Bare Bones: Young Adult Services: Tips For Public Library Generalists, 2nd ed.

Citation

North, S. (2001), "Bare Bones: Young Adult Services: Tips For Public Library Generalists, 2nd ed.", Library Management, Vol. 22 No. 1/2, pp. 103-115. https://doi.org/10.1108/lm.2001.22.1_2.103.8

The publication of the second edition of Bare Bones Young Adult Services should be enthusiastically welcomed by those many young people’s services librarians who are familiar with the original title. This new edition will undoubtedly attract an additional audience among both generalists and newcomers to the field of young people’s librarianship.

Renee J. Vaillancourt has an impressive background working with teenagers in public libraries. As well, she has served on committees of the American Library Association’s Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and as a YALSA trainer, providing instruction in offering a library service to young adults. This experience and her ability to network with a number of other librarians, many of them renowned for their work in serving young adults, is evident in the scope and innovative approach of this title.

One of the strengths of this publication is that it does not overlook the difficulties involved for generalist staff in offering library services to young adults and provides positive and practical assistance in making a beginning in this challenging area of library service. Chapter 1 offers a background to the philosophy and practice of young adult services with Chapter 2 providing useful strategies to encourage youth participation in projects. Chapter 3 covers all the essentials in planning services for young adults.

Chapters 4 through 6 focus on creating a young adult space, collection building, and planning innovative and popular services and programs, both in the library and in the form of outreach. Each of these chapters gives expert advice on offering traditional services as well as including extensive information on technology and other trends likely to impact on these service areas.

Librarians working with young people often grapple with issues of censorship and intellectual freedom and Chapter 7 provides practical advice on determining the responsibilities of the library service in addressing these. Some of the sources referred to in this chapter are American so are not always suitable for use in other countries. They will, however, provide a background upon which to build local policies and procedures.

Many generalists may not feel confident to provide training on young adult services to other library staff; however, research shows that the often‐negative attitudes of library staff to teenagers are a barrier for young people using libraries. The advice provided in Chapter 8 gives librarians working with young adults the necessary skills and knowledge to offer library staff some basic training in young adult needs and behaviour.

Figures contained in each chapter offer a valuable insight into the developmental needs of teenagers and the impact of popular culture on the expectations of young adults; though, at times they intrude on and distract from the text. A substantial amount of useful material is contained in the appendices. These provide valuable examples of ground rules for teen advisory bodies, evaluating young adult resources, developing a plan for library services to young adults and presenting programs.

While not all the ideas and suggestions given in this far‐reaching guide will be practical for hard‐pushed generalists to implement, this title does provide practical advice on establishing a service for young adults. It may well encourage staff to extend the type and range of services offered as well as providing the impetus for a more innovative and holistic approach to offering young adults a truly excellent library service.