Transforming Teen Services: a Train the Trainer Approach (T3) is an initiative run by Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) and is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The project focuses on supporting library staff working with and for teens in understanding of how connected learning and computational thinking can work together to build equity based services for and with teens.
The YALSA T3 initiative and extension of the original IMLS T3 grant ran through March 2023. New York State continues to offer a variety of T3 sessions through their own team of certified trainers.
YALSA staff and the teams of trainers in each state worked hard during the pandemic to shift the format and content of T3 trainings to an online model, to replace the originally planned in-person delivery. Post-COVID, the online delivery model of training continues to be popular, as it allows for increased participation with the valuable content of the T3 trainings.
We are fortunate to have an experienced team of trainers in New York state! Our trainers have delivered many online courses since the start of this initiative and will continue to do so moving forward. In-person sessions will also be considered and offered, whenever possible.
The New York State Library team of T3 trainers hopes to offer training sessions to as many front-line library staff from as many different public libraries and library systems as possible during the coming year. These courses have a limited capacity for participants and tend to fill up quickly, and we realize there is increased interest in working with teens and in enhancing programs and services to young adult library users. More trainings on T3 modules are being planned as we try to meet the challenge of providing T3 training to all interested library staff who work directly with young adults or who interact with young adult patrons in their library setting.
Visit the updated YALSA website
to learn more and explore the T3 initiative and its potential impact on teen services. The resources found here will be especially helpful to anyone involved with T3 program delivery, anyone looking for research or project evaluation, or anyone who wants to make a case for T3 training to staff, administration, or stakeholders in their community.
Lori Gerbasi is the Head of Teen Services at the Port Washington Public Library. She has been dedicated to working with teens for 19 years and advocates for their needs on a daily basis. She served on multiple committees for the Nassau County Library Association's Young Adult Services Division (YASD) and currently holds a position on the board of the Port Washington Teen Center. As part of a pilot program in partnership with the Nassau Library System, Lori successfully established a teen calming corner at the Port Washington Public Library. She has been a presenter at both local and state events, covering topics such as collaborations between school and public libraries, effective summer reading programs, and the implementation of a teen calming corner. She is also a New York State trainer with the IMLS/YALSA's Transforming Teen Services, which focuses on providing continued education to library staff connected with teen services. Lori earned a BA in English Literature from the University of Pittsburgh and completed her MLIS at Long Island University at C.W. Post.
Stephanie Markham (she/her) is the Teen Services Librarian at Jervis Public Library in Rome, NY. A Central New York native, Stephanie has been working in the Mid York Library System (MYLS) since 2011. She earned her MLIS from Syracuse University. During her time as a librarian, Stephanie has lead workshops, classes, and discussions for MYLS and the Central NY Library Resources Council (CLRC) regarding teen services, welcoming LGBTQIA+ patrons, and technology know-how. She was trained as a T3 trainer in February 2023.
Renee McGrath is the Manager of Youth Services for the Nassau Library System. In her position for 19 years, she is responsible for consulting, advising, and supporting the youth services librarians and staff that work in the 54 member libraries of Nassau Library System. She has served on local, state, and national library boards, is a member of ALA, YALSA, ALSC, NYLA, and NCLA. She has presented numerous times at local, state, and national library conferences on many topics related to serving children, teens, and their families in a public library. She is currently a training cohort for the IMLS/YALSA’s Transforming Teen Services through CE, a multi-year project that focuses on the continuing education of library staff related to teen services.
Kenneth Roman is Head of Adult Services at the George F. Johnson Memorial Library in Endicott, NY. Before this position he was the Young Adult Librarian at GFJ Library for six years. Ken has been working in the library field for almost 20 years after starting as a page in high school and as an undergrad at Binghamton University. He continued working in libraries as an intern while he got his Masters in Library Science/ School Media Specialist at Syracuse University, before becoming the Young Adult Librarian/Tech Center Manager upon graduation. This job required Ken to manage the Young Adult Department through collection development and teen programs. As Tech Center Manager, he gave one-on-one tech help and taught computer classes. Ken has also worked as a data manager for the website Project Enable (2015-2018), a project then led by Dr. Ruth Small of Syracuse University to help train librarians to better assist patrons with disabilities, and worked as an academic librarian assistant at SUNY Broome (2017-2020) where he taught information literacy classes and assisted students with research.
