Teens & Libraries: Getting it Right

Teens & Libraries: Getting It Right

Virginia A. Walter

Teens & Libraries: Getting it Right
Virginia A. Walter, Elaine Meyers
American Library Association, Chicago, IL, 2003
139 pp., $32.00
ISBN: 0-8389-0857-8

Annotation: Youth librarians Virginia Walter and Elaine Meyers critique the history and present condition of library services to teens and young adults in light of youth development premises. The authors recommend several key strategies for improving YA service.

Review: With a few notable exceptions, the authors argue, library services to young adults has historically ignored the needs of teens or has viewed them only as an obnoxious subset of youth services in general, the favor going overwhelmingly to the needs of infants, toddlers and school age children. Librarians have viewed teens as a "problem" to be solved, a nuisance to be suborned, and a chaos to be contained, if not excluded.

Walter and Meyers argue for a different approach. Based on the findings of the Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development Initiative (PLPYD) in 1999, and in the recent literature on YA services, the authors advocate engagement with teens. Librarians should invite their perspective and participation in designing programs and Teen Spaces, developing collections and providing access to technology. Most of all, librarians should listen.

Citing the PLPYD report, plus several case studies and experiences from libraries that have worked closely with teens to develop successful programs and services, Walter and Meyers build their case on youth development premises. To successfully navigate the challenges adolescence throws at them on their way to adulthood, teens need the support, the guidance, and engagement of the adults in their lives, from parents to educators to the libraries that (should) serve them. The authors challenge even the best-intentioned adult professionals to set aside their biases (especially the "I know what's good for you" presumption) while working with teens in achieving long term developmental outcomes and reconnecting them as active participants in their communities.

These are lofty goals, so it is fortunate that Walter and Meyers have provided a toolkit at the back of the book to get us started.