If your library service has made a commitment to involving young people, one of the first things you might consider is a consultation exercise to find out what young people think about library services currently available to them. This is a useful starting point but is only one way of involving young people.

In fact, real involvement can go much further with young people participating in shaping all aspects of library services, from buying stock and running homework clubs to being on decision-making committees alongside library staff.

Hear by Right (launches new website) offers tried and tested standards for organisations across the statutory and voluntary sectors to assess and improve practice and policy on the active involvement of children and young people.

You may find the Ladder of Participation used in the Hear by Right framework useful to help you identify the nature of young people's current involvement in library services and how it can be improved.

The Ladder of Participation

Roger Hart's Ladder of Children's Participation, From Tokenism to Citizenship, UNICEF 1992

TOP RUNG

8	Project is young people initiated, shared decisions with adults	Young people have the idea, set up the project and invite staff to join with them in making decisions.
7	Project is young people-initiated and directed	Young people have the initial idea and decide how the project is carried out. Staff are available but do not take charge.
6	Project is staff initiated, shared decisions with young people	Staff have the initial idea but young people are involved in every step of the planning and implementation: their views are considered and they are involved in taking the decisions.
5	Young people are consulted and informed	Project is designed and run by staff but young people are consulted. They have full understanding of the process and their opinions are taken seriously
4	Young people are assigned but informed	Staff decide on the project and young people volunteer for it. Staff respect their views
3	Tokenism	Young people are asked to say what they think about an issue but have little or no choice about the expression or scope of their views
2	Decoration	Young people take part in an event but they do not understand the issue
1	Manipulation	Young people do or say as staff suggest but have no real understanding of the issue, nor are they asked what they think. Staff use some of their ideas but do not tell them what influence they have had on the final decision

BOTTOM RUNG

In trying to respond to external agendas concerning the involvement of young people, it's tempting to jump onto the bandwagon and rush into activity which is tokenistic and unsustainable (the lower rungs of the ladder). The results of this approach will be ineffectual and potentially damaging to relationships with young people.

Instead, we should be aiming for involvement that is underpinned by a real commitment to attitudinal and organisational change in which young people share decision-making powers with library staff (the upper rungs of the ladder). This is likely to be a long-term commitment which will have real benefits for the young people involved, the library service and the wider community.

To explore in more depth how you might begin to involve young people, try this

Ladder of Participation Quiz

Have a look at the examples below and decide on which rung of the ladder you would place each of them.

A	You've emplyed a team of top-notch designers to create a new young people's area in your library. You invite a class from the local school to attend a launch event and give them all a book to hold up for the press to take a photo.
B	Your regular young people's committee suggests that it would be good to have Playstations and listening posts in all the community libraries. Service managers suggest a source of funding to which the young people could apply but highlight some issues to do with space, storage and costs. After discussions between young people and staff, the young peolpe assist the funding manager with a bid focusing on Playstations as the cheaper and more popular option.
C	Your community has some funding to run a programme of 5 summer events for young people. You make a list of 10 possible events and ask young people to vote on which ones they would most like to see. The final list of most popular events is displayed in the library and young people are thanked for their help.
D	Your library service has been granted the funding to build a new library. You would like young people to shape the new teenage area. You recruit a group of young people to be involved in a makeover project, working alongside designers and library staff.
E	You need some help to run activities for the Summer Reading challenge. You explain the situation to some of your regular teenage users and ask them to help with the craft activities at some of the events.
F	Your manager is applying for some funding to run a homework club in your library. As part of the bid she needs to show that young people are interested in joining the club. You persuade every young person who comes into the library to sign a form saying htey would like to come to the homework club, and give them a sticker as a thank you for their help.
G	A group of young people from your local community ask if they can run a reading group in your library. They design and display posters in the library and plan a programme of sessions based around 10 titles which they agree between themselves. They ask you to ensure that sufficient copies of the books are available each week.
H	In order to improve your stock you take a group of young people on a shopping trip. You ask them for their suggestions but you feel that most of their suggestions are inappropriate for the Children's Library. You give them a pre-prepared list of things to look for instead.

Now have a look at the Quiz Answers: how many situations did you place on the correct rung?

Bearing in mind the different levels of involving young people, now check through the following sections, which look at different Methods for Involving Young People.