Scaff wins Frances Henne/YALSA/VOYA Research Grant

CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) awarded the 2015 Frances Henne/YALSA/VOYA Research Grant to Ligaya Scaff. This $1,000 grant will provide seed money for her research project, “The Role of Photo and Video Sharing Applications in Teens’ Processes of Creative Expression.”

With the explosion of photo and video sharing in the past five years, there is no question that teens are using services such as Tumblr, Pinterest and Vine. Scaff’s research looks to quantify how often and how teens are using these services and how librarians can use this knowledge to support digital literacy.

“The jury was particularly intrigued by Scaff’s plan to study teens in environments in which they feel the most comfortable, and by her desire to capture teen’s voices in their own words,” said Jury Chairperson Ariel Cummins. “Youth services librarians have embraced these emerging technologies, but we’re excited to have some research-based evidence that can lead to the development of best practices when using photo and video sharing in a library setting.”

Scaff is a doctoral student at the University of Washington, working with Dr. Katie Davis in the area of Digital Youth. She was thrilled to hear that her proposal was selected.

“I hope the findings may provide some insights for librarians who work directly with young people, as well as those who design digital tools and environments for youth,” said Scaff. “The widespread use of photo and video sharing applications offers both opportunities and challenges and receiving this grant will allow me to understand how teens are approaching these tools.”

The YALSA Frances Henne Award Jury members are: Chair Ariel Cummins, New Braunfels (Texas) Public Library; Erika Brock, Transylvania (North Carolina) County Library; Dr. Cindy Mediavilla, California State Library; Katie Richert, Bloomingdale (Illinois) Public Library; and Dr. Mega Subramaniam, University of Maryland.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has worked to build the capacity of libraries and library staff to engage, serve and empower teens. For more information about YALSA or to access national guidelines and other resources go to www.ala.org/yalsa, or contact the YALSA office by phone, (800) 545-2433, ext. 4390, or e-mail, yalsa@ala.org.