The American Library Association’s News Know-How initiative has selected the teen services department of the San Antonio Public Library to receive more than $50,000 to train and support kids in grades 10–12 in learning how to distinguish fact from opinion, check news and information sources, and distinguish between propaganda and news, the library announced this week.
“This project highlights that the library is not just about access to information, but the place in the community where teenagers can become savvy consumers of news and information in all its formats,” says Library Director Ramiro S. Salazar.
Over the summer, participating teens in San Antonio will work with librarians, journalists, and news ethicists to learn and to create materials that will be shared online. The initiative is funded by the Open Society Foundations and administered by the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom.
Training for the kids will be led by the News Literacy Project Inc. The library has also partnered with Nowcast SA to serve as the initiative’s local new media/journalism component.
Recruitment of interested teens will begin in the spring.
“The San Antonio Public Library is excited to bring this national program to San Antonio,” Salazar says. ‘[It’s] a tremendous privilege and we look forward to being a part of this. I thank the ALA for this honor and I congratulate the Teen Services department for creating a submission worthy of this distinction.”
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