Special Topics Paper

Readers’ Advisory for Teens

           

            Teenagers, teens, young adults: a rose by any other name. No matter what we call them, we need to serve them with the best readers’ advisory service we can provide. This “group of library users ages 12 to 18” (Jones 3) are under-represented and misunderstood in their local public libraries. From the initial contact to checking out, teens need to know that they are welcomed, un-judged, and have our complete attention focused on them and their reading happiness.

            Before you serve teens, you need to realize that you are serving teens. It is your job to stay on top of current young adult literature and know pop culture. If you aren’t a teen librarian, and absolutely cannot stand young adult literature, then you don’t get to “pass” on providing readers’ advisory service for teens. Teens comprise “one quarter of the users of public libraries (Jones 3). There are readers’ advisory guides that you can use and should be familiar with. Most public libraries have “NoveList”, but if your library can’t afford this database then using sites such as “Goodreads” or Amazon can help as well.

            The initial contact is vital. If the teen doesn’t feel comfortable approaching or being approached by a librarian, then they surely aren’t going to feel comfortable enough to share their reading preferences. Librarians are very invested in acting ‘professional’, which sometimes comes across as too formal and creates uneasiness in our patrons. This is even more so in teens. Smile, make eye contact, and have a friendly tone when you begin the interview. Sometimes, “moving out from behind the physical barrier of the reference desk and into the YA area is a good place to start” (Booth 34). This helps break down some of that uneasiness that patrons feel.

            Let the interviewing begin. First, remember the basic structure of an interview. One asks a question and then lets the person answer. If the person doesn’t understand the question, rephrase until they do. Librarians don’t realize the sheer amount of jargon that they use offhand and it is important to keep in mind that teens may not know exactly what “tone, plot, and appeal” mean when talking about books. It is important to find out what “the purpose this book will serve” (Booth 34). Is it for school or pleasure? If it is for school, find out the requirements of the project. It would be very beneficial if the librarian could reach out to the local schools and have teachers send them notifications on readings lists so that the librarian can have to books available.

             If you ask a teen what type of books they like and want to know why they like them, ask them if they like them because they are funny, or sad, etc. Let the teen actually talk and pay attention to what they are saying. Another way to go about it is to “find out what a teenage reader didn’t like” (Dickey 15). You may also get someone who doesn’t know what they like yet. In that case, ask them about other forms of entertainment. What television shows or movies do they like? Why do they like them? Whatever they do like, it is vital that the librarian not make the teen feel judged in their personal tastes. This goes for facial expressions, attempts to dissuade them from their genre, etc. This interview is about the teen, not the librarian. Even if the librarian does like young adult literature and loved a specific book, it doesn’t follow that the teen will love the same book.

            Book displays also play a very important role in readers’ advisory. “If you don’t shelve fiction by genre, use displays frequently” (Dickey 15). Having booklists available with those displays is also a good idea. Have displays of bestselling young adult books and “hot” genres. Right now steampunk is a hot trend so a good display would be of popular steampunk novels. Teens can browse these displays at their own leisure or you can direct teens to these displays if you realize they are into that genre. A popular display theme right now is the “If you liked….” displays (Dickey 15). Picking a hot series like “The Hunger Games” would be a good example of this. Displays can be as fun and creative as you want, so use them to try different things and see what appeals to teens and what doesn’t.

            It all comes down to attitude. If you think that teens are a pain and you wish they’d all leave you alone, then you aren’t going to be able to provide good readers’ advisory service to them. Unfortunately, a lot of librarians do feel this way and it is reflected in their readers’ advisory service to teens…if they even provide readers’ advisory service to their teens. Librarians are “authority figures” (Booth 33) to teens, so it is important that librarians use this power for good and overcome any prejudices that they have towards teens. I remember reading every single book that my school librarian handed me because I respected and trusted her. With each successful readers’ advisory service provided, public librarians are earning the respect and trust of their teens. If it helps, remember this: they will one day be adults. If you make a bad impression on them now, that bad impression will continue on with them into adulthood.

           

           

           

           

Works Cited

Booth, H. (2005). RA for YA. Public Libraries, 44(1), 33-36.

Dickey, J., & Jones, P. (1994). Finding a good book: Skills and tools for helping students.             Book Report, 13(1), 15.

Jones, P. (2002). New Directions for Library Service to Young Adults. Chicago: American Library Association.