Banff Library Teen Site

Banff Public Library. (n.d.). Banff Library teen site. Retrieved from http://www.banfflibrary.ab.ca/teen/

Overview 
The site, on first impression, is not overly attractive. The colours are fairly dull and the images sparse. However, the interface is designed in such a way that it is very easy to navigate back and forth between the different pages on the site. The site does an extremely good job with readers advisory, but there is little else on the site.

Features
Recommended Books: On a sidebar, there are three recommended books. This is a smart way to feature some books, but the images and titles are not linked to the catalogue or any further information. Having these kinds of links would render this feature much more useful.
Reviews: The website has reviews written by both teens and the library staff. This section is well-organized, dividing books into fiction and non-fiction, and then further dividing these by genre. This is a very useful feature for quickly getting some book suggestions and ratings.
Events: This feature is currently empty. Whether this is due to a lack of programs or simply because it has not been updated is unclear. As it is shown right now, this feature is misleading and useless.
Reading Lists: This section contains some readers advisory lists made by the library. These lists include such titles as "Finished Harry Potter? Try these other fantasy quests" and "Girls Who Kick Some Serious @#&!." The lists are robust and have a wide variety within each one, but like the "Recommended Books" section would benefit from linking the books to the library's catalogue.
Links: This section provides some useful links for resources that might be useful for teens, from readers advisory, to university information, to zines.

Suggested Improvements
As mentioned above, providing links from book information to the catalogue would be helpful for teens looking to retrieve these books. Additionally, it would be a good idea to expand the focus of the site beyond readers advisory to such things like community involvement and programs.

Suggested audience 
Grades 7-12

Category
Library Website for Teens

Teens@VPL

Vancouver Public Library. (2013). Teens@VPL - Home Page. Retrieved from http://teens.vpl.ca/

Overview 
The interface of this site is quite sophisticated, but still easy to navigate. Colours are used sparsely, but are clear and attractive. Most importantly, the site is very well organized. Links are obvious, and entries are tagged in such a way to make lists searchable and easy to browse. Finally, links are provided to the library's main page and catalogue where appropriate and useful.

Features
Reviews: This section contains book, movie, music, and game recommendations from the library's teens. It also has reviews that are written by teens. While some of the information contained within is sparse, it is a good idea to have feedback and recommendations directly from other teens.
Homework Help: This feature provides a list of resources, retrievable by subject, as well as a list of databases available through the library that would be helpful for teens.
Community: This section provides a link to the teen Facebook page, the Teen Blog, and the Teen Advisory Group.
Events: The VPL Teen Events Calendar, found in this section, is currently empty. It is doubtful that there are no teen events in the upcoming months, so this section should be updated.

Suggested Improvements
Though it is important to have reviews and resources provided by teens, complimenting these with readers advisory tools from librarians would be helpful, especially to ensure that there are some more robust entries. Additionally, while the site seems to be fairly up-to-date and regularly monitored, sections like the Events Calendar should be updated.

Suggested audience 

Grades 7-12

Category 
Library Website for Teens