6" x 9"
Year Published: 2013
AP Categories: A
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With Contributions from Denise E. Agosto, John M. Budd, Michael Cart, Karen Coats, Cherie Givens, Kafi D. Kumasi, Wendy Schaetzel Lesko, Mike Males, Paulette Rothbauer, Lucia Cedeira Serantes
In this vigorous call to action that encourages LIS students, researchers, and practitioners to question some of the underlying assumptions of their discipline, Bernier initiates an open discussion about how YA professionals perceive young adults. Exploring the question of what an LIS-specific vision of young adults should be, this book offers a wide array of provocative positions with implications for libraries in literacy initiatives, YA space, intergenerational interactions, and civic life. Research-based articles and essays from leading scholars and practitioners examine young adults in historical and conceptual contexts, such as the ways in which social theory is rapidly changing the essence of YA librarianship. The variety of perspectives and analyses offered will launch a vigorous new debate on how libraries and those in the field think of and serve young adults.
Table of Contents
Foreword by John M. Budd
Preface by Anthony Bernier
Part I: What’s in an Age?
Chapter 1. Envisaging Young Adult Librarianship from a Teen-Centered Perspective
Denise E. Agosto
Chapter 2. Dialogism, Development, and Destination: Young Adults in Contemporary Culture
Chapter 3. Crossing Over: The Advent of the Adultescent
Part II: From White and Marginal to Civic Partners
Chapter 4. “The Library Is Like Her House”: Reimagining Youth of Color in LIS Discourses
Kafi D. Kumasi
Chapter 5. Misfits, Loners, Immature Students, and Reluctant Readers: Librarianship in the Construction of Teen Readers of Comics
Lucia Cedeira Serantes
Chapter 6. Beyond Coaching: Copiloting with Young Adults
Wendy Schaetzel Lesko
Part III: Beyond Youth Development and Questions of Intellectual Freedom
Chapter 7. Tribalism versus Citizenship: Are Youth Increasingly Unwelcome in Libraries?
Chapter 8. Imagining Today’s Young Adults in LIS: Moving Forward with Critical Youth Studies
Chapter 9. Intellectual Freedom or Protection? Conflicting Young Adults’ Rights in Libraries
Conclusion: Historical Contexts and Consequences of the LIS Youth Consensus
About the Editor and Contributors
About the Editor
Anthony Bernier is associate professor at California’s San Jose State University School of Library and Information Science. As a critical youth studies scholar his primary field of research explores the administration of library services with young people. He served as a professional librarian for nearly 15 years as a Young Adult Specialist Librarian and administrator, during which time he designed nationally recognized youth outreach and programming models, including the first purpose-built library space for teenaged youth: the Los Angeles Public Library acclaimed TeenS’cape. In 2010 he received a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to advance research on public library spaces designed for young people. He is former chair of several national professional and academic associations and currently serves on two editorial boards. In 2011 he was appointed to a four-year term on the American Library Association’s Committee on Accreditation. His doctoral dissertation at the University of California examined changing notions of public space in twentieth-century America.
"The theories are engaging, and LIS students and YA researchers should find it of interest."
"Bernier issues a call to library and information science (LIS) professionals to redefine young adult (YA) services by eliminating outdated concepts of youth established by professionals in non-library fields. He proposes instead we 'rise to define our users ourselves' with the information and experience culled by our own professionals. He and nine contributors present a broad array of topics to begin this new definition of YA services, touching on teen literature, 'new adults,' youth of color, comic readers, teen activism, and censorship. The essays relate well to each other, but are good stand-alone arguments too ... the book should have a wide audience among LIS professionals looking to expand and advocate YA services, new teen librarians entering the field, and anyone with an interest in youth studies."