Sowing the seeds of praxis: Incorporating youth development principles in a library teen employment program

Abstract

The article summarizes the tradition of teen services in public libraries and discusses the more recent incorporation of youth development principles and practices into those services, with the Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development project being singled out as a major contributor to current thinking about this issue. The Free Library of Philadelphia's LEAP program, with its after-school employment of Teen Leadership Assistants, is presented as a normative case study in the intentional design and implementation of a teen job program based on youth development principles. Based on the Free Library experience, the author suggests that public libraries can supplement the developmental value of schooling by considering youth development an integral aspect of any jobs in which teens are employed and that teen job programs be considered an integral component of teen library services. © 2009 The Board of Trustees, University of Illinois.