What's Hot and What's Not: Selecting AV for Young Adults

What's Hot and What's Not: Selecting AV for Teens Ohio Library Council Chapter Conferences, Spring 2004

By Kathie Courtney
Audiovisual Librarian, Louisville Public Library courtnka@oplin.org

The following panel was presented at six Ohio Library Conferences during March and April, 2004. For more information or for questions, please feel free to contact me at the above address.

I.Overview - Why buy AV for Teens?

  1. 1994 report shows the following (from Patrick Jones. Connecting Teens and Libraries): 89% of young adults spend 11.5 hours a week watching TV 95% spent 10.3 hours listening to the radio 93% spent 9.6 hours listening to music CDs or tapes 69% spent 4.2 hours watching rented videos 60% spent 4.5 hours reading books for pleasure 55% spent 3.8 hours studying
  2. Music collections "Music is probably the most influential and pervasive medium in teenage lives. It can reflect a teen's own personal experiences, and it unites teens into collective whole. But music not only reflects the teen experience, it defines it." (Peter Zollo - Wise Up to Teens. New Strategist Press, 1995. Quoted in Patrick Jones. Connecting Teens and Libraries.)
  3. Video collections
  4. Books on tape/CD

II. Where to start

  1. Selection policy
  2. Where AV materials are housed
  3. Community
  4. How are decisions made?
  5. Security

III.Teens or Tweens?

  1. Age group for your YA collection?

IV. How to find out what's hot

  1. Ask the teens, ask the staff
  2. Magazines
  3. Websites
  4. Trends

V.Understanding genres for music and video

  1. Books
  2. Websites
  3. VOYA
  4. TV series

VI. Review sources

  1. VOYA
  2. Entertainment Weekly
  3. Teen People
  4. Publishers Weekly
  5. Video Librarian
  6. Websites

VII. Censorship?

  1. Library policy
      The Wal-Mart solution/controversy
  2. Websites to help determine content
    • Common Sense Media (music)
    • Kids-in-Mind (video)

    VIII.Questions

    Bibliography

    • Books:
      • Mick Martin & Marsha Porter. Video Movie Guide. Ballantine. (Published annually) Gives descriptions of films and rates them 5 stars - turkey. Also includes actors and production information.
      • Patrick Drazen. Anime Explosion! the What, Why and Wow of Japanese Animation. Stone Bridge Press, c2003. Understanding the phenomenon of Japanese animation, what it is and why it's important.
      • Eric Nuzum. Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America. HarperCollins, c2001 A history of music censorship in America by the program director of WKSU-FM.
      • Soren McCarthy. Cult Movies in Sixty Seconds. Fusion Press, c2003 Cult films are popular with Teens. This book gives descriptions of some of the most interesting cult films.
      • Richard Crouse. The 100 Best Movies You've Never Seen. ECW Press, 2003 Film critic Richard Crouse takes readers on a "journey through 70 years of cinema history, choosing his favorite overlooked films." Great source for cult and unusual films. On page 109, he offers a list of his favorite soundtracks.
      • Patrick Jones. Connecting Teens and Libraries. Neal-Schuman, c1998 Incredible source for "How to be a YA Librarian."

      Articles:
    • Kat Kan and Kristin Fletcher-Spear. "Showing Anime in the Library." VOYA, April 2002: p20-23. A great source for understanding the popularity of anime, this article explains the genre, its styles and terms and gives some advice on using it in the library.

    • Magazines:
      • Country Music People Offers charts, latest CD reviews, book reviews, artist features and interviews and news.
      • Down Beat Magazine Offers news, reviews, interviews, classes and more for jazz lovers.
      • Ebony The "premier publication for African American men and women covering contemporary topics from black history to sports & entertainment with regular articles on health, fashion, politics and social awareness."
      • Entertainment Weekly Great reviews for CDs and movies as well as a good source for current pop trends.
      • Gramophone Claims to be the world's largest archive of classical music reviews. Also includes industry news and tour information.
      • Guideposts for Teens Good source for teen popular culture. Especially good for "Tweens" since the topics covered are "safe." Good for television and movie trends.
      • Jet Popular African-American publication that covers topics such as current events, business, education, entertainment, sports, religion and more on a weekly basis.
      • Mad Magazine If a movie or musician makes Mad Magazine, you know it's going to be popular!
      • Publisher's Weekly Great source for reviews of books-on-tape/CD as well as popular trends.
      • Rolling Stone The source for rock music reviews, but also a great source for pop, jazz, classical, country and other genres, as well as film reviews.
      • Sci Fi Covers what's hot in science fiction videos and DVDs but also a good source for television trends and even an occasional music review.
      • Seventeen Buried in between articles on fashion and sex, you can find stories on celebrities and trends.
      • Teen People Great source for knowing what's "in" with young teens. Mostly "girl stuff" but you can get some insight into hot trends and issues.
      • Video Librarian This publication is "the video review magazine for public, school, academic, and special libraries, as well as video fans who are interested in a wider variety of titles than what's found in the average video store.
      • VOYA Mostly print but has an occasional article on AV. Great for knowing what's going on in the YA world, however.
      • YM Stands for "Your Magazine." Aimed at young teenage girls and will give you a pretty good idea of hot trends.

    • Websites:
      • About Country Music Online http://www.countrymusic.about.com Online source for article, reviews and news about country music.
      • All Movies.com http://www.allmovie.com/ Film descriptions, ordering information and reviews. Includes information on new releases.
      • All Music.com http://www.allmusic.com/ Great source for CD reviews, ordering information, artist profiles and new releases.
      • Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/ New releases, ordering information and customer reviews.
      • Billboard http://www.billboard.com/ The "Billboard 200" chart lists top-sellers in the country. Other charts are divided by genre. Good source for what's hot.
      • Barnes & Noble http://www.bn.com/ Like Amazon.com, lists new releases and customer reviews.
      • Classical Net http://www.classical.net/ Super source for classical music links, CD reviews, recommended lists and articles.
      • Common Sense Media http://www.commonsensemedia.org/ A rating system for content in music, video, television, books and video games. Claims to be non-partisan.
      • Grading the Movies http://www.gradingthemovies.com/ Gives reviews of current and older films, music and games with an emphasis on questionable language, violence and sexual content.
      • Kids-in-Mind http://www.kids-in-mind.com/ Another film ratings system that evaluates movies for violence, sex and adult language.
      • Rap Sheet http://www.rapsheet.com/ "Rap Sheet covers rap music in a streetwise, yet intelligent manner, with news, film and lifestyle content driven by artists and music."
      • Sci Fi http://www.scifi.com/ Website for the Science Fiction Channel, this site includes news on upcoming films and hot stars in science fiction.
      • Video Librarian http://www.videolibrarian.com/ Online version of the video review magazine.

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