I ran into a couple of blogs on dystopian YA literature this week:

One showing the float chart decoding the genre:
http://www.embowman.com/2011/is-it-dystopia/.
I suddenly remembered that I wrote some dystopian-ish short stories as a teenager, but after reading this chart, I realized what I had written was only post-apocalypse.

The other blogs I read attempted to explain why teens are attracted to dystopian stories:
http://busyteacher.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/why-dystopian-lit-is-so-hot-with-teens/.
I think she summarized the reasons very well.

Dystopian fictions are definitely a big hit at the school library where I work. These posts got me thinking about programming for teens based on their interests in this genre. I tried to search on the web, but only found more book recommendations like this one:

http://www.lawrence.lib.ks.us/2012/07/if-you-liked-the-hunger-games-3/

Does anyone know any public or school library programs based on teens' fascination with dystopian fictions?

Who are they and what can we do for them?

This year I am working in a high school library as an assistant of a very progressive librarian. Previously a beautiful, but under used facility, our library has been transformed into a vibrant space and a central place of the school community. I am excited to help service hundreds of students everyday, but I wonder what I can do to truly touch their lives. Being in a very academic public school, the school library is a place where teens come to do school work by themselves or with friends, use computers for academic and personal purposes, or simply find comfort in the library ambience and between walls of books. Beyond providing a space and resources for traditional library usage, what else can a school library do? As an unique space for formal and informal learning, what can we do for teens as their classrooms become more and more dominated by standardized curriculum? How can school and public libraries work best together? What are some efficient and sustainable ways to facilitate communications and colleborations among all professionals serving our local youths? What are some successful models of school library which help foster not only academic growth, but also social and emotional well-being of the teen in the midst of this growing stress pandemic? How to work with chronically stressed teachers and parents to support youth? These topic and more are what I am setting out to explore.