Reference and Information Sources and Services for Children and Young Adults

Reference and information services are more important than ever for today’s young people. By analyzing key features of reference and information services to young people in school and public library environments, including the research behind the trends and issues, librarians can make sure that those services are appropriately responsive to children and teens. Based on standards and evidence-based practice, this book helps you to optimize those resources and services by:
providing guidance in assessing youth communities, determining youth’s information needs and information behaviors, developing and maintaining age-appropriate reference collections (starting with the book’s core list of print and online resources), optimizing physical and virtual access to reference and information sources, interacting with youth and facilitating their reference and information literacy skills, curating and producing reference and information products, dealing with relevant legal and ethical issues, and planning effective library reference and information services for youth. Chapter sidebar examples provide food for thought.

Dr. Lesley S. J. Farmer, Professor at California State University (CSU) Long Beach, coordinates the Teacher Librarianship program, and was named as the university’s Outstanding Professor. She also manages the CSU ICT Literacy Project. She earned her M.S. in Library Science at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and received her doctorate in Adult Education from Temple University.
Dr. Farmer chaired the IFLA’s School Libraries Section, chairs the International Association of School Librarianship Information Literacy SIG, and is a Fulbright scholar. A frequent presenter and writer for the profession, she won several honors, including American Library Association’s Phi Beta Mu Award for library education and the Ken Haycock Leadership Award, the Catholic Library Association St. Katharine Drexel Award, and the AASL Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Farmer’s research interests include school librarianship, information and media literacy, digital citizenship, and data analytics.