Outstanding Library Service to Children: Putting the Core Competencies to Work - Softcover

Cerny, Rosanne; Markey, Penny

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0838909221 ISBN 13: 9780838909225

Publisher: ALA Editions, 2009

Synopsis

What does it truly take to provide excellent library service to children? The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has outlined seven core competencies - skills that are building blocks for professional development for children's librarians. In this practical guide, three children's services experts bring these skills to life. Use this primer to develop and sharpen skills and access resources to improve professionalism and skills in: knowledge of the client group; administration and management; communication; materials and collection development; programming; and, advocacy, public relations, and networking.

About this title

About the Author

Rosanne Cerny is Coordinator of Children s Services for New York s Queens Library. She holds her MLS from Rutgers University.

Penny Markey is Coordinator of Youth Services for the County of Los Angeles Public Library. She holds her MSLS from Case Western Reserve University.

Amanda Williams, a consultant specializing in youth services, works with the Central Texas Library System. She holds her MLS from the University of North Texas (Denton) and PhD from the University of Texas at Austin.

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is committed to exemplary library service to children, their families, and others who work with children.

Reviews

This book aimed at children's librarians, library administrators, and educators seeks to elaborate on the Association of Library Services to Children's Competencies for Librarians Serving Children in Public Libraries. Best suited for those relatively unfamiliar with children's services, the book examines the competencies in broad categories, succinctly defining core values and providing background and suggestions for building skills. The resource lists that end each chapter contain the occasional outdated title, but they also point to an impressive variety of sources, including materials produced by state associations and thinkers outside the library profession. The text occasionally relies on language geared toward female practitioners (Your goal is to be perceived as an expert adult, not a child in high heels) that isn't balanced by language geared toward men, a surprising oversight in a book seeking to welcome both genders to the profession. This isn't meant to replace standard texts such as Virginia Walter's Children and Libraries (ALA, 2001), but it's a fine resource for staff new to children's services and those who train them.–Adrienne Furness, Webster Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Written as a companion to the 1999 publication Competencies for Librarians Serving Children in Public Libraries, this guide outlines and explains the "core competencies" necessary for librarians specializing in services for children. The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) outlines these seven competencies as being more than collection development and story hour. Each of the seven is explained in a separate chapter that includes a lengthy bibliography for further reading; for example, children's librarians must also know their clientele and acquire management skills. Appendixes list useful Web sites for each competency requirement and ALSC committees as they relate to the competencies. This slim volume should be required reading for all future children's services librarians. Recommended for public libraries and academic libraries with library and information science programs. Lisa Johnston
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: ALA Editions
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0838909221
• ISBN 13: 9780838909225
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 94