A highly engaging presentation, attended by ten avatars, featured an interactive brain by presenter Cerulean Vesperia, an IM poetry exercise by Lucy Theeuwes, and scavenger hunt by BlueWings Hayek to introduce concepts of adolescent development, modern literacy, and the importance of having a third place for teens on Thursday, March 29.

Thanks to Medium Helvetic for the space of Cafe Fireball and Lori and Abbey for organizing on calendar. Thanks to BrianA Corleone for last minute scripting help. Thanks to all that attended.

Presenters worked to use the interactive environment of Second Life to allow attendees to physically explore and experience the space around them. The 3D model of the brain was used to illustrate teen brain development and reasons why they act the way they do-many times they can’t help things like forgetfulness or mood swings because of the stages their brain is at. The IM poetry exercise illustrated how teens are creating a complex language through IM and that it’s important we pay attention to what it means and engage that knowledge by creating library programs around it. The scavenger hunt had notecards embedded in objects around the cafe that provoked people to think about third spaces (those spaces in between school and home such as recreation centers, libraries, cafes, etc.) and what we can do as youth serving adults to help create an emotionally and physically safe space for teens. Questions were thought provoking and discussion was fun.

Full transcript can be viewed here on the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) blog.

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