Course Objectives

• Students will learn the traditional, current, and emerging services provided by children's and YA librarians in public libraries.
• Students will have the opportunity to practice some of the basic skills expected of beginning children's and YA librarians.
• Students will develop their own plan for continuing education.
• Students will explore a topic relevant to public library service to children and young adults through the writing of a major research paper or the designing of a library program.

Organization of the Course

Major Assignments

1. Media Survey. Monitor major news media, i.e., New York Times, Los Angeles Times, cnn.com, network news, in Week 3. Look for stories about American children. Categorize these articles in the areas of child advocacy information, education trends, community information needs, etc. Think about how we as children's and young adult librarians can help them. Bring at least five examples to class. Be prepared to hand them in and to discuss them in class. 10 points.

2. Observations (min. of 5 observations, 1.5 hours at least per observation) of a Children/Young Adult librarian

Identify a librarian that fits your career plan. Email the instructor your choice: The librarian's name, title, the library he/she works in, and her/his email address and phone number. 5 points.

Watch her/him work at different work days. Write down whatever you see and hear during your field trips. Talk to or interview her/him. The ultimate goal of this assignment is to design a program/service for a distinct age group based on your observation, your experience and career goals.

Before planning a program, your observation should be completed. For each observation session, you need to write down your fieldnotes. Your fieldnotes should include:

• Date, time, and place of observation
• Specific facts, numbers, details of what happens at the site
• Sensory impressions: sights, sounds, textures, smells, tastes
• Personal responses to the fact of recording fieldnotes
• Specific words, phrases, summaries of conversations, and insider language
• Questions about people or behaviors at the site for future investigation

After you complete you observation sessions, answer the following questions:

• What does the identified librarian do? What are her/his duties?
• What are the philosophies of the identified librarian?
• What is the community profile? Who works closely with the identified librarian? (Age, ethnicity, gender, etc.) Who are potential new users?
• What are the community's information needs? What types of questions does the user group ask? Can you identify some "unasked" questions/needs based on your observations?

Write a 5-page observation report regarding your answers to the above questions. Extra credit will be given for more than 5 observations. All should be completed in a timely fashion for full credit. Attach your fieldnotes or fieldnotes summary. 15 points.

3. Based on your observation, your experience and career goal, design a program for a distinct age group OR write a research paper. (approximately 15 pages) 25 points.

Your research paper could be on (but is not limited to) one of the following topics.

• Cultural diversity as a value and practice in that specific public library (focusing on children and youth)
• Information needs AND/OR information seeking behaviors of a certain age group of users (children or young adults) AND your recommended strategies to meet their needs.
• Evaluation of one of the services for children and youth that library provides. What is the service? What are the goals of the service? Who are the target patrons? How is the service being performed? What are some of its outcomes? Based on your observation, how successful is the service? How can we make it better? How can we better serve the target patrons? Think creatively about the library education and training you have received?are they helpful (enough)? What other factors or elements help boost the success of that specific library service? What are your suggestions?

Your program/service design must include 7 elements:  

* Based on "Planning Document Guidelines" In: Planning & Role Setting for Public Libraries: A Manual of Options and Procedures, by McClure, Charles R. et al. Chicago: American Library Association, 1987, pp. 72-73.

(NOTE: Your paper/program design must be based on the findings of your observations.)

4. Booktalk. Prepare a thematic book talk session that you would present for the group of users you have identified in your observation. Include 2 novels/picture books, 1 nonfiction book, and poetry. Submit a list of titles used to the instructor. Indicate class level and theme. 5 minute oral presentation in class.  10 points.

5. Continuing Education. This assignment has two parts. 1) Develop a plan for achieving the ALSC Competencies for Children's Librarians. 2) Create a personal Children's Librarians tool kit, an annotated list of ten essential resources (print, electronic, human) that will comprise your basic professional "library." 10 points.

6. Storytime. Prepare and present a ten minute storytime for

A) Three-year-olds and their parents. The storytime should include a fingerplay or other participation rhyme or song, a flannel board story, and one picture book. OR
B) Older children (9 and up).

Create a handout for parents that indicates the sources used AND possible follow-up or extension activities. Make enough copies for your classmates. 20 points.

Attendance and Participation. You are expected to attend each class and to participate actively in all discussions and activities. 5 points.

Note: All written work must be handed in during class. No electronic files will be accepted. There will be a penalty for papers handed in after the due date.

Methods of Assessment

Bibliography

Required reading:

Virginia A. Walter. Children and Libraries: Getting It Right. American Library Association, 2001.

Clara Chu. "Immigrant Children Mediators (ICM): Bridging the Literacy Gap in Immigrant Communities," Proceedings of the 65th General Conference of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, 20-28th August 1999, Bangkok, Thailand. <http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla65/papers/109-145e.htm>

Virginia A. Walter and Elaine Meyers. "Youth Development" in Teens and Libraries: Getting It Right. American Library Association, 2003, pp. 37-49.

Recommended reading:

Virginia A. Walter and Elaine Meyers. Teens and Libraries: Getting It Right. American Library Association, 2003.