Bay Area

Oakland Public Library Releases Resources for Teens During Pandemic

Published

6 years ago

April 9, 2020

Oakland Public Library staff have produced a Teen Resource Guide/FAQ about COVID-19, an online brochure full of live links and vital facts that answer questions like “How do I prevent myself (and others) from getting sick?”, “What can I do if I’m bored at home?” and “How can I manage feelings of anxiety and isolation during lockdown?”

The guide also provides links to resources for young people worried about food, housing, and income loss during this time.

Designed specifically to be engaging to young people, this resource and is useful for reaching teens who aren’t seeing themselves represented in most of the information being put out for the public, and who don’t tend to read traditional news sources or visit government websites, according to a statement released by the library.

The goal is to provide “condensed and accurate information that has the feel of what young people see on social media, where they tend to find their information, but is vetted, accurate, and being updated regularly,” the statement said.

The resource is available as a traditional website, but our teen services staff has also created a condensed brochure version of the information that can be downloaded as a pdf or can be viewed on the web in a brochure form with pages that can be flipped online.

This is all available on the Oakland Public Library website at www.Oaklandlibrary.org/teencovidguide

Other library materials for young people include:

• How to Learn from Home —www.oaklandlibrary.org/blogs/childrens-services/how-learn-home-during-school-closure

• How to Use Your Library Card from Home —https://oaklandlibrary.org/your-library-during-covid-19-closure

• Screen-Free Activities for Kids —created by OPL Children’s Services – https://oaklandlibrary.org/blogs/childrens-services/screen-free-activities-kids-play

• The library has increased the number of free online movies, TV shows, and books that can be borrowed per month from Hoopla, Overdrive, and Kanopy.