December 23, 1999

To: Community Services Committee

From: City Librarian

Subject: "Young Voices from the Street" - Toronto Public Library Publication

Purpose:

This report provides background information on the Toronto Public Library publication, "Young Voices from the Street" and reports on the number of street youth that took advantage of the "Reaching Out with Young Voices" program.

Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

No additional City funds are being requested.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that this report be received for information.

Background:

On December 3, 1998, the Community and Neighbourhood Services Committee had before it a communication (November 5, 1998) from the City Clerk advising the Children and Youth Action Committee on October 26, 1998 that:

Funds in the amount of $4,000.00 be authorized for the project Reaching Out with Young Voices to encourage street youth to write their stories for publication in a booklet to be published in 1999,

and noted that funds were available in the Children and Youth Action Committee's budget.

The Committee:

(1) recommended to Council the adoption of the recommendation of the Children and Youth Action Committee embodied in the aforementioned communication from the City Clerk; and

(2) directed that the City Librarian be requested to report to the Community and Neighbourhood Services Committee on the number of street youth that take advantage of the Reaching Out with Youth Voices program.

Comments:

The 1999 publication Young Voices from the Street is the first Toronto Public Library initiative that actively sought the participation of youth living on the street and in shelters in the City of Toronto. Three youth, hired through funds obtained from the Children and Youth Action Committee, visited shelters and encouraged street youth to write poems and stories for the publication. A writing workshop, by Diana Wieler (Governor General's award-winning writer for teens), was held at the Toronto Reference Library.

Through the project the Library was able to:

(1) Show street youth that their voices were being heard;

(2) Increase the Toronto Public Library's profile with youth in the city, and to increase general awareness of the Library;

(3) Create a publication that would be of interest to all teens, including teens living on the street; and

(4) Provide new opportunities for youth.

The resulting publication is catalogued and available for borrowing in all branches of the Toronto Public Library. Copies have been sent to all Toronto high schools, and multiple copies have been distributed to the shelters and agencies serving youth in the city.

Numbers of Street Youth Involved in the Program:

The three project workers made 300 personal contacts in agencies and shelters within the brief three-week period. There were only eight people in attendance at the writing workshop with author Diana Wieler, but Diana described the group as "intense."

The project workers reviewed a total of 30 submissions. The selected pieces included stories, poems and essays.

A total of 1,500 copies of the booklet have been distributed.

Impact:

The Financial Post ran an article, Now some words of their own, in May 1999, which in turn generated a great deal of interest. Publishers in both Canada and the United States have expressed interest in working on another similar project. Go Magazine, an American teen publication, will feature the booklet in an upcoming issue. Todd Klinck, author of the story Anastasia Becomes Crack was approached by Saturday Night after their editor read his story in Young Voices from the Street. The story was edited, renamed Pipe Dreams, and published in the July/August issue of this important literary magazine.

Future Developments:

Young Voices, the annual collection of teens' writing on which Young Voices from the Street was based, continues to be published by the Toronto Public Library. One of the Library's youth initiatives for 2000 is the creation of a much more substantial publication combining Young Voices and Young Voices from the Street. The project Young Voices - Speaking Out in Toronto will be produced to gain national exposure for youth and their issues. The project is one of the "quick-start" programs included in the Youth Violence Prevention initiatives presented at the Community Services Committee on December 1, 1999.

Conclusions:

The project Reaching Out with Young Voices and the resulting publication Young Voices from the Street has been nominated for the Minister's Award for Innovation which is awarded by the Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation.

Contact:

Ken Setterington, Children and Youth Advocate for Library Services, Tel: 393-7037, Fax: 393-7083, E-mail: ksetterington@tpl.toronto.on.ca

City Librarian

List of Attachments:

Not applicable.