Perspectives on Youth Data Literacy at the Public Library: Teen Services Staff Speak Out

• Published in: Journal of research on libraries and young adults Vol. 10; no. 2; pp. 1 - 21
• Main Authors: Bowler, Leanne, Acker, Amelia, Chi, Yu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago American Library Association 01.07.2019
• Subjects: Academic libraries; Data collection; Digital literacy; Field study; Higher education; Information literacy; Infrastructure; Interviews; Learning; Librarians; Library and information science; Library staff; Public libraries; Students; United States > US
• ISSN: 2157-3980

This paper reports on the second phase of a three-year ethnographic study project exploring teens and data literacy in the context of Teen Services in public libraries, with the goal of building an understanding of the potential roles that Teen Services staff (librarians and library workers) can play in supporting data-literacy competencies youth will need to have. We report on current research in the area of data literacy, teens, and public libraries. Then we describe our interview fieldwork, which focused on the perspectives of library staff working with adolescents. Findings in this paper draw from our formal examination and synthesis of interviews with thirteen Teen Services staff, working in five public library branches in a midsized urban city in the northeastern United States. Based on interview data, observational fieldwork, and synthesis from previous research, we report on five themes that emerged from the investigation and develop a model of youth data literacy based on the data life cycle. We argue for a holistic and humanistic approach to data in public library programming for youth that is aligned with broad, cross-cutting themes such as data infrastructures, data rights, and data subjectivity in order for Teen Services staff to have an impact and prepare young people for a data-driven world.