Developing Principles for Working with Young People in Libraries Marianne Bamkin, Birmingham City University Sarah McNicol, Manchester Metropolitan University 2019 Developing Principles for Working with Young People in Libraries Acknowledgements Thanks to all survey respondents and interviewees. Particular thanks to the young people from Oldham Youth Council who participated in the focus group, and to Oldham Libraries for making arrangements with the group. Thanks also to Oldham Libraries, Harris Westminster Sixth Form and the BRIT School for contributing examples of ways to implement the principles in school and public libraries. 2 Developing Principles for Working with Young People in Libraries Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 2 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 5 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Reading Hack ....................................................................................................................................... 8 ACE Quality Principles (QPs) ............................................................................................................... 9 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 10 Background and context ....................................................................................................................... 11 Striving for excellence and innovation .............................................................................................. 11 Being authentic ................................................................................................................................. 11 Being exciting, inspiring and engaging .............................................................................................. 12 Ensuring a positive and inclusive experience ................................................................................... 12 Actively involving children and young people .................................................................................. 13 Enabling personal progression .......................................................................................................... 13 Developing belonging and ownership .............................................................................................. 13 Outcomes for young people ............................................................................................................. 13 Review of existing principles for working with young people .......................................................... 14 Findings ................................................................................................................................................. 15 Survey of young people .................................................................................................................... 15 Library use ..................................................................................................................................... 16 Participation in Reading Hacks ...................................................................................................... 18 Volunteering ................................................................................................................................. 18 Principles for working with young people .................................................................................... 19 Focus group with young people ........................................................................................................ 26 Rewards......................................................................................................................................... 29 Summary of young people’s responses ............................................................................................ 29 Interviews with stakeholders ............................................................................................................ 30 Encouraging young people as volunteers ..................................................................................... 31 Encouraging a diverse range of young people to volunteer ......................................................... 31 Issues and challenges of working with young person volunteers ................................................ 32 Acting on young people’s feedback .............................................................................................. 32 Key suggestions for guidelines ...................................................................................................... 33 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 35 3 Developing Principles for Working with Young People in Libraries Areas for further research ................................................................................................................ 47 Considering differences by age and gender.................................................................................. 47 Ways of engaging a wider group of young people ....................................................................... 47 Toolkit and training for library staff .............................................................................................. 47 Next steps ......................................................................................................................................... 48 References ............................................................................................................................................ 49 Appendix A: The working principles of youth organisations ............................................................... 50 Appendix B: Commentary on significant differences identified for survey statements ....................... 51 Striving for excellence and innovation .......................................................................................... 51 Being authentic ............................................................................................................................. 51 Being exciting, inspiring and engaging .......................................................................................... 51 Ensuring a positive and inclusive experience................................................................................ 52 Actively involving children and young people .............................................................................. 53 Enabling personal progression ...................................................................................................... 53 Developing belonging and ownership .......................................................................................... 54 Appendix C: Focus group flashcards ..................................................................................................... 55 Appendix D: Interview question framework ......................................................................................... 57 Appendix E: Survey for Young People ................................................................................................... 58 4 Developing Principles for Working with Young People in Libraries Executive Summary This study set out to identify a set of principles for libraries to work with young people. Young people, library staff and other adults working with young people were consulted about their perceptions of guiding principles for working with young people; ways of encouraging their voluntary participation; and the development of leadership and teamwork skills. Reports on the Reading Hack and Arts Council England Quality Principles (ACE QP) underpinned the research. The assessment of the Reading Hack (Peach et al. 2018) indicated that an ethos of working collaboratively with young people in the co-production of services aligned to their local needs should be retained in libraries. It recommended that this be supported by local partners, and some thought should be given to the differing requirements for young people across a wide age range. It suggested that named staff members should work with young people who work as volunteers. The ACE QPs are well-established and have been used by libraries when developing their work with young people. However, they are intended to cover a variety of arts and cultural organisations, as well as attempting to cater for a wider age range. It was decided that, whilst they formed a robust basis for the development of a set of principles for libraries, it was necessary to test, and then adapt, the ACE QPs to form a set of principles best suited to the needs of the library sector. The first stage of the research was an online survey about library use and statements related to the ACE QPs. This received responses from over 300 young people, around half of whom were regular library users. This provided evidence of the broad relevance of the principles to young people within a library setting. In particular, it demonstrated the importance to young people of: Having fun Being treated like an equal