iSchool Capstone

Operation: KRAMPUS (Kickstart Readership and Meliorate Public User Satisfaction)

Project tags:

digital youth & youth services

information behavior & user research

As in many libraries across the nation, the Iowa City Public Library (a single-site system) in Iowa City, Iowa, has witnessed a decline in circulation of young adult materials and participation in teen programming. In order to assess young adult (here defined as those from ages 12-18) interests and possible barriers to library access and use, I have observed teen center traffic and program participation, collected focus group responses, and conducted a survey of 200+ local members of the target demographic. I will present the Iowa City Public Library with an executive summary of this data, highlight the teen services’ successes, and offer a multi-pronged approach to both better meet the needs of their existing young adult patrons and attract new ones by a.) reconsidering the structure of programming, b.) incentivizing in-house and off-site library participation, and c.) fostering stronger connections to the teen populace at large via social media.

Project participants:

Jei (Jessica) Lee

MLIS