey with red accents and the pages look like loose leaf. The fact that they made it so it wouldn't seem to be leaning toward either group as well as posting pictures of both on the site might
make new teens wish to join in.

Rating: 3.5/5