Outstanding Library Service to Children: Putting the Core Competencies to Work

by Rosanne Cerny

What does it truly take to provide excellent library service to children? The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has outlined seven core competencies―skills and best practices that are the building blocks for professional development for children's librarians. In this practical guide, three children's services experts bring these best practices to life. Each chapter, focusing on one of the competencies, gets new and experienced librarians up to speed fast by offering explanations, examples, and a substantial bibliography for more in-depth learning. Library managers gain training and assessment tools. Highly skilled children's librarians draw on a wide array of talents to serve the needs of their audience, although few are equally adept in all seven areas. Use this primer to develop and sharpen skills and access resources to improve professionalism and skills Children's librarians, administrators, trainers, and LIS educators will welcome this professional development mentor that gives them the resources to strengthen the practice of children's librarianship.

Genres: Nonfiction, Professional Development

94 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2006

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

7 Basic Principal Skills that every YS Librarian should have:
1) Knowledge of Client Group
2) Administrative and Management Skills
3) Communication Skills
4) Materials and Collection Development
5) Programming Skills
6) Advocacy, Public Relations, and Networking Skills
7) Professionalism and Professional Development.

Despite this book only being about 80 pages, it is chock full of information. This has been the book I've been looking for.
It doesn't delve too much into each of the 7 skill sets, but it does give a basic overview from the legal, professional and personal touch that the YS person brings to the table.
I was surprised by how many of these 7 I was already doing. 1, 3, 5, 6 and working on 7 are my strongest suites, which teaches me what I need to work on.
This book is also perfect for a manager/HR person looking for the right type of person for this job.

This will also help me in ways to improve my resume, giving examples of each skill set.

[Jenna (Falling Letters) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A handy little book that gives an overview of what it means to be a children's librarian, via ALSC's Competencies for Librarians Serving Children in Public Libraries. I spent a lot of time looking up titles from the Suggested Reading lists at the end of each chapter. While some resources are out of date (many are from the early to mid nineties), there are plenty of good, foundational recommendations that I anticipate will be good reading for a newbie getting ready to enter the profession, like me.

[Steven Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this concise book to anyone!

[Cynthia Parkhill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The school-library setting is a children's library service environment. As such, I see this book as a possible source of valuable professional development. Brief overview, but with resources for further information in each of the competency areas.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent starting point for those who may be new to children's librarianship or for professionals in the field looking for resources for further professional development. Although the text itself is quite short and offers only a bare-bones look at children's librarianship, it does contain helpful, basic advice for those lacking a complete picture of what children's librarianship entails.

What makes this book particularly valuable are its bibliographies. Each chapter has a helpful list of further resources covering all aspects of children's librarianship discussed in that chapter. As someone with little formal training in serving children, I expect this book will be a valuable companion as I continue my self-education in children's services.

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text was short and sweet, but managed to keep what could have been very dull reading fairly interesting by not needlessly going on about each aspect to boost length. Very practical advice that may seem obvious but it never hurts to have a reminder on hand. The resource lists are particularly worthwhile.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a librarian looking to shift from a school library to public I needed a quick primer before my interview. This book served this purpose and also gave great recommended reading lists for each competency. Nicely free of academic or flowery prose.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could hear Roseanne reading it to me! It is a handy resource, straightforward, and realistic.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the information included isn't new to me, it's a really quick book to read that I think will be a nice reference to check back to now and then. Nice listings of resources and suggested reads.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't bad for a textbook. A lot of good information.