Great meeting

We  had a great meeting of the Antelope Co. Library Association this morning.  We're a group of librarians, staff and board members from seven libraries in the county who meet every other month at a different library in the county each time on a rotating schedule.  At each meeting the host library lines up some form of continuing education that lasts about an hour.  Each attendee gets credit for one Continuing Education hour towards either Board or Librarian certification through the Nebraska Library Commission.

At this meeting Anita Hall, Antelope Co. Extension Educator, was our guest speaker.  She gave a presentation about how we can make a difference in the lives of the youth in our communities, including the 40 Developmental Assets for  Adolescents that the Search Institute of Minneapolis, MN has identified as the positive experiences and qualities that all of us have the power to bring into the lives of children and youth.  The presentation led to some lively discussion among those present. Since all but one of the group was age 50 or better we could also see very different ways young people are regarded between our generations and the current.

Anita's presentation made me aware that we don't always give our youth an opportunity to participate in ways that will help them grow up to be concerned, involved adults.  I don't know how or if we can work this into the library, but it's certainly something for us to keep in mind.