YA reading blog

La Crosse Public Library : Teen Connection

http://www.lacrosselibrary.org/teen/

This website is just as colourful as the Kenton website and yet not so messy.  It is much easier on the eyes.  It is also organized very well.  All of the links are prominant and simply titled.  Also there is an interactive element that teens will find appealing. (A rollover changes the text on a link) 

T squared is an online teen newsletter.  Othe links include; Book of the Month, Volunteer, Share a book, Links, and Booklists.  You can also do a catalouge search, link to the library homepage and to events at the library.  All of this is clearly laid out on the homepage of the website. 

Share a book is interesting.  It allows young adults to share their thoughts on books they have just read and other young adults can post responses.  It is kind of like an online book club. 

The links section contains links to some very cool homework websites, such as Bare Bones Grammar.  It also has links to fun sites.  For instance, one of the sites, called Gurl, is about fashion and health for girls. 

This site is excellent.  I thought the last site was quite good but this one is even easier to use and is also very interesting.  One problem that I saw with it is that in the booklist, the titles are not hyperlinked.  A person would have to backtrack and type the name into the catalouge.  It isn’t a big thing just an unnecessary extra step.

Kate

Say your words

Kenton County Public Library

http://www.kentonlibrary.org/teens/index.cfm

All ages of young adult

5 out of 5 stars

This site is bright and appealing.  Sort of messy looking by adult standards but that may appeal to younger website users.  It also has teen friendly jargon.  For instance, the book section is called “the word”, the movie section is “the scene” and the music section is “the noise”.  In case your thinking some teens may not get these nifty titles do not fear.  These titles are superimposed over books, music and movies so no one will be left out.  

One thing I can’t stand about this site is that it has a tag line across the top.  It reads preserving yesterday, enriching today, inspiring tomorrow.  They must do that for parents who check out the site. 

Clicking on one of the section brings you to a very brief list of genre’s.  For instance the available movie genre’s are; horror, commedy and drama.  I think this list should be complete simply for ease of use.  You are able to access the catalog down at the bottom and a small side panel reads, “new”.  This has a list of new books.  Also on the side is a section called ‘most popular”.  In this section you can find the most popular items in each media. 

The website also has links for homework help.  Websites are linked that can help with things like online cliffnotes.  This section is called Antistudy, which may send the wrong message but sounds cool.  Also all of the library databases are provided here and state information is available in the links at the bottom of the page.  (These are not very visible though)

Other sections in this website are about Internet safety, photos, e-books and a place to “tell a friend” about the teen website.  I gave this website a good rating.  I think it is easy to use, teen friendly and useful.

Kate