Theme: Teen Health

Theme Description: What the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic has shown us is the glaring inequities in healthcare. And, healthcare is not just an “adult” issue. Teens have the “typical” health concerns of growing up--puberty, growing pains, acne, mono. But, increasingly, teens are dealing with debilitating chronic physical and mental health problems. Many teens are also having to provide physical and mental supports for family members and friends who are dealing with health issues. Health concerns can be frightening and lonesome landscapes. And, as usual, libraries and librarians are at the forefront of supporting teens in providing health information, resources, and services.

For this issue, we'd like to hear how your teens are coping with health. We seek articles that address a variety of perspectives from youth-supporting staff from inside and outside the library world (public, school, academic, rural, tribal, etc), so please feel free to share this call widely.

This issue is open for articles that provide broad and specific discussions that address questions such as:

How has your library leveraged its community partnerships to help connect teens to the health services they need?

Is this generation of teens more knowledgeable of teen health concerns?

Is the school and/or public library the proper place for information on teen sexual health? Has your library provided information, resources or services to help?

How are teens coping with chronic health conditions? How do you lend support to them?

In what ways do you provide access to your services and resources to teens who may have difficulty going to libraries because of chronic health issues?

Have you created successful programs around teen health?

How do you approach collection development with regard to teen-focused health materials?




We are also seeking articles for our "Future Trending" column, which highlights new, up-and-coming ideas, perspectives, and initiatives that are somewhat out of the box. Examples of focuses include the following themes (or another theme you want to address): technology(ies), Covid-19, universal design, etc. What do you think we should know?



Please remember that this is a volunteer writing opportunity with no monetary compensation. YALSA has the right to first refusal.

If you have an article idea for this themed issue, please submit article proposals by July 7, 2021.

If you know someone who has experience on this topic and would be interested in writing for YALS or have questions, please contact YALS editor, Yolanda Hood at yhood@upei.ca.