Involving and Consulting Young People

Use the case studies and guidance in this section to learn how others have approached the issue of  involving and consulting young people. Resources have been divided under the following headings

• Consultation
• Library staff involving young people
• Opening up access
• Partnership
• Young people as assessors and advisers
• Young people shaping and designing library spaces
• Young people involved in training, recruitment and as volunteers
• Young people planning and running library activities
• Young people selecting stock

Consultation

Conducting a focus group (Word, 49.8kb)
Guidelines for how to run a focus group

Focus group plan (Word, 63.7kb)
A planning document used by The Reading Agency when setting up a focus group to find out young people's views of volunteering

Investing in Children in Durham (Word, 62.3kb)
A multi-agency initiative across Durham which improves services for young people by taking their views on board.

Consultation checklist (Word, 43.9kb)
A checklist to guide planning for consultation with children and young people

Surveying young people (Word, 58.2kb)
A sample questionnaire

Using questionnaires (Word, 64.7kb)
Guidelines for designing, distributing and analysing questionnaires

Library staff involving young people

Internal ownership by library staff (Word, 46.7kb)
A case study from Dorset Libraries

Involving young people through employing dedicated staff (Word, 51.7kb)
A case study from Kent Libraries

Opening up access

Involving hard to reach young people:1  (Word, 56.9kb)
A case study from Sighthill Library in Edinburgh

Involving hard to reach young people:2 (Word, 53.5kb)
Case study from Miles Platting Library in Manchester

Joining the library (Word, 51.8kb)
A case study from Kent - removing barriers

Working with young offenders (Word, 51.3kb)
A case study from Leicester

Young people accessing community information (Word, 73.6kb)
A case study from Somerset

Youth Passport to local authority services (Word, 51.5kb)
A case study from Westminster

Partnership

Partners for Change - Swindon (Word, 61.1kb)
Involving 'at risk' young people in decision-making and service provision within library services in the South West of England.

Young people as assessors and advisers

Involving young people as inspectors and advisers (Word, 56.4kb)
Guidelines and examples of best practice

Involving young people as inspectors and assessors  (Word, 62.2kb)
A case study from Lambeth

Young people as advisers (Word, 68.4kb)
A case study from Suffolk

Young people designing and shaping library spaces 

Dudley Graffiti Project (Word, 51.1kb)
Young people designing the outside of their library at Dudley Wood

Shaping library spaces (Word, 77.6kb)
Involving young people in planning and designing library spaces

Shaping library spaces and activities:young people in Blackburn (Word, 52.5kb)
A case study from Blackburn with Darwen

Shaping library spaces: Moss Side Powerhouse Library (Word, 64kb)
Involving young people in shaping library spaces: a case study

Shaping library spaces: Weymouth (Word, 56.2kb)
A case study: creating a new Young Adult area at Weymouth Library

Young people involved in training, recruitment, and as volunteers

Involving young people as recruiters and trainers (Word, 53.6kb)
Guidelines for putting this in place

Involving young people as volunteers  (Word, 77.7kb)
Rationale and guidelines for employing young people as volunteers

Involving young people as volunteers - the SRC in Essex (Word, 51.5kb)
Young people involved in running the Summer Reading Challenge, including 'Book Sharing' activities

Young people planning and running library activities

aSPARations cafe, Lyme Regis (Word, 51.3kb)
A library linked cafe and youth centre

Book prize judges (Word, 61kb)
Young people to join the judging panel of the Booktrust Teenage Prize 2006

Making websites (Word, 52.5kb)
A case study from Derbyshire

Newham - Peer Motivators (Word, 57.2kb)
Young people acting as advocates, reading promoters, marketing executives and youth workers, within the library context.

Newham - The Gate (Word, 51.5kb)
Special library evening sessions organised by Peer Motivators

Reading groups:1 (Word, 66.9kb)
A case study from Bedfordshire

Reading groups:2 (Word, 51.9kb)
Case study from Sedgefield

Reading promoters (Word, 61.6kb)
A case study featuring the Book Pushers in Derbyshire

Using music to involve young people (Word, 65.2kb)
Case studies from Leeds and Suffolk

Young adult sessions at Beaminster Library (Word, 40.4kb)
A case study from Beaminster in Dorset

Young people selecting stock

Involving young people in stock selection (word, 78.9kb)
Guidance and key points for involving young people in stock selection

Book shopping in Sheffield (Word, 40.2kb)
A case study about involving young people at a Sheffield youth centre in library stock selection

Stock selection in Birmingham (Word, 66kb)
Young people purchasing books for local libraries

Stock selection in Cambridgeshire (Word, 52.4kb)
A case study: young people choosing and buying library stock