Do It Right! Best Practices for Serving Young Adults in School and Public Libraries

Teens @ the Library Series

by Patrick Jones

Young adults are a growing population in libraries, yet few librarians know how to provide the unique kinds of services teenagers need and want. Now, YA experts Jones and Shoemaker apply customer service theory and technique to serving this unique population. Shoemaker explores ways to provide the best possible customer service in school library media centers. Jones offers tips, techniques and examples of how to turn teenagers into "raving fans" of the public library. Includes charts, examples, and real-life case studies. These two innovative YA librarians have written the definitive guide to customer service for librarians serving youths.

Genres: Nonfiction

182 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

Patrick Jones is the author of five realistic teen novels, most recently Stolen Car((Walker / Bloomsbury, 2008). His first young adult novel Things Change (Walker & Company, 2004) was named by the Young Adult Library Services Association as a best book for reluctant readers, and was runner-up in the Teen Buckeye Book Award selected by Ohio teens. His second novel Nailed was published by Walker / Bloomsbury in spring 2006 and was a runner-up for the Great Lake Book Award. His 2007 novel, Chasing Tail Lights, is nominated for the Minnesota Books Awards. His most recent (and last) professional publication is Connecting with Reluctant Readers (Neal-Schuman, 2006). In 2006, he won lifetime achievement awards from both the Catholic Library Association, and the American Library Association. Jones is a frequent speaker at library conferences, having visited all fifty states, as well as in Canada, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. Jones grew up in Flint, Michigan, but now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Read more at his web page www.connectingya.com, including FAQs about Things Change and Nailed (perfect for book reports!). NOTE: After a bruising experience with another author, he's limited his reviews on Good Reads to only raves as not to disturb the "fellowship" of YA writers.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this book captures the essence of being a teen specialist, specifically in catering to the ideal teen space, having all (not just the specialist) library staff on the same page of teen customer service, and the EXTREMELY important soft skill of teen customer service. That, to me, is one of the biggest challenges ANY public library faces. The teens are the most difficult demographic to reach, interest, and not only participate or become involved in programs, but in outreach and customer service. The book also shows the specialist, library and staff how to achieve the basic essentials of YA services.

[Carrie Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is divided into several short well-cited articles addressing different aspects of serving your library's YA community. It is an succinct resource--most useful for me were the sample surveys, lists of popular YA magazines, and marketing dos and don'ts. Don't be scared by the wordy subtitle-the articles are readable and well-written.
Recommend this book to anyone who works at a school or public library--it is not aimed solely at reference staff or library management, though this is the target audience.

[P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid advice with practical step-by-step plans. It's more geared towards school librarians, though.

[Maryanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books I'll keep in my desk at my desk in the library to refer to when necessary. Great ideas for how to improve services to teens!