My Philosophy of Youth Services
Libraries have the potential to transform lives. To do this,
librarians must offer exceptional services to all patrons, especially youth.
Engaging programs, welcoming and nonjudgmental staff, and a vibrant youth space
help encourage the youngest patrons to become lifelong learners and users of
the library. Early literacy is key and the magic of reading can help children
grow intellectually, emotionally and educationally. It is imperative that
materials and programming reflect a wide variety of viewpoints, interests and
needs so that the world is mirrored via the library experience. Broadening
horizons and giving opportunities for growth, libraries and youth librarians
offer the best and most essential tools for community engagement and lifelong
learning.
As a youth librarian, I will strive to do the following:
create and promote engaging programs for all ages; support literacy in all it’s
forms; advocate for the rights of my patrons in using the library and being a recognized voice in the community; keep in mind the emotional needs of the
specific age groups I seek to serve; learn, understand and share technology
skills; and become a community liaison so that my patrons are best served by all.
A component of the course was to create a book trailer for a YA novel of our choice. Book trailers are entertaining way for readers to become engaged with fiction and creating one taught me how to hook teens on a book with image and song selection. I hope to make some more for my library, as well as help tweens and teens use their own creativity in promoting their favorite books!
images are from the following places: (excellentquotations) (tumblr) (tumblr) | video created with Animoto
Program Plans
The youth programming course required creating various programming plans with specific criteria. I was tasked with picking an audience (children, tweens, or teens), a theme and providing the details necessary (including marketing mock ups) to complete each program plan. As I feel that I have more experience and a better understanding of children and tween programming in general (thanks to many years as a camp counselor), my program plans were designed with the teen audience mind. I believe that teenagers need a judgement free zone to explore their interests as they mature and I am certain that by including teenagers in successful, interesting library programming that this is possible.
For our final project, I chose to redesign an existing library branch from my hometown of Kennesaw, Georgia. The parameters of the assignment involved researching the best ways to spend $10,000 to create a youth department that showcased my understanding of design for children and how they use the library and what they need. It was truly a challenge, but the assignment provided an insight into budgeting, logistics and reality of choices that is invaluable.
