[Publib] Children's Services -- what do you provide?

[Jennie J. Stoltz]

I've experienced the same thing.  My adult Reference Librarians generally were/are not very fond of working the children's Reference desk because it wasn't/isn't an area they were knowledgable about.  (And I think that the Children's staff probably would have felt the same way but since there was/is always less of them they rarely get asked to fill in at Adult Reference).  

Adult Reference Librarians USUALLY don't read reviews or order the children's materials, don't catalog the children's materials, don't read children's books (though those with children themselves are definitely more likely to know children's/YA materials but depending upon the ages of their kids they might not know about what's hot at the moment) and don't spend enough time in the children's area to really become experts or know the collection thus the patrons don't get the best service that they could.  Also, it's a mammoth task to keep up with the authors/titles/genres/etc. in either children's or adult materials so when you have to keep up with both it takes away from both.  I was a children's librarian for over twelve years until the Adult & Children's departments at my former library were merged into one department.  I became the head of both but I always felt my children's collection and my ability to give the best children's reference & reader's advisory was diminishe
d when I started having to keep up on books for both areas. 

As Sue mentioned (I think it was Sue), a trained librarian can provide reference services as easily at the Children's desk than he/she can at the Adult Reference desk but reference questions are only about 50% of the questions in my experience.

Jennie J. Stoltz
Director
Pewaukee Public Library
(262) 691-5670, ext. 20
(262) 691-5673 fax

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rorick, Janice" <JRorick at SantaBarbaraCA.gov>
Date: Thursday, August 9, 2007 8:39 pm
Subject: [Publib] Children's Services -- what do you provide?
To: publib at webjunction.org


>  
>  I must say I was a bit puzzled about a children's area that did not
>  provide children's reference or reader's advisory services.  Our adult
>  reference staff members are not fond of covering the children's desk
>  because they are rarely able to give good reader's advisory service !
>  They do not always know classic children's literature, let alone what
>  new titles have recently been published or what age levels a particular
>  book can span.  Parents, grandparents, teachers, museum educators and
>  patrons just looking for "good illustrations" of any object know where
>  to ask for what they want in our library - at the children's desk.  If
>  they liked a book presented in a storyhour, they ask for more like it.
>  If there has been a death or divorce in the family, they ask for a book
>  to help.  If they want to know about local authors or storytellers, they
>  ask our children's librarian who often can put them in contact with
>  these community treasures.
>  
>  The right book in the right hands is even more crucial for a child than
>  for an adult and people who actually read children's books have a much
>  better chance of creating a good match whether we are talking research
>  or recreational reading. Part of our Summer Reading Program is listening
>  to children share a story with us and sharing possible future reads with
>  them.
>  
>  Janice Rorick  
>  Senior Librarian for Youth Services
>  Santa Barbara Public Library System
>  P.O. Box 1019
>  Santa Barbara, CA. 93101
>  805-564-5621
>  
>  
>  
>   
>  
>   
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