"What's happening for teens at the library?"
http://www.countyteens.com/ - Prince Edward County Public Library, Ontario
3 1/2 stars
It looks like there was some effort to make this youth website teen-friendly. It's designed in bright green colors that aren't too "kiddish" and it's set up in a blog format where teens can make comments on all the posts. There's cool technology like RSS feeds, instant messaging and online videos. The posts contain information on events, book reviews, new books, volunteering opportunities etc. However, I get the general impression that the information on this site isn't organized that well. The homepage contains a link to "2006 Art Show" which leads to information about entering the art show (which obviously, has already ended) but nothing about how the art show went or any samples of the art done. I noticed that there were actual blog entries about the art show. Perhaps, it would have been a good idea to provide links to these blogs on the "2006 Art Show" page. The link to "Teen Room events" leads to a Google calendar that isn't publicly accessible. As well, although the design and colours are attractive, there is a lot of unbroken text - pictures of teens at the events and programs might make it more interesting as well as encourage teens to go on the site to see their pictures.
In addition, although the blog has been online for at least two years, judging from the amount of comments, it doesn't appear that there's a lot of interactivity between the blog and the library's teens (although one teen, "Hailey" has written a lot of comments in the last two weeks). The YA librarian seems to be want teens to post comments and encourages them to "drop in and see [her]". One blog asks for opinions on potential teen programs. To encourage participation and interactivity, maybe a message board could be set up on the site in addition to social networking technology like the instant messaging where teens could post their own thoughts about books or resources. I give a thumbs up for the design elements, the social networking and information communication tools and the enthusiasm of the librarians, but would suggest increasing the interactive capabilities of the website, and adding more pictures.
