Teen Services: A Call to Action

Laudato, Maricar

Institute of Museum and Library Services. (2014). Executive Summary: The Future of Library Services for and with Teens: A Call to Action (pp. 1-59, Rep.). Chicago, IL: Young Adult Library Services Association. www.ala.org/yaforum/project-report

Summary

In this 59-page report, the Institute of Museum and Library Services works in conjunction with YALSA to provide an in-depth analysis on the issues affecting teens today and how libraries can utilize its resources to best serve them. Things to note: there have been a drastic decrease in library services available to teens due to library closures, reduced hours, lack of trained staff, and insufficient resources to attend to their specific developmental needs. In addition, there has been a significant shift in the demographics of the teen profile, which is becoming increasing of minority and/or immigrant background, while those staff in the field of librarianship is still overwhelmingly Caucasian. It has also been seen in the report that teens are entering the workforce without any critical skills, which is extremely problematic.

Evaluation

I’ve been wanting to read this report for quite some time now. As you can probably already tell from my choices in additional reading, my bent is in school and teen librarianship. While this report was lengthy, I found that the material was relevant to what I see in front of me every day. However, the teens I work with are definitely teens who are the “haves” and not the “have nots” so they do not have to worry about the digital divide. But from my previous stint as an English high school teacher in urban Los Angeles, I can attest to the fact that the inequities are real, and that libraries have an opportunity to be the “equalizers” in this social dilemma. For the teens I used to teach, they did not have access to a computer at home, and they had to wait in line to use the computer in the library during its limited operating hours. I feel that this report was not that eye-opening because I’ve seen the bad stuff first-hand, but it’s good for those communities that, I suppose, are not exposed to the inequities that teens face in regards to library services. The good thing that the report does do, however, is make suggestions on how to improve library services for teens.