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INTRODUCTION:
Youth voice, youth involvement, youth participation, youth-centered programs,
community youth development, meaningful youth engagement, youth civic engagement,
child-friendly communities... Each of these titles are meant to summarize initiatives that
are active, empowering, and democratic experiences
for young people as they create change in their own lives, as
well as the lives of others in the organizations, institutions,
and communities they belong to.
Point to Ponder:
"Rather than
standing or speaking for children, we need to stand with
children speaking for themselves. We don't need a political
movement for children... [we need to] build environments and
policies for our collective future." - Sandra Meucci
 = free publication
Publications
 At
This Library, Involvement Gets Real
By Wendy Lesko. “The more we
increase the active participation and partnership with young
people, the better we serve them. … And the more comprehensively
we work with them as service partners, the more we increase our
public value to the entire community.” - Carmen Martinez,
director of the Oakland Public Library, as quoted in this
tremendous testimonial article.
Public Libraries as Partners in Youth
Development: Lessons and Voices from the Field.
By The Forum for Youth Investment.
The Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development (PLPYD)
Initiative, financed by the Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund,
awarded $6 million over four years to nine library systems,
starting in 1996. The libraries successfully increased their
youth participation through after-school programs, mentoring,
youth employment, community service and more.
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