An updated text exploring the theory and practice of YA librarianship

For Immediate Release
Wed, 10/09/2019

Contact:

Rob Christopher

Marketing Coordinator

ALA Publishing

American Library Association

3122805052

rchristopher@ala.org

CHICAGO — How should LIS envision its young adult users? Now showcasing an even more rigorous debate about the theory and practice of YA librarianship, the new second edition of “Transforming Young Adult Services,” published by ALA Neal-Schuman, has been updated and expanded by author and editor Anthony Bernier to incorporate recent advances in critical youth studies. It features a Foreword by John M. Budd and contributions from Denise E. Agosto, Jeanie Austin, Michael Cart, Mary K. Chelton, Karen Coats, Kate McDowell, Cherie Givens, Mary Ann Harlan, Kafi D. Kumasi, Wendy Schaetzel Lesko, Mike Males, Paulette Rothbauer, and Lucia Cedeira Serantes. A comprehensive, evidence-based treatment that offers LIS instructors, students, and practitioners a valuable tool for aligning YA services to more fully reflect our diverse populations of young people, this collection delves deeply into such topics as:

  • the historical roots for current theories and practice;
  • how intellectual freedom, storytelling, library collections, and other service topics can connect with the library's notion and vision of young adults;
  • diverse YA identities, including critical race theory;
  • competing perspectives on young adults’ rights in libraries;
  • envisaging YA librarianship from a teen-centered perspective;
  • youth identities and the school library; and
  • moving beyond coaching to copilot with young adults.

Bernier, PhD, is professor at California’s San José State University School of Information. The iSchool has awarded him Distinguished Service, Outstanding Professor, and Outstanding Researcher Awards. He received two National Leadership Grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (on library spaces for young people), one from ALA’s Diversity Research Committee, and another from the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) in support of his research on first-generation graduate students. He also served a four-year term on ALA’s Committee on Accreditation, chaired several national professional and academic associations, was recently elected chair of ALA’s Library History Round Table, and currently writes the regular “YA Strike Zone” column for Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA). A practicing YA specialist librarian and administrator for 15 years, he designed the first purpose-built library space for teenaged youth, the Los Angeles Public Library’s acclaimed Teen’Scape, and produced nationally recognized youth outreach and programming models.

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