Youth in Museums and Libraries:

A Practitioner’s Guide

nine to nineteen

...a leadership initiative of the 
INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES

1800 M Street NW, 9th Floor

Washington, DC 20036

202-653-IMLS (4657)

www.imls.gov

IMLS will provide visually impaired or learning-disabled individuals 

with an audio recording of this publication upon request.

Printed April 2008 in the United States of America

Credits

Produced by the IMLS Office of Policy, Planning, Research and Communications, 

under the direction of Mamie Bittner, Deputy Director

Writer/Editor: Mary Downs, Ph.D.

Designer: Ellen Arnold

Photo Credits (cover)

Left: Courtesy of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, Oregon.

Center: Photo by David H. Lewis.

Right: Courtesy of the Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Nine to nineteen: youth in museums and libraries: engaging America’s youth—a leadership 

initiative of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Museums—Social aspects—United States—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Libraries—

Social aspects—United States—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Youth—Services for—United 

States—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 4. Community development—United States—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Institute of Museum and Library Services (U.S.) 

AM11.N56 2007

069—dc22

2007049608
iii

Acknowledgments

“Young people respond to appropriate structure, positive 

relationships, and a sense of accomplishment—and in 

return, they provide talent, creativity, and community 

connections that enrich libraries and museums.”

Anne-Imelda Radice, Ph.D. 

Director, Institute of Museum and 

Library Services

Youth Action Committee

The Youth Action Committee is a group of experts convened by IMLS to represent the broad 

fields of museum and library practice and administration, youth policy and funding, youth 

development research and practice, media, and government, and to advise on the content 

and focus of the study. It consisted of the following individuals:

Ioannis Miaoulis, Ph.D. 

President and Director, Boston Science 

Museum, Boston, MA 

Peggy O’Brien, Ph.D. 

Senior Vice President of Educational 

Programming and Services, Corporation 

for Public Broadcasting, Washington, DC

Chase Pickering 

Youth Leadership Fellow, Roots 

and Shoots, Jane Goodall Institute, 

Arlington, VA

Julie Spielberger, Ph.D. 

Research Fellow, Chapin Hall Center 

for Children, University of Chicago, 

Chicago, IL

Sonnet Takahisa 

Director of Education, World Trade 

Center Memorial Foundation and 

Memorial Museum, New York, NY

(continues on next page)

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Francie Alexander 

Senior Vice President, Scholastic 

Education and Chief Academic Officer, 

Scholastic Publishing, New York, NY

John Berry 

Executive Director, Network of Illinois 

Learning Resources, Sugar Grove, IL

Ginnie Cooper 

City Librarian, Washington, DC

Alan Friedman, Ph.D. 

Consultant and former CEO, New York 

Hall of Science, Queens, NY

Doug Herbert 

Special Assistant on Teacher Quality 

and Arts Education, Department of 

Education, Washington, DC

Julie Johnson

Distinguished Chair of Museum 

Leadership, Science Museum of 

Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

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William Tally, Ph.D.

Senior Researcher, Center for Children 

and Technology, Education Development 

Center, Inc., New York, NY 

Julie Walker

Executive Director, American 

Association of School Librarians, 

American Library Association, 

Chicago, IL

William White, Ph.D.

Executive Producer and Director 

of Education Outreach, Colonial 

Williamsburg, Williamsburg, VA

Dennie Palmer Wolf, Ph.D.

Director, Opportunity & Accountability, 

Annenberg Institute for School Reform, 

Brown University, Providence, RI

Nicole Yohalem

Program Director, Forum for Youth 

Investment, Washington, DC

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Credits

Judy Koke, Project Director, and Lynn 

Dierking, Ph.D., Senior Researcher,

Institute for Learning Innovation 

contributed the primary content for

this guide. The writing and editing was 

coordinated by Mary Downs, Ph.D.,

Research Officer, Office of Policy, Planning, 

Research, and Communications, IMLS.

Acknowledgments
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Structure

The guide is presented in the following 

sections:

What Works for Youth in Museums 

and Libraries, with chapters on:

Why Are Museums and Libraries 

Important to Youth?

What Do Effective Youth Programs 

Look Like?

What Can You Do in Your Community?

What Role Can Young People Play? 

Strategies for Success: Partner, 

Evaluate, Sustain

2. Resources for Practitioners: A variety 

of resources, references, and frameworks that will assist the museum 

or library practitioner in seeking out 

valuable lessons. 

Background

This guide grew out of the Institute of 

Museum and Library Services’ Museums 

and Libraries Engaging America’s Youth

initiative and draws on the wide body of 

research and knowledge from the fields of 

youth development and informal learning, 

as well as from the rich experience of 

museum and library professionals and 

volunteers. 

The specific goals of the initiative are: 

to examine what works

to share best practices

to encourage effective programming

to build bridges with policy makers

To examine what works, IMLS undertook a 

yearlong study, which consisted of a survey 

of 400 youth programs for youth aged 

9–19 conducted at museums and libraries 

across the nation that had been supported 

by IMLS between 1998 and 2003; a 

series of workshops; and the development 

of case studies. The study looked at the 

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practices that contributed to successful 

and sustainable programs and reports on 

its findings in the Museums and Libraries 

Engaging America’s Youth final report, 

available at www.imls.gov/pdf/YouthReport. 

pdf. To meet the initiative’s other goals, 

IMLS is issuing a series of publications and 

Web resources, and will continue to provide 

grant funding for innovative youth programs. 

IMLS will also sponsor convenings for the 

museum and library practitioner community. 

Nine to Nineteen: Youth in Museums and 

Libraries: A Practitioner’s Guide is based on 

the findings of the study and discussions 

with the IMLS Youth Action Committee and 

practitioners about the kind of information 

needed for planning and implementing 

effective youth programs. It includes a 

variety of resources and references to 

critical works that have been gathered 

from the fields of youth and community 

development, education, and informal 

learning. The guide’s primary audience is 

museum and library practitioners who are 

building, or wish to build, strong programs 

to reach and engage youth. It is also 

intended for community planners, youth 

development leaders, and educators who 

want to build bridges across the many types 

of organizations and institutions that serve 

youth in our communities.

About This Guide

Photo courtesy of the Newberry Library.
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Preface

Contributors

The Institute for Learning Innovation 

undertook the study for IMLS and 

conducted the Youth Action workshops in 

October and November of 2006. Judy Koke 

and Lynn Dierking, Ph.D., facilitated those 

meetings, identifying the main issues and 

leading discussions among the workshop 

attendees. The Youth Action Committee 

helped develop content for this guide. Also 

attending the Youth Action workshops were 

representatives of IMLS-supported youth 

programs, including museum and library 

practitioners, who shared experiences about 

interacting with youth, and the challenges 

and triumphs of fundraising and running 

programs. Nicole Yohalem, Program Director 

at the Forum for Youth Investment and a 

member of the Youth Action Committee, has 

been particularly generous with her time 

and expertise throughout the initiative. 

The workshops were greatly enhanced 

by the presence of young people who 

spoke eloquently about their experiences 

contributing to projects, about youths’ 

largely untapped talents and skills, and 

about the benefits of including youth in 

program development and execution. Chase 

Pickering, Youth Leadership Fellow with 

the Roots and Shoots program at the Jane 

Goodall Institute, moderated the panel, 

which included Kadian Pow and Azita 

Mamdouhi of the United States Holocaust 

Memorial Museum, Becky Lockyear of 

Campus Kitchens, and Joseph Kitchen 

of City Year Washington DC. Two IMLS 

Board members played special roles in this 

initiative—Katherine Berger of Virginia and 

Ioannis Miaoulis, Ph.D., Director, Museum 

of Science, Boston. IMLS is grateful to all 

who contributed their time and expertise.
1

Table of Contents

What Works for Youth in Museums and Libraries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Why Are Museums and Libraries Important to Youth?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Case Study: Young at Art Children’s Museum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

What Do Effective Youth Programs Look Like?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Case Study: Pacific Science Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Case Study: Dallas Public Libraries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

What Can You Do in Your Community?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Case Study: Florida Aquarium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Case Study: Oakland Museum of California. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

What Role Can Young People Play?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Case Study: Chilkoot Indian Association / Haines Borough Public Library. . . . 11

Strategies for Success: Partner, Evaluate, Sustain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Why Partner?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Case Study: Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

How Can Evaluation Work for You?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Case Study: Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

How Can You Sustain Your Success?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Case Study: Fort Ligonier Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Resources for Practitioners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Frameworks that Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

1) 4-H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2) National Research Council. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

3) Richard Lerner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

4) Jay Mancini and Lydia Marek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

5) Milbrey McLaughlin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Initiatives Across the Nation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Funding Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Evaluation Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Out-of-School Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

General Bibiography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
What Works for 

Youth in Museums 

and Libraries

Photo by Brenna Hernandez, courtesy of the Shedd Aquarium. 
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Why Are Museums and Libraries Important to Youth?

Youth are a part of our families, our 

communities, and our future. Youth should 

also be an integral part of our museums 

and libraries, which are among the 

most trusted institutions in the country. 

Research shows that youth are less likely 

to engage in risky behaviors when they are 

connected to community institutions. Many 

existing programs can tap positive youth 

development principles to become even 

stronger. 

Museums and libraries are essential 

partners in ensuring that youth develop 

skills and receive the social, intellectual, 

and emotional supports they need to 

thrive. Specific assets that make museums 

and libraries essential to positive youth 

development include: 

Rich Content

Museum and library collections, 

exhibitions, and Web-based resources 

contain a wealth of valuable resources 

to enhance learning. 

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Expertise

Professionals at museums and libraries 

offer innovative approaches to teaching 

and learning.

Community Trust

Museums and libraries represent 

safe community settings with useful 

facilities open to and trusted by the 

public. 

Quality Learning Environments

Museums and libraries can help 

optimize and accommodate the 

strengths and needs of learners by 

offering hands-on, active opportunities 

for exploration, skill-building, and 

enrichment.

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shelter gives children a safe place to 

go after school, and working parents no 

longer have to arrange for transportation 

and after-school care. In response to the 

program’s remarkable impact, the Broward 

County Children’s Services Division awarded 

ArtREACH a multiyear contract to provide 

services to homeless children at its original 

site and to expand into additional sites. 

Contact: Mindy Shrago

Executive Director

mshrago@youngatartmuseum.org

Grant: 2003 National Leadership Grant

With a splash of paint, the Young at Art 

Children’s Museum transformed three 

apartments in a homeless shelter into 

ArtREACH (Reconnecting and Educating 

Homeless Adolescents through Creativity 

and Hope), an arts-focused after-school 

program for homeless children. Five days a 

week from 2 to 6 p.m., children are bused 

from nearby schools, fed a snack, and then 

rotated between three activities: homework 

assistance led by certified teachers, outdoor 

recreation, and the arts-based curriculum. 

The program also offers students counseling 

and visits to the museum for hands-on 

arts activities. Locating programs in the 

Case Study: Young at Art Children’s Museum—Davie, FL

Addressing a Community Need
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Why Are Museums and Libraries Important to Youth?

Leadership Opportunities

Youth need to develop decision-making 

and leadership skills and to learn 

teamwork and collaboration. Museums 

and libraries offer youth opportunities 

to teach as well as learn—as guides, 

mentors, and apprentices. 

Access to Technology

Museums and libraries explore cuttingedge uses of technology as learning 

tools and provide public access to 

equipment and resources. 

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Career Development

Through both informal mentoring 

and structured programs, including 

volunteerism and youth employment, 

libraries and museums expose youth 

to a range of careers. 

Family/Community Connections

Museums and libraries have 

extensive experience involving 

families and community partners 

in meaningful ways.

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Photo courtesy of Chicago Botanic Garden.
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What Do Effective Youth Programs Look Like? 

The most effective youth programs are 

guided by an approach called positive 

youth development, a framework based on 

the belief that, given guidance and support 

from caring adults, all youth can make 

positive contributions. The approach favors 

leadership and skill-building opportunities. 

Positive youth development programs view 

young people in terms of their potential 

and its fulfillment. This approach contrasts 

starkly with “deficit-based” programs that 

focus narrowly on issues like drug abuse 

and teen pregnancy prevention.

Today, you need to know what works in 

youth programming long before you get 

started! With the competition for scarce 

funds and the pressure to demonstrate 

an impact, designing and implementing 

an effective program is more important 

than ever. 

What have other programs found 

successful? How did they raise the funds? 

Who did they partner with? The following 

practices show that in order to be effective, 

programs need to have the support of the 

entire institution, and in order for institutions to be effective, they need to work 

with the entire community to serve youth.

IMLS’s study found that at the institutional 

level, youth programs work best when 

museums and libraries: 

make serving youth integral to 

their mission, 

have staff and leadership 

commitment, and

are part of a web of community 

programs.

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venues. The project created a model for 

developing informal science education 

programs for OST and staff that serve 

youth underrepresented in science across 

the state. 

Contact: Dennis Schatz

Vice President for Education

Dennis_Schatz@pasci.org 

Grant: 2001 National Leadership Grant

The Pacific Science Center and the 

Washington Regional Action Project 

partnered to provide a professional 

development program for out-of-school 

time (OST) providers focused on science. 

The Pacific Science Center conducted 

workshops, developed science activity kits, 

provided technical assistance, facilitated 

electronic networking, and hosted afterschool events for OST providers. More 

than 300 adults received professional 

development training, learning activity 

information, or hands-on interactive 

opportunities to learn more about science 

through 16-month workshops at various 

Ensuring Staff Training and Commitment

Case Study: Pacific Science Center—Seattle, WA
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At a program level, the most effective youth 

programs: 

substantively involve youth in program 

design and decision-making; 

include work or service learning that 

is meaningful to participants; 

employ, publicly recognize, and/or 

include other incentives for participants’ 

accomplishments; 

build connections with participants’ 

families and communities; 

partner with community-based 

organizations and other cultural 

institutions; 

use an approach supported by the 

youth development research literature; 

identify and cover gaps in the web of 

local youth programs; 

identify appropriate outcomes;

assess and/or evaluate program 

effectiveness;

use what’s learned to improve the 

program and strengthen other youth 

development efforts; 

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What Do Effective Youth Programs Look Like?

include long-term, trusting, and 

supportive relationships among youth, 

staff, and other adults;

include staff trained to work with the 

program’s targeted age group or train 

staff to do so; and

provide ongoing training and support for 

staff.

Programs are most likely to be sustainable 

if they: 

build community awareness of the 

project’s impact on the participants 

and community; 

partner with community organizations, 

groups, and businesses; 

incorporate new sources of funding 

as the programs evolve; 

ensure both the “buy-in” and the 

continuity of program staff and 

leadership; and

are consistent with or integrated into 

the mission of the organization.

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Case Study: Dallas Public Libraries—Dallas, TX

Involving Youth in Design and Decision-Making 

High-tech treats entice teens into the Dallas 

Public Libraries’ Teen Center program. 

Teens can check out dedicated laptops and 

flash drives, use printers and specialized 

software for Web site and graphic design, 

and surf the Internet. The teen-designed 

centers serve 1,000 low-income youth. 

For some, it is their only chance to use a 

computer regularly and build technology 

skills. Once inside the library, teens 

attend programs on topics such as health, 

drugs, etiquette, and applying to college. 

Center coordinators invite teens to join the 

Teen Council and share responsibility for 

suggesting new program topics. Some youth 

volunteer at the library, shelving books and 

helping others find materials. Other teens 

help people sign up for library cards at 

community events. Teens and coordinators 

promote the center on local radio stations. 

Librarians have had a positive experience 

with youth and rely on them to troubleshoot 

computer programs and quiet rowdier 

groups of teens. 

Contact: Sergio Pineda

Multicultural Specialist

spineda@dallaslibrary.org

Grant: 2002 Grants to States
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What Can You Do in Your Community?

Museums and libraries are trusted 

institutions that know their communities 

well. That’s a good thing, because youth 

programs are most effective when they are 

offered by a network of organizations that 

are aware of the needs of young people. To 

partner and to serve youth most effectively, 

find out what your community and its youth 

need. You may not need a new grant. Ask 

yourself—how can your institution link with 

existing community programs? It’s possible 

that you already have a program that could 

be strengthened through a partnership.

What would attract youth to your museum 

or library? Who could you partner with to 

bring the idea of the museum or library to a 

population that might not have thought of 

it before? What needs do youth have? How 

can you get to know them and get on their 

radar screen?

Assessing the community’s needs can be 

as high- or low-tech as time and resources 

allow. If you are not sure what kind of 

positive youth development program is right 

for your community, use the questions in 

the following sections to help you choose a 

focus. Stay open to ideas and opportunities 

as you collect information. 

At the most basic level, you will need to:

identify a target audience and get to 

know their needs and interests

develop a plan for a program

figure out how to fund it

learn how to evaluate it

develop a communications plan

Identify a goal

Start with a general goal, like a desire to 

serve youth, and then use community input 

to define a need. 

What are your community’s priorities? Safe 

out-of-school environments? Youth health 

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issues? Diversity? Science learning? Twentyfirst century skills?

Can you align your community’s needs 

with your mission? Would an out-ofschool technology studio, a peer-to-peer 

information program, or a performing arts 

group be a good fit?

Does this idea allow you to include youth 

in decisions? Does it offer a chance 

for meaningful work or contribution to 

the community? How can you provide 

compensation or recognition?

How can this idea accommodate other 

practices of successful youth programs?

Know yourself and your institution

What skills can you and your colleagues 

offer young people? (Don’t forget volunteers 

and interns.)

What are your goals?

What do you want to accomplish? Set 

specific outcomes.

What resources or programs do you already 

have that could be developed? What 

resources will you need?

Who on your staff likes young people? Get 

them involved!

How can you involve your institution’s board 

members?

Photo courtesy of the Japanese 

American National Museum.
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Know your community

Identify and assess the community’s needs. 

What’s happening in your community? What 

are key news stories about youth and what 

do people worry about? 

What’s special about your community? Is 

it urban or rural? What’s unique about the 

geography or its history? 

Are there potential partners with assets to 

maximize success? 

What’s your community youth demography? 

Start with or check census data, which you 

can get to through www.kidscount.org, a 

national and state-by-state effort to track 

the status of children in the United States. 

What obstacles does your institution have to 

overcome? Access to public transportation?

Listen to your community

Hold a town meeting.

Invite community leaders (officials, youth 

service organizations, parents, teachers) 

to hear what youth need to become strong 

adults.

What activities and resources do youth, 

teachers, and parents say they need?

Are there places you might advertise that 

you might not have thought about?

Who needs to know what you are doing?

What Can You Do in Your Community?

Ensuring Sustainability and Building Community Awareness

Case Study: Florida Aquarium—Tampa, FL

The Florida Aquarium reached out to 

Tampa Bay area home-schooled students 

with a science program that focused on 

the Hillsborough River watershed. Led 

by aquarium, zoo, and nature center 

instructors, 60 students, ages 11 to 14, 

attended lecture sessions at the aquarium 

and made field trips to partner sites, 

which emphasized hands-on application of 

classroom content. The From the Source 

to the Sea program created awareness 

of natural resources, conservation, and 

preservation, and built home-school 

parents’ science education teaching 

skills. The program relied heavily on 

parents’ involvement to chaperone, provide 

transportation, and encourage youth as they 

worked on projects. The Florida Aquarium 

increases the sustainability of the program 

through hiring and retaining dedicated staff 

members, continuing to offer free programs 

to home-schooled students, and sharing the 

experience with the educational community. 

Contact: Debbi Berger

Vice President of Education

dberger@flaquarium.org

Grant: 2003 National Leadership Grant
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Involve youth

Ask youth you know what they think are key 

issues for their peers.

How will you use youth leadership to help 

the project?

How will youth be involved in the review 

and evaluation?

How can youth serve as ambassadors?

Look for like-minded 

organizations and funders

Sometimes private foundations target 

particular communities or issues. Find out 

what these are.

Talk to nonprofit organizations about where 

they get their funding.

See whether local or state arts or 

humanities councils fund the kinds of 

programs that you’d like to sponsor.

Case Study: Oakland Museum of California—Oakland, CA

Engage Youth in Real Work

In response to the Latino community’s 

concern about the need to collect and 

preserve its twentieth century history 

in the San Francisco area, the Oakland 

Museum of California created the Latino 

Community History Program. Mentored by 

Latino/a historians and anthropologists, 

15 low-income, inner-city youth learned to 

conduct original historical research, collect 

oral histories from their elders, and identify 

artifacts and photos for the museum’s 

permanent collection. The youth developed 

posters for the museum and for traveling 

and online exhibits. The museum paid the 

youth historians, which conveyed to them 

the value of their work. The youth began to 

see themselves as contributors and stewards 

of their community’s cultural heritage 

and community leaders. They gained an 

increased sense of pride in their community 

and improved relationships with adults, 

particularly elders. 

Contact: Barbara Henry

Chief Curator of Education 

bhenry@museumca.org

Grant: 1999 National Leadership Grant
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What Role Can Young People Play?

If your museum or library still thinks of 

youth largely as an audience for whom 

programs need to be developed and 

delivered, reframe your thinking to move 

youth to the center of all aspects of your 

programs: conceptualization, development, 

recruitment, implementation, evaluation, 

and building community awareness. When 

you begin to program “with” as opposed to 

“for” youth, you will find your institution 

changed at the core, making youth a 

resource as well as an audience, sharing 

their strengths and expertise. 

Many excellent resources are available 

to practitioners interested in more 

actively engaging youth in the design and 

implementation of their own programs, 

many of which are listed in the resources 

section of this handbook. The Engaging 

America’s Youth study identifies some key 

thoughts about working with, rather than 

for, youth:

Be completely honest—youth know 

immediately when something is false. 

Invite youth into decision-making, but 

create safe parameters in which those 

decisions can be made.

Communicate to youth that in good 

collaboration, power and decisionmaking are genuinely shared, but 

program leaders are still leaders.

Recognize that it takes time to 

demonstrate to youth that an institution 

cares. Time spent building relationships 

with youth participants may be 

more important than how many staff 

participate.

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Start small. Many museums and 

libraries start with a teen council 

to suggest and select the kinds of 

programs youth prefer. These councils, 

created to support youth programming, 

often become an integral part of the 

organization over time.

Create meaningful opportunities for 

youth to become responsible global 

citizens. 

Provide youth sensitivity training and 

support to help library and museum 

staffs become more knowledgeable 

about youth development and behavior, 

in the same way you help youth learn 

how to deal with adults.

Consider financial or other 

compensation (such as community 

service hours credit) for youth to show 

them they are valued.

Relieve youth of the need to earn 

necessary income outside of the project.

How can libraries and museums 

value the youth voice?

The Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots and 

Shoots program encourages youth to 

become leaders and to bring about positive 

change for communities, animals, and 

the environment. The program values the 

youth voice and has put into place a model 

that allows young people to genuinely 

lead and drive the program forward. It can 

easily be adapted to a museum or library 

environment.

One replicable feature of the program is 

the creation of Youth Leadership Councils, 

which equip youth with the skills and tools 

necessary to emerge at the forefront of a 

generation of globally responsible citizens 

and leaders. 

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Roots and Shoots offers these tips for 

museums and libraries interested in starting 

a teen council. Youth should:

feel a sense of ownership in initiatives 

and take part in all aspects of planning, 

implementation, celebration, and longterm support;

serve as ambassadors for the institution 

and participate in events, speaking 

engagements, and other initiatives;

be given face time to discuss initiatives 

with one another and with staff 

members;

define for themselves clear, individual 

goals that ultimately help the institution 

achieve its goals;

help recruit and select other council 

members and fully engage in the 

application process;

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Establishing Meaningful Relationships with Adults

Chilkoot Indian Association / Haines Borough Public Library—Haines, AK

The Haines Public Library in Haines, 

Alaska, has harnessed young people’s 

energy and technical know-how to teach 

computer skills to adults. Through the 

Dragonfly Project, library staff coach 

community youth to conduct computer 

classes for older adults. The library 

allows participants to build confidence 

in the use of technology and to gain 

a sense of accomplishment in a safe 

environment. Young people build longlasting relationships with adults in the 

program and their communities. The project 

inspires youth, who previously may have 

been socially or geographically isolated, 

to become leaders in their communities. 

Whether through formal community 

recognition or informal praise by adult 

participants, the project enhances youths’ 

self-esteem long after the classes end.

Contact: Linda Moyer

Education Coordinator

dragonfly@aptalaska.net

Grant: 2003 Native American Library 

Services Enhancement Grant

be viewed as respected advisors to both 

the senior and junior staff in youthrelated strategies and direction;

receive formal and informal training, 

direction, and support from staff, ideally 

from a specific point person; and

have fun and build lasting relationships.

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Implementation Period

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Youth graduates

mentor others.

Youth

contribute to

program design.

Youth as True Participants in Museum and Library Programs:

Program Arc

Youth participate

in needs

assessment.

Youth help staff

learn how to work

with young people.

Youth help

determine how the

program is working.

Youth are

ambassadors and

spokespeople.

What Role Can Young People Play?

The most effective and strongest youth 

programs involve youth through the entire 

program life cycle and in a variety of roles. 

This diagram shows points along an arc 

where youth can be involved, as well as 

some of the roles that youth can play in a 

program. Which roles for youth are central 

to your program?

Youth as Apprentices

Work with staff to learn 

disciplinary content and 

skills—e.g., research and 

exhibit-building

Youth as Patrons

Attend workshops, events, 

and activities that develop 

content knowledge and 

life skills

Youth as End-Users

E.g., of classroom lessons, 

Web-based materials, and 

other resources

Needs

Assessment

Program

Design

Trial

Period/Pilot

Program

Delivery

Evaluation

Extension Ongoing 

Work
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Strategies for Success: Partner, Evaluate, Sustain

Why partner?

Partnerships strengthen a museum’s or 

library’s community involvement, enrich its 

capacity, build an enlightened audience, 

and signal a commitment to youth to 

everyone in the community. There are 

many benefits of collaborating, including 

reaching more youth by pooling resources; 

making your project more attractive to 

funders by involving multiple organizations 

in a community; and working with other 

community groups rather than competing 

with them. 

Museums and libraries have a healthy 

history of collaboration with a wide range 

of institutions, organizations, and agencies. 

The challenge is to transform traditional 

ways of doing business so that museums 

and libraries can engage fully in supporting 

youth in their communities. What does it 

take to create a partnership that benefits 

museums, libraries, youth organizations, 

social service agencies, parents, teachers, 

and the whole community? Real community 

needs can rarely be met by one institution 

alone. First, identify needs that are real; do 

an inventory of your own assets; identify the 

resources that you need to do the program 

(participants, venue, staff expertise, 

framework, lesson plan, funds, etc.). Ask 

yourself—what do you have? What could 

others bring? Who might have those assets?

IMLS has found that partnerships need to 

meet a number of conditions to succeed.

Obtain early commitment from 

appropriate decision makers in 

respective organizations.

Establish early, direct involvement 

between museum or library staff and 

the staff of a prospective partner 

organization.

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Understand the partners’ goals for 

serving youth.

Create a shared vision for the 

partnership, and set clear expectations 

for what both partners hope to achieve.

Recognize and accommodate the 

different organizational cultures and 

structures of museums, libraries, and 

prospective partners.

Set realistic, concrete goals through a 

careful planning process.

Integrate evaluation and ongoing 

planning into the partnership.

Allocate enough human and financial 

resources.

Define roles and responsibilities clearly.

Promote dialogue and open communication; choose benchmarks for success.

Periodically re-evaluate goals, roles, 

responsibilities, and resources.

Provide real benefits that youth and 

providers of youth services can use.

Encourage flexibility, creativity, and 

experimentation.

Seek family and community 

involvement.

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Photo courtesy of the Saint Paul Public Library.
14

Where can you find potential partners?

youth groups

schools and school districts

colleges and universities

businesses

media—public access TV, National 

Public Radio

state and local agencies—parks and 

recreation, child welfare agencies, 

housing authorities

sports clubs

citizen groups—Lions, Kiwanis, Rotary

parent-teacher organizations

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senior centers

community technology centers

chambers of commerce

Many IMLS museum and library grantees 

have partnered with the following 

organizations. Use the keyword search in 

the IMLS online grants database (available 

at www.imls.gov/search.asp) to find IMLS 

grantees who have partnered with these 

organizations. 

Big Brothers, Big Sisters: the oldest and 

largest youth mentoring organization in the 

United States. www.bbbs.org

Boy Scouts: more than 300 local councils 

that provide quality youth programs, 

including cub scouting, boy scouting, and 

venturing. www.scouting.org

Boys and Girls Clubs: provide a safe place 

to learn and grow, offering relationships 

with adult professionals, life-enhancing 

programs, and character development 

experiences. www.bgca.org

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Strategies for Success: Partner, Evaluate, Sustain

The Birmingham Cultural Alliance 

Partnership: Making Cultural Connections 

in Education makes the most of the 

community’s rich cultural and artistic 

heritage to engage teachers and low-income 

youth in inventive, hands-on educational 

activities. Seven museums teamed up 

with the public library to create interactive 

experiences for middle-school youth 

highlighting African-American achievements 

in science, history, and the arts. At each 

museum, participants’ families attend 

a closing program that showcases what 

the youth have learned through activities 

such as performing in a play or displaying 

a quilt. The program actively cultivates 

in participants and their families a sense 

that cultural institutions belong to their 

community and desire to support cultural 

heritage. Programs are improved based on 

an ongoing review of community needs and 

on input from the local school systems and 

cultural institutions. 

Contact: Priscilla Hancock Cooper

Vice President of Institutional Programs 

pcooper@bcri.org

Grant: 2000 National Leadership Grant

Case Study: Birmingham Civil Rights Institute—Birmingham, AL

Being Part of a Web of Community Programs
15

Camp Fire USA: one of the nation’s leading 

youth development organizations. Camp 

Fire USA’s outcome-based programs include 

youth leadership, self-reliance, after-school 

groups, camping, and environmental 

education. www.campfire.org

Girl Scouts of the USA: in partnership with 

committed adult volunteers, girls develop 

qualities that will serve them all their 

lives, like leadership, strong values, social 

conscience, and conviction about their own 

potential and self-worth. www.girlscouts.org 

For a project profile on the Girl Scouts’ 

contribution to IMLS’s conservation effort, 

Connecting to Collections, see 

www.imls.gov/profiles/Jun07.shtm

I Have a Dream: helps children from 

low-income areas reach their educational 

and career goals by providing a longterm program of mentoring, tutoring, and 

enrichment with an assured opportunity for 

higher education. www.ihad.org

State Education Agency K–12 ServiceLearning Network (SEANet): a national 

network of professionals committed to 

advancing school-based service-learning 

initiatives in K–12 schools and school 

districts all across the country.

http://seanetonline.org

Youth Service America: A resource 

center that partners with thousands of 

organizations committed to increasing 

the quality and quantity of volunteer 

opportunities for young people in America, 

aged 5–25, to serve locally, nationally, and 

globally. It offers grants and awards as well 

as providing advocacy, information, and 

resources. www.YSA.org

How can evaluation work for you?

Evaluation is one of the keys to program 

success, but most project designers and 

managers are not evaluators. Nonetheless, 

every project manager needs to know how 

to collect and understand information 

about how a project is going, or how to work 

with a qualified evaluator or visitor studies 

specialist. Your choices determine whether 

evaluation produces a grab-bag or a treasure 

chest. By focusing on a limited number of 

meaningful questions, you will be able to 

prioritize, direct resources, and fine tune 

the program design. The answers will also 

help you communicate the value of your 

program and your institution. 

Why evaluate?

To measure your contribution to 

audiences and the community;

To learn what works and what doesn’t so 

you can refine your services midcourse 

and over the long term;

To provide accountability to your 

funders and document success stories 

for your community partners; and

To share your experiences so others can 

learn from your hard work.

What kind of evaluation do you need?

Most grant-makers now require an 

evaluation component as a condition 

for funding. Involve youth in thinking 

strategically about what outcomes should 

be measured and how the research should 

be conducted.

Different approaches fit different needs, 

so consider where you are in a project life 

cycle, what you want to know, and how you 

want to use the information. 

In the visioning stage, front-end 

evaluation provides information to 

validate needs and show what has 

audience appeal and what makes for 

effective outreach. 

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In the development stage, formative 

evaluation tells you which ways 

of communicating information or 

creating experiences work best for 

your audiences.

For active projects, process evaluation shows efficiency, real costs, 

and productivity. 

In projects to build skills, knowledge, 

attitudes, or any other change in 

people’s ability or behavior, outcome 

evaluation helps you know (and 

show) that your program creates 

intended results.

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In ongoing efforts, remedial evaluation

identifies what needs upkeep, repair, 

or replacement. 

Evaluation done at the end of a 

project, rather than during it, is 

summary evaluation. 

Once a project is over, impact 

assessment looks for changes in 

institutions or communities.

What should you evaluate?

Evaluation can focus on quantities (which 

may be outputs), processes, conditions, 

or results for people (outcomes), or a 

combination. How do you choose? Ask 

yourself, your partners, and your expected 

audience for input: 

What are your goals? What impact or 

other results do you want to see?

Does your project have access to inhouse evaluation skills, or will you hire a 

consultant?

What do and don’t you know about your 

audiences and what they know? 

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Strategies for Success: Partner, Evaluate, Sustain

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners becomes “best friends” with 

libraries that receive grants for its ‘Tweens 

and Teens program. From the moment a 

library sends its letter of intent in January, 

the board is in frequent contact. The libraries attend a grant-writing workshop and 

receive board feedback on the substantial 

application they will eventually submit in 

March. About half of the applications don’t 

receive funding in the first round, so with 

the board’s help, libraries resubmit their 

applications in June. The board’s message 

is consistent: the program objectives must 

reflect the ‘Tweens/Teens’ point of view, 

preferably created with their input. When 

the grant is awarded in November, the 

board holds a kick-off training program. 

Libraries with little or no experience with 

youth are encouraged to visit and learn from 

libraries with successful (and mandatory) 

teen advisory councils. Libraries submit to 

the board four reports during the two-year 

program and a fifth report six months after 

the grant ends.

Contact: Shelley Quezada

Consultant to the Underserved 

shelley.quezada@state.ma.us

Grant: 2006 Grants to States

Evaluating

Case Study: Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners—Boston, MA

Photo courtesy of the 

Oxford Free Public Library.
17

Do you know your audiences’ 

preferences for experiences, locations, 

and people? 

What changes, if any, do you want to 

create in members of your audience? 

What information will show progress?

What’s realistic to expect, given 

your program audience, design, 

and time frame? 

Who are your project’s important 

stakeholders (always include your 

project audience)? 

What kind and quality of information 

speaks persuasively to them? Are they 

most interested in how the community 

(or your audience, or your field) views 

your program? By its cost? By human 

interest, or demonstrated learning? 

What information is needed to address 

their expectations? What information 

will tell you how well the program met 

its goal? 

What can you afford and what are you 

willing to do? 

If you have a grant or other outside 

funding, what do funders want to know?

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See Resources for Practitioners for some 

great sources of information for evaluating 

youth development programs.

How can you sustain your success? 

Develop an improved ability to articulate 

and publicize how your program is 

changing the lives of its participants 

and impacting the greater community.

As soon as a program is funded for a 

specific time period, begin to use that 

funding as an opportunity to heighten 

visibility of the program and attract new 

funding sources. 

Engage other staff and decision-makers 

in both program activities and public 

relations events to build staff resources. 

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Incorporating a New Funding Structure

Case Study: Fort Ligonier Association—Ligonier, PA

Fort Ligonier, a private nonprofit museum, 

restored fort, and historic site, leveraged an 

IMLS grant to secure permanent funding 

for its program marking the 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War. The 

initial grant funded a broad educational 

package, grade- and age-specific tours and 

activities, teacher workshops and training, 

and docent training. The IMLS grant also 

helped ensure the Fort’s participation in a 

consortium of National Park and state sites, 

private and local historical associations, and 

public television and local foundations. The 

resulting nonprofit group applied for joint 

funding, marketed the multiple sites, and 

disseminated from a central source educational materials related to the French and 

Indian War. The group has also provided 

support for staff, shared materials, and 

allowed member institutions to complete 

projects on a larger scale than they could 

do alone. The wider reach of the consortium 

gives Fort Ligonier more opportunities to 

communicate the value of its site, leading 

to more stable funding and benefits for both 

youth and the general public. 

Contact: Martin West, Director

ftlig@westol.com

Grant: 2003 Learning Opportunities Grant
Resources for 

Practitioners
19

Successful youth programs draw on a 

variety of models based on desired 

results, or on conditions or mechanisms 

for achieving healthy adulthood. The 

following examples are based on sound 

research and real experience. Notice 

commonalities from model to model, and 

consider your programs and ideas in the 

light of these frameworks. What principles 

do your programs already use, and what 

could strengthen them further?

1) 4-H

4-H encourages youth to reach their 

fullest potential while advancing the field 

of youth development. Administered by the 

United States Department of Agriculture’s 

Cooperative Extension System, the four 

H’s stand for head, heart, hands, and 

health. The organization serves more than 9 

million members in almost 100,000 clubs 

in the United States. While the historical 

4-H focus was agriculture, the club’s 

purpose has evolved to offer today’s youth 

a variety of activities focused on leadership 

development. The model below is adapted 

from Meeting the Needs of Youth, Iowa 

State University Extension, available at 

www.national4-hheadquarters.gov/library.

4-H highlights four basic needs of 

young people:

The Need to Belong—Youth need to know 

others care about them, and to feel a sense 

of connection to others in a group. 4-H 

provides the opportunity to feel physically 

and emotionally safe in active group 

participation by: 

helping group members get to know 

each other;

creating opportunities for members to 

interact; and

finding ways to involve family and 

community members.

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Frameworks that Work

The Need to Master—To develop selfconfidence, youth need to feel able to solve 

problems and meet challenges successfully. 

4-H does this by:

providing project-based learning 

experiences;

modeling and teaching that failure 

and frustration are normal parts of any 

learning experience; and

being fair and consistent when 

enforcing rules and giving feedback.

The Need to be Independent—Youth 

need to know their decision-making and 

action can influence people and events. 

Leadership opportunities help youth 

become more responsible and understand 

themselves better. 4-H supports these 

goals by:

providing opportunities to lead in 

simple tasks and to progress to more 

difficult ones;

recruiting, training, and supporting 

young people for increasing 

responsibilities; and 

avoiding pre-emptive assistance— 

encouraging young people to overcome 

obstacles on their own.

The Need to be Generous—Youth need to 

feel their lives have meaning and purpose. 

Youth can connect to communities and 

learn to give back to others through service. 

4-H does this by: 

targeting a specific community service 

project that fits each group’s interests 

and abilities;

encouraging youth to consider the 

feelings of others; and

creating mentoring opportunities where 

youth can learn from each other.

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2) National Research Council

The National Research Council (see Eccles 

and Gootman (2002) in the General 

Bibliography, p. 28) conducted a key study 

that suggests that the following settings and 

assets facilitate positive youth development. 

Youth need safe places where they feel 

secure, supported, and accepted. They will 

come back to a place that has the right 

combination of nurture and challenge; they 

won’t return to a place where they don’t feel 

they belong or where they feel threatened. 

Museums and libraries are well equipped 

to provide safe, secure, and inviting 

environments. 

The following positive developmental factors 

and personal and social assets facilitate 

positive youth development and are adapted 

from the study. 

Positive Factors for Youth Programs

Physical and Psychological Safety—

Safe and health-supportive facilities 

that increase safe peer group interaction 

and decrease unsafe or confrontational 

interactions.

Appropriate Structure—Clear boundaries 

with age-appropriate monitoring; clear and 

consistent rules and expectations that set 

safe limits; “firm-enough” control that 

provides continuity and predictability. 

Supportive Relationships—Warmth, 

connectedness, good communication, 

caring, support, guidance, secure 

attachment, and responsiveness.

Opportunities to Belong—Opportunities 

for meaningful inclusion, regardless of 

individual differences; social inclusion, 

social engagement, and integration; 

opportunities to form socio-cultural identity; 

support for cultural and cross-cultural 

competence.

Positive Social Norms—Clear expectations; 

injunctions; ways of doing things; values 

and morals; service expectations.

Support for Efficacy and Mattering—

Youth-based empowerment practices that 

support autonomy; opportunities to be taken 

seriously and to make a real difference in 

one’s community; practices that enable 

success; opportunities to take responsibility 

and meaningful challenges; and focus 

on improvement rather than relative 

performance levels.

Opportunities to Build Skills—

Opportunities to learn physical, intellectual, 

psychological, emotional, and social 

skills; exposure to intentional learning 

experiences; opportunities to learn cultural 

literacy, media literacy, communication 

skills, and good habits of mind; preparation 

for adult employment; and opportunities to 

develop social and cultural capital.

Integration of Family, School, and 

Community Efforts—coordination and 

synergy among family, school, and 

community.

Frameworks that Work

Photo courtesy of the Johnson County Library.
21

Positive Personal and Social Assets for 

Youth Development

Physical development:

Good health habits

Good health risk management skills

Intellectual development:

Knowledge of essential life skills

Knowledge of essential vocational skills

School success

Rational habits of mind—critical 

thinking and reasoning skills

In-depth knowledge of more than one 

culture

Good decision-making skills

Knowledge of skills needed to navigate 

through multiple cultural contexts

Psychological and emotional development:

Good mental health, including positive 

self-regard

Good emotional self-regulation skills

Good coping skills

Good conflict resolution skills

Mastery motivation and positive 

achievement motivation

Confidence in one’s personal efficacy

“Planfulness”—planning for the future 

and future life events

Sense of personal autonomy/

responsibility for self

Optimism coupled with realism

Coherent and positive personal and 

social identity

Pro-social and culturally sensitive values

Spirituality or a sense of a “larger” 

purpose in life

Strong moral character

A commitment to good use of time

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Social development:

Connectedness—perceived good 

relationships and trust with parents, 

peers, and other adults

Sense of social place/integration—being 

connected and valued by larger social 

networks

Attachment to pro-social/conventional 

institutions, such as school, church, 

nonschool youth programs

Ability to navigate in multiple cultural 

contexts

Commitment to civic engagement

3) Richard Lerner

Richard Lerner (2005) theorizes that young 

people thrive if they develop behaviors 

he calls the “five C’s” over the course 

of childhood and early adolescence: 

competence, connection, character, 

confidence, and caring/compassion. 

According to Lerner, a youth with these 

behaviors is on the path to a sixth C: 

contribution—to self, family, community, 

and civil society. It is the sixth C that leads 

to positive adulthood. These are “C’s” that 

youth programs should address:

Competence: intellectual ability and 

social and behavioral skills

Connection: positive bonds with people 

and institutions

Character: integrity and moral 

centeredness

Confidence: positive self-regard, a sense 

of self-efficacy, and courage

Caring/compassion: humane values, 

empathy, and a sense of social justice

Contribution: to self, family, community, 

and civil society

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4) Jay Mancini and Lydia Marek 

Mancini and Marek (1998: 8–10) identify 

qualities that appear to create sustainable 

programs for at-risk youth and their 

families. They incorporate these qualities 

into a sustainability framework. The six 

major factors for sustaining communitybased programs are: 

Vision and leadership 

Collaboration and partnerships 

Community awareness, involvement, 

and needs

Demonstrated program impact 

Funding

Staffing 

5) Milbrey McLaughlin

McLaughlin (2000) highlights the 

important role that community-based 

youth organizations play in supporting 

the development of young people. 

McLaughlin’s study looks at what motivates 

youth to participate in communitybased organizations that serve them; it 

highlights what effective youth-based 

organizations look like and what youth gain 

by participating, and provides examples 

of what communities can do to create and 

sustain more effective programs for youth. 

The research describes a framework of 

four characteristics of successful youth 

programs: 

Youth-centered: They respond to diverse 

individual talents, skills, and interests; 

provide personal attention; reach out 

to the community to recruit a range of 

participants; and make youth leadership an 

integral part of the program. 

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Knowledge-centered: They have a clear 

focus, provide high-quality content and 

instruction, embed multiple “hidden 

curricula” in their activities, and ensure 

that participating youth have teachers (both 

adults and peers) from the community. 

Assessment-centered: They have cycles of 

planning, practice, and performance and 

are based on a written outline or framework. 

Participants have a sense of structure and 

accomplishment, as the programs offer 

feedback and recognition, and take stock of 

a broad range of competencies. 

Community-centered: They create safe, 

caring communities to support trusting 

relationships, establishing clear rules, 

giving participants responsibilities for the 

program, and providing constant access to 

adults and community, including links to 

leaders, jobs, and other institutions.

Frameworks that Work
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America’s Promise–Alliance for Youth. 

Begun in 1997 with the collaboration of 

five U.S. presidents, America’s Promise lays 

out five necessities for youth in America: 

caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, 

an effective education, and opportunities to 

help others. A study conducted by America’s 

Promise finds there are gaps in what youth 

hope and expect for themselves and a lack of 

availability and desirability of some of these 

promises. www.americaspromise.org

American Library Association, Young Adult 

Library Services Association (YALSA) 

advocates, promotes, and strengthens 

service to young adults as part of the 

continuum of total library service, and to 

support those who provide service to this 

population. For professional development 

and other resources, go to

www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/yalsa.cfm.

American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), 

a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional 

development organization provides 

learning opportunities for policy leaders, 

practitioners, and researchers working on 

youth and education issues at the national, 

state, and local levels. www.aypf.org

Forum for Youth Investment, a nonprofit, 

nonpartisan organization, is dedicated 

to helping communities and the nation 

make sure all young people are Ready by 

21—ready for college, work, and life. The 

Forum organizes its work around key areas 

including research, leadership, and training. 

www.forum.fyi.org 

Helping America’s Youth. The White 

House’s Helping America’s Youth initiative 

is a nationwide effort to raise awareness of 

the challenges facing youth, particularly 

at-risk boys, and to motivate caring 

adults to connect with youth in three key 

areas: family, school, and community. 

As the leader of this initiative, First Lady 

Laura Bush highlights programs that are 

effectively helping America’s young people. 

www.helpingamericasyouth.gov 

National Governors Association Center 

for Best Practices, Extra Learning 

Opportunities. This center provides 

guidelines for governors and state 

governments to support extra learning 

opportunities (ELOs) in their states. The 

Center suggests ELOs should be supported 

because they are useful in bridging school 

achievement gaps, connect youth to 

their communities, provide after-school 

supervision, and help with the development 

of workforce skills. www.nga.org/center/elo

National Youth Development Information 

Center (NYDIC) is a “one-stop” Web site 

for youth workers with interests in any 

and all of the following areas: funding, 

programming, research, policy, and job and 

training opportunities. www.nydic.org

Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a 

national education-business coalition which 

is responsible for the Framework for 21st 

Century Learning, believes youth need to 

develop communication, problem-solving, 

interpersonal and self-direction skills; 

global awareness; financial, economic 

and business literacy; and entrepreneurial 

skills to enhance workplace productivity, 

career options, and civic literacy. 

www.21stcenturyskills.org

YouthALIVE! Regional Networks. Five 

networks help museum staff develop the 

skills and knowledge they need to design 

and implement successful youth programs. 

The networks are aligned with the overall 

mission and goals that guided YouthALIVE!, 

an initiative of the Association of Science 

and Technology Centers and the DewittWallace Reader’s Digest Fund from 1991–

2001. In addition to sharing best practices 

and seeking sources of collaborative 

funding, the networks provide professional 

development in program design and 

implementation, staff training, community 

partnerships, adolescent development, and 

diversity. www.astc.org/profdev/youth.htm

Initiatives Across the Nation
24

Finding Funding: A Guide to Federal 

Sources for Out-of-School Time and 

Community School Initiatives, Revised 

and Updated, by Heather Clapp Padgette 

(January 2003). This guide to federal 

funding sources is designed to help 

policymakers, program leaders, systembuilding advocates, and others take 

advantage of federal funding options. It 

identifies and summarizes more than 120 

federal programs that have the potential to 

support out-of-school time and community 

school initiatives, provides information on 

the structure and amount of federal funding 

available from these sources, and presents 

strategies for maximizing federal revenues 

and using these revenues to create more 

flexible funding. www.financeproject.org

Funding Resources

Afterschool Alliance has a lengthy section 

on funding opportunities for after-school 

programs, including federal, state, and 

private sources.

www.afterschoolalliance.org/funding.cfm

Annenberg Foundation. The Annenberg 

Foundation provides support for projects 

within its grant-making interest areas 

of education and youth development; 

arts, culture, and humanities; civic and 

community; health and human services; 

and the environment. 

www.annenbergfoundation.org

Foundation Center. The center maintains 

the most comprehensive database on U.S. 

grant-making, philanthropic, and corporate 

institutions. It also operates research, 

education, and training programs designed 

to advance philanthropy at every level. 

www.foundationcenter.org

Grantseeking: How to Find a Funder and 

Write a Winning Proposal by Larry E. Decker 

and Virginia A. Decker (1993). This is a 

detailed road map of sequential activities 

followed by successful grant-seekers. 

The entire grant-seeking process­—from 

generating a good idea through identifying 

the right funder, writing a winning proposal, 

and administering the grant—is laid out in 

detail, with models and examples. 
25

For additional resources, see the IMLS 

Web page on evaluation: www.imls.gov/

applicants/obe.shtm

The Program Manager’s Guide to Evaluation.

Administration on Children, Youth and 

Families, Administration for Children and 

Families, Department of Health and Human 

Services. 2003. www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/

opre/other_resrch/pm_guide_eval

Community-Based Project Evaluation Guide. 

Callor, S., Betts, S., et al. The University 

of Arizona Institute of Children, Youth 

& Families. 2001. http://ag.arizona.edu

/fcs/cyfernet/cyfar/stst_guide.pdf 

Evaluation Handbook. W. K. Kellogg 

Foundation. 1998. www.wkkf.org/Pubs/

Tools/Evaluation/Pub770.pdf 

Making Evaluation Integral to Your AssetBuilding Initiative: Employing a Theory of 

Action and Change. Mesaros, W. 

Available from the Search Institute at 

www.search-institute.org/research/

knowledge/MakingEvaluationIntegral.html

Harvard Family Research Project’s 

evaluation periodical, The Evaluation 

Exchange, addresses current issues facing 

program evaluators of all levels, with articles 

written by the most prominent evaluators in 

the field. Designed as an ongoing discussion 

among evaluators, program practitioners, 

funders, and policymakers, The Evaluation 

Exchange highlights innovative methods 

and approaches to evaluation, emerging 

trends in evaluation practice, and practical 

applications of evaluation theory. It goes out 

to its subscribers free of charge four times 

per year. 

www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/eval.html

Evaluation Resources

Photo courtesy of the New Mexico 

Museum of Natural History and Science. 
26

The After-School Corporation (TASC) has 

published a practical guide for afterschool staff interested in getting families 

and parents involved in their programs. 

Grounded in the experiences of 15 afterschool programs in the TASC network, it 

offers tips and materials for after-school 

programs to promote parent engagement. 

www.tascorp.org/publications/catalog/

parentengagement

The Center for Informal Learning and 

Schools (CILS) provides professional 

development for educators at informal 

science institutions, and convenes science 

education researchers and practitioners. 

CILS is a partnership of the Exploratorium 

in San Francisco, King’s College London, 

and the University of California, Santa 

Cruz. They are conducting research on 

the interests, motivations, identities, and 

capacities of children in order to promote 

student enthusiasm, knowledge, skills, and 

persistence in participating in science in 

and out of school. 

www.exploratorium.edu/CILS

Chapin Hall Center for Children at the 

University of Chicago is a policy research 

center dedicated to bringing sound 

information, rigorous analysis, innovative 

ideas, and an independent multidisciplinary perspective to policies and 

programs affecting children, families, and 

communities. The Center also addresses, 

services, and supports programs aimed at 

fostering child and youth development. 

www.chapinhall.org

Citizen Schools, a nonprofit leader in 

providing out-of-school learning programs 

for students in the middle grades, uniquely 

mobilizes business, civic, and community 

volunteers to participate in education 

through hands-on apprenticeships.

www.citizenschools.org

The Harvard Family Research Project is 

launching a new concept: complementary 

learning. They believe that for children and 

youth to be successful, there must be an 

array of learning supports around them. 

These supports, which must reach beyond 

school, should be linked and work toward 

consistent learning and developmental 

outcomes for children from birth through 

adolescence. Examples of nonschool 

learning supports include early childhood 

programs, families, after-school programs, 

libraries, museums, and other communitybased institutions. 

www.gse.harvard.edu/~hfrp

Museums after school: How museums are 

reaching kids, partnering with schools, 

and making a difference. The first issue 

of Insight, which offers lessons learned 

from the James Irvine Foundation’s 

grant-making programs, is dedicated to 

understanding how museums can build 

after-school programs. Based on evaluations 

of 10 California after-school museum 

programs, this report describes how two of 

their grantees implemented after-school 

programs. It also discusses four issues for 

effective after-school programs at museums: 

partnerships with schools, institutional 

support, programmatic approaches, and 

financial sustainability. 

www.irvine.org/assets/pdf/pubs

Out-of-School Resources
27

The National Institute on Out-of-School 

Time at Wellesley College has moved 

the afterschool field forward through 

its research, education and training, 

consultation, and field-building. 

www.niost.org

Public Libraries as Partners in Youth 

Development, a Wallace Foundation 

publication, reports findings from a 

national survey of library services for young 

people and assesses the ways libraries 

might change to meet the growing needs 

of children and teens. Its examples of 

innovative youth-oriented work at several 

libraries nationwide can offer ideas and 

inspiration for communities that seek to 

enhance their libraries as resources for 

young people during their nonschool hours.

www.wallacefoundation.org/

KnowledgeCenter (go to Libraries).

Public Libraries as Partners in Youth 

Development: Lessons and Voices from the 

Field is available online at the 

Urban Libraries Council Web site, 

www.urbanlibraries.org, and the Forum 

for Youth Investment Web site, 

www.forumforyouthinvestment.org.

Quality that Lasts: Building a Framework 

for the Future of OST calls for quality and 

sustainability. Recommendations include 

gathering demand-oriented data from 

families. www.wallacefoundation.org/

KnowledgeCenter (go to Out-of-School 

Learning).

Photo courtesy of the Vermont Historical Society.
28

Association of Science and Technology 

Centers. 2006. Sourcebook of Science 

Center Statistics and Analysis. Washington, 

DC: Association of Science and Technology 

Centers. 

Baum, L., Hein, G. E., and Solvay, M. 

2000. “In Their Own Words: Voices of 

Teens in Museums.” Journal of Museum 

Education 25(3): 9–13.

Beane, D. B. 2000. “Museums and Healthy 

Adolescent Development: What We Are 

Learning from Research and Practice.” 

Journal of Museum Education 25(3): 3–8.

Bodily, S., and Beckett, M. K. 2005. 

Making Out-of-School Time Matter: 

Evidence for an Action Agenda. Santa 

Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

Campbell, M. 2000. How to Strengthen 

Youth Serving Nonprofits: Experiences 

of the James Irvine Foundation’s Youth 

Development Initiative. San Francisco: 

Human Interaction Research Institute.

Cassell, K., and Waither, J. 2006. 

“Supporting Children and Teens After 

School: A Library Approach.” Bottom Line: 

Managing Library Finances 19(3):16–21.

Catalano, R., Berglund, L., Ryan, J., 

Lonczak, H., and Hawkins, J. D. 2004. 

“Positive Youth Development in the United 

States: Research Findings on Evaluations 

of Positive Youth Development Programs.” 

Annals of the American Academy of 

Political and Social Science 591(1): 

98–124.

Checkoway, B., Richards-Schuster, K., 

Abdullah, S., Aragon, M., Facio, E., 

Figueroa, L., Reddy, E., Welsh, M., 

and White, A. 2003 “Young People 

as Competent Citizens.” Community 

Development Journal 38: 298–309.

Costello, J., Whalen, S., Spielberger, J., and 

Winje, C. 2001. “Promoting Public Library 

Partnerships with Youth Agencies.” Journal 

of Youth Services in Libraries 15(1): 8–15.

Dierking, L. D., and Falk, J. H. 2003. 

“Optimizing Youth’s Out-of-School Time: 

The Role of Free Choice Learning.” New 

Directions for Youth Development 97: 

75–89.

Durlak, J., and Weissberg, R. 2006. The 

Impact of After-School Programs That Seek 

to Promote Personal and Social Skills in 

Young People. Chicago: Collaborative for 

Academic, Social and Emotional Learning 

(CASEL).

Eccles, J., and Gootman, J. A., Eds. 2002. 

Community Programs to Promote Youth 

Development. Washington, DC: National 

Academy Press.

Forum for Youth Investment. 2001. Moving 

an Out-of-School Agenda: Lessons and 

Challenges Across Cities. Washington, DC: 

Forum for Youth Investment.

Hirsch, B. J. 2005. A Place to Call Home: 

After-School Programs for Urban Youth. 

New York: Teachers College Press.

Hobbs, B. 2004. “Latino Outreach 

Programs: Why They Need to be Different.” 

Journal of Extension 42(4): 1-4.

Institute of Museum and Library Services. 

2002. True Needs, True Partners: Museums 

Serving Schools, 2002 Survey Highlights. 

Washington, DC: Institute of Museum and 

Library Services.

King, P. E., Dowling, E. M., Mueller, R. 

A., White, K., Schultz, W., Osborn, P., 

Dickerson, E., Bobek, D. L., Lerner, R. M., 

Benson, P. L., and Scales, P. C. 2005. 

“Thriving in Adolescence: The Voices of 

Youth-serving Practitioners, Parents, and 

Early and Late Adolescents.” Journal of 

Early Adolescence 25(1): 94–112.

General Bibliography
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Lerner, R. 2005. “Positive Youth 

Development: A View of the Issues.” Journal 

of Early Adolescence 25(1):10–16.

Mancini, J. A., and Marek, L.I. 1998. 

Patterns of Project Survival and 

Organizational Support: The National 

Youth at Risk Program Sustainability Study 

(Publication 350-800). Blacksburg, VA: 

Virginia Cooperative Extension Service.

www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/family/350-800/350-

800.html

Marek, L. I., Mancini, J. A., and Brock, D.P. 

1999. Continuity, Success, and Survival of 

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(Publication 350-801). Blacksburg, VA: 

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801.html

McLaughlin, M. 2000. Community Counts: 

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Metcalf, R. 2001. “Cultural Connections: 

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Spielberger, J., and Halpern, R. 2002. The 

Role of After-School Programs in Children’s 

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Spielberger, J., Horton, C., Michels, L., and 

Halpern, R. 2005. New on the Shelf: Teens 

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Tolman, J., Pittman, K., Yohalem, N., 

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