l-r Sarah Harrison, Chair of Young Adults and Children’s Service Award Committee  and Prince George Public Librarian, Heather Gloster photo courtesy PG Public Library

Prince George, B.C.-She is an  award  winning Teen Librarian,  but  that doesn’t mean Heather Gloster  is a teen.  “I’ve tried to change  my title to Teen Services Librarian because people do get confused about that title” chuckles Gloster.

Regardless of her age,  The Prince George Public Library’s Teen Librarian has  successfully connected with teens,  in fact,  her efforts have  led to her being  awarded the Young Adult and Children’s Service Award for  exceptional service in the area of children’s or teen librarianship at the  BC Library Conference.

Getting teens engaged in reading  can be a challenge in an era of  smart phones, video games and iPads,  but Gloster is making it happen. “I think first and foremost, it’s about connecting with them,  making the library a welcoming space and meeting them where they are.”

Gloster is “meeting them where they are”  as  she created a creative writing program at the Prince George Youth Custody Centre. Youth at PGYCC have explored everything from editing their work to how to write rap lyrics. Gloster also routinely brings books from the library for the participants to borrow, many by specific request.

“I love showing  teens our digital e-book collection, our online magazines and all our online options” says Gloster “So that’s a really good way to meet teens  where they are.”

And yes,   some  pieces of literature  have  been re-written for teens  in the short form  words  they use when texting friends “There’s a really funny  series,  it’s Shakespeare, but  all written in   text such as Hamlet,   Romeo and Juliet  all in text message format.”

This is the fourth award for the Prince George Public Library from the British Columbia Library Association. In 2013-2014 the former Teen Librarian, Amy Dawley, was honoured for the Library Gay-Straight Alliance (now referred to as the Library Queer-Straight Alliance). The Library has also received two nods for Advocacy or Marketing, in 2011-2012 and again in 2013-2014.

Attached photo shows