Spotlight on Linda Braun

Current Position

Linda Braun is an Educational Technology Consultant. She started her business, LEO: Librarians & Educators Online, about nine years ago with the goal of helping librarians, teachers, and other educators find out the best methods for integrating technology into their particular setting and for their specific audience and purpose. Currently she works on web design, content creation, and curriculum development projects and also trains librarians, educators, and teens on technology tools and uses.

In addition, Linda teaches at Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science and Lesley University’s Graduate School of Education Technology in Education program. At Simmons she teaches face to face courses in Young Adult Programs and Services and in Emerging Technologies. She also teaches online courses for both institutions on topics such as YA Reading and Technology in the Language Arts Classroom.

Job Experience

Linda has worked in a variety of libraries in New England, New Jersey, and New York. She started as a children’s librarian in a small town in western Massachusetts. In the beginning, she was anti-technology. She thought that books were the thing and the only thing. Then, when she was working in a library outside of Boston, MA, she noticed that there were teens coming into the library solely to play computer games. She says, "These were teens that would never walk through our door if we didn’t have the computer available." That inspired Linda to learn more about technology and youth. So she decided to get a Masters Degree in Education with a specialization in technology in education from Lesley University.

Her first experience working specifically as a young adult librarian was in a small town in Northern New Jersey. Linda took on the role of YA librarian when the director realized that she had a good rapport with the teenagers. Linda thought being a YA librarian meant simply taking the skills she’d honed as a children’s librarian and bringing them to the world of YA services. She quickly learned she was wrong. It didn’t take long for Linda to realize that no service for the age group would work unless the teens were involved in the planning and implementation of the service.

Her last position before becoming a consultant was for a regional library system in Massachusetts. In this job she got to work with youth services librarians in 200 public libraries in Eastern Massachusetts. Her favorite part of that job was getting to know what people were doing in their libraries and then making connections with people who were interested in the same things.

Linda took part in the first YALSA Serving the Underserved Training. That training was where she had the opportunity to cement her understanding of teenagers, their developmental needs, how to work with them in libraries, and how to help others understand the needs and interests of adolescents. She continues to give workshops to librarians and teachers in a variety of settings about service to teens.

ALA/YALSA activities and committees:

YALSA’s Serving the Underserved training was Linda’s first experience with YALSA. When the Division needed someone to work with on their first website she volunteered to work with them. She was the chair of the Committee that developed Teen Hoopla and a member of the Quick Picks Committee.

Linda served as a member of the YALSA Board from 2002 – 2005 where she was the liaison to the Margaret Edwards Award Committees and the Teen Advisory Group Site Committee. In her role on the Board, she has also chaired Committees on Electronic Mailing List Policies and Procedures and Website Policies and Procedures. Along with chairing a Continuing Education Task Force

She has been active in ALSC, chaired their Children and Technology Committee for two years and co-chaired a pre-conference they sponsored on technology in children’s services.

YALSA Experience in her career and personal life

Through Linda’s involvement in YALSA she has had the chance to network with a variety of people and, through that networking, learn about young adult services and trends. She recently led a workshop on youth participation and when the people in the audience were talking about a specific topic Linda said to them, "Oh, this person in this location is working on that exact thing. I can get you in touch with her." She knew people who could help because of her involvement in YALSA. Linda adds, "the networking that is a part of YALSA involvement isn’t just about who you know and what you learn but it’s also about how one can bring other people into the network."

Publications (books, articles, websites)

Programs and workshops

A major part of Linda’s job is to present workshops in a variety of settings. One of her most popular workshops, on Quick Picks, talks about what quick picks are, who quick pick readers are, and connects current Quick Pick nominations to developmental assets. Participants learn about the new titles, and discuss how an understanding of how controversial titles support developmental assets can help librarians gain support for having the titles in the library.

Another popular workshop is Planning a Library Website for Teens. In this workshop Linda focuses on what teens like and look for on the web. Participants also consider the purpose of a library website for teens and discuss issues of design and content.

Also popular is a workshop on integrating electronic communications tools such as chat, instant messaging, blogging, and podcasting into teen services. Librarians are shown how these tools appeal to teens and how they can support teen literacy development.

Being a librarian

Linda became a librarian because of books but learned that library service goes way beyond liking to read. Now she manages projects and produces content. She develops programs and services for teenagers. She also enjoys teaching librarians, teachers, and other educators about the importance of service to teenagers and how to make those services work.

Working with teens

Linda enjoys working with teens because "Teens are great conversationalists if you give them a chance. They want to be listened to. Teens aren’t afraid to ask questions and they are willing to hear the difficult answers if you show them that you are willing to respect their ideas. The thing that draws her most to teens is an understanding of and empathy for how hard and how wonderful life as a teenager can be.

Linda loves to teach teenagers how to create websites and sometimes imagines doing that very thing full-time. In her opinion teaching teens web design and coding is a great chance to meet a variety of teen needs and interests. Teens that aren’t into technology but love to write, love to draw, or love to design can be involved. Teens who adore technology will definitely get involved. All of Linda’s programs with teens provide opportunities to bring a diverse group of young adults together for a specific purpose. Linda states, "I get to learn a lot about the teens and they learn a lot, not just about websites, but about organization of knowledge, critical thinking, collaboration and cooperation, and more."