Christina
Dufour
LSC 535,
Children and Youth Services
Lauren Mandel
Part 1 & 2
Part 2 Due
October 25, 2013
Part 1 revised
after September 27, 2013
· What youth services are
To discuss what Youth Services are, we must first define who is
“youth” is within a library. Based on previous experience within
libraries, a youth can be defined as “children in a community from ages 0 to 12
or 14” (Fasick & Holt, 2013, p. 6). This group is classified within
the same age for public, school, and special libraries. They encompass
pre-schoolers, young school-goers, and, in some cases, young adults. As a
result, a youth services librarian may maintain items such as “boardbooks,
picture books, books for beginning readers, chapter books, graphic novels,
nonfiction and reference books, foreign-language books, historical children’s
books, parenting and teacher books for adults, and…other learning materials”
(Fasick & Holt, 2013, p. 13). In addition to materials, youth
services also require programming and social activities. These are
typically events put on by the youth services librarian and other staff and
they seek to engage several opportunities children may not normally have.
The events may seek to engage any of several social types- parent and
child interaction, child to child interaction, outside of school education, and
recreational activity. As for programming, the library may use a book
club, a movie or game night, homework help, author visits, and more.
· Why youth services are important to librarianship and society at
large
Youth Services are important to society at large because the youth
eventually turn into adults and adults into elderly people. By making a
positive impact on a child, the librarian may be able to influence his or her
later decision to return to the library. The librarian has the
opportunity to convince him or her the library is a valuable resource- in his
or her adult years this could be very important to the future of the library as
it would gather the users that will in turn use and fund the library. Positive interactions and positive
influences, while making an impression on a child’s library visit, are
key. At a young age, he or she may not
realize what a great resource the library is, but he or she can remember it as
a place of enjoyment. On a similar note, the librarian may be creating a
positive atmosphere or fun event that the child may not have had the chance to
do outside of the library. In some cases, children bring parents or
guardians with them who may look around the library and decide to come back in
the future. These parents or guardians could also take up an interest in
the library, volunteer or join the Friends of the Library (or a library
equivalent). Youth services have several pros in librarianship and, one could
argue, no cons.
· Yourself as a youth services librarian
As a librarian, I feel I have much to learn about the younger
patrons. Some aspects, such as which programs work and which ones do not,
will be learned on the job. But I do know that I want to be the librarian
who creates a space for children to go where they feel safe, valued, and
engaged. To be there for the youth and to offer a wide variety of
services is a start. I hope to be able to offer programs that engage
(socially and mentally) each age group as appropriate without neglecting one.
However, it’s not all about the children, their parents or guardians have
to be accounted for: I hope to create a space where they want to learn
together and can be creative. In listening and having chances for adults
and children to give feedback, there is a lot of opportunity for positive
outcomes. Lastly, while there is typically one staff member for the
children's area, I would like to give staff of my library the chance to be
involved. There are department heads for a reason, but there may
something that other staff members observe that -try as I might- I might
oversee. Ultimately, the aim is for a positive experience that makes the
youth want to use their library both now and in the future.
Part II: My Personal
Philosophy of Managing Youth Services
· What is a manager?
A manager,
according to Merriam-Webster, is someone “who is in charge of a business,
department…someone who directs…performance” ( Merriam-Webster, 2013, para
1). F. John Reh of about.com defines a
manager a little more clearly. He says a
manager is “a person who helps others… get
more done. A manager helps others get more done by:
- motivating them
- providing directions
- making sure they are working together toward a common
goal
- removing roadblocks and
- providing feedback”(Reh, 2013, para 1).
How does this relate to the library? Within the children’s department, the manager
is likely the chief of staff for this department. This simply means that they are the one in
charge of collection development, programming, and services. The manager in the children’s department must
get everyone to see their vision because it is what will meet the mission
statement (or goal) of the children’s department. This means motivation as well as
direction. To do this, there has to be
communication.
· How you see
yourself as a manager?
As a
manager, I want my staff to feel empowered and driven. If I am out of the office or on vacation, I
want my co-workers in my department to feel that they can complete their tasks. That being said, I want those I manage to
feel comfortable coming to me with questions or concerns. Part of directing people requires constant
involvement. A manager cannot simply
hire someone and expect them to never have doubts. I would rather someone in my team ask me a
question (after having searched for a solution first) than to blindly go
ahead. This is also not to say that I do
not wish my team to have their own ideas.
Part of what keeps a library fresh is their ability to adapt to change
as well as the unified vision of their goal.
As a manager, my ideal is to be a strong, but relatable force.
· What do you see as
the particular challenges to managing youth services?
The first challenge I see in managing
youth services is that those hired in the children’s department are coming in
from different experiences and some will be able to read children’s needs
better than others. Part of being a
manager includes being able to observe how well the staff are adjusting to children’s services, as it will also take time to adjust to
a new library. Secondly, we have to make
the time to be able to work with these young patrons. All departments in a library can get busy,
but it is important to find the time to give children instruction and to
present yourself as approachable. This
brings us into another possible challenge of youth services- time and
planning. Renee Valliancourt points out
that
“Often librarians-
especially YA librarians and media specialists, who are responsible for
providing direct service to patrons as well as managing their department or
media center- have trouble finding the time to plan. Without planning, there is no way to
determine where you are going or how to tell when you have gotten there”
(Valliancourt, 2002, p.91).
This is why it is important to make sure you
and your team are on the same page. Because
there is a crunch for time, you and your staff will be most likely to utilize
your time if the tasks are delineated.
Valliancourt suggests that the department creates a series of measurable
goals and objectives (para 1, p. 96).
While this too can take time, it gives the team something tangible.
Works
Cited:
Fasick,
A.M., & Holt, L.E. (2013). Managing children’s services in libraries.
Santa Barbara, CA:
ABC-CLIO.
Manager. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster
online. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/manager
Reh,
F.J. (2013). What is a manger? About.com.
http://management.about.com/od/begintomanage/a/whatismanager.htm
Strong, S. (2004). Sights, sounds, and silence in library reference
service to children. Public
Libraries, 43(6), 313-314.
Vaillancourt, R. J. (2002). Managing administrative duties: Paperwork
and planning. In R. J.
Vaillancourt, Managing
young adult services: A self-help manual (pp. 91-100). New York,
NY: Neal-Schuman.
