Twenty-First-Century Kids, Twenty-First-Century Librarians

by Virginia A. Walter

Inspired by a new generation of librarians and children, Walter reconsiders the legacy passed on by the matriarchs of children’s services and examines more recent trends and challenges growing out of changes in educational philosophy and information technology. This thoroughly researched book includes the current issues and trends of Outcome-based planning Early literacy Homework centers in libraries Children’s spacesWith extensive experience in children’s services as well as library instruction issues, Walter brings readers vital information on the current state of library services to children.

Genres: Nonfiction, Librarianship, Library Science

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[CTEP]

For May’s book club, I read Twenty-First-Century Kids, Twenty-First- Century Librarians by Virginia A. Walter. The capacity in which libraries serve youth has changed throughout the years. In her book, Virginia Walter not only teaches us about past trends, but also identifies challenges to consider for present and future service. For instance, she asks youth services librarians to consider which of the five children they’d like their service to target- child as reader, child of the information age, child in the community, global child, or empowered child.

While I believe all of the service options she puts forth are important, the most relevant conversation regarding my year of service is that of the child of the information age. Walter asks public librarians to consider their role in teaching information literacy skills to youth. Traditionally, these skill sets are taught by librarians in school settings, however, Walter poses that youth librarians reinforce those skills by informally teaching during reference interviews. I think this is extremely important. Repetition and reinforcement are a great boon to learning new skills. The question of information literacy seems best addressed by collaborative efforts between school and public librarians.

The ideas put forth in this book help reinforce ideas of library service that have already been developing during my year of service. I hope to take some of what I’ve learned teaching technology to youth forward in my career as a youth services librarian. This is a great read for anyone interested in working with youth even though it is focused at library service.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Takes you through the history of Youth Services, the importance of it, and how to cope with the ever-advancing technological world we live in....
However, the author repeats herself in her examples of importance which sounds a bit unprofessional and unedited to me.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and helpful information. I got several ideas out of this book that I will hopefully be able to implement in my library. It is a very short book so there were a few places that I wished the author would have gone into more detail, but overall I thought it was for informative, easy to read and helpful.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent update to her book, "Children and Libraries." There is new information added and great advice. It's a quick read and I will keep it as a reference tool.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great frameworks to look at children's librarianship going forward.

[EvaLovesYA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brugt til speciale om Young Adult-litteratur (2017)