PREREQUISITES:
MAS students: Completion of the MAS Core courses, plus permission of the instructor.
MLIS and Dual students: Some electives can be taken in conjunction with the MLIS Core courses; consult with the MLIS Program Chair for recommendations.
GOAL: Taking a sociocultural view of human development, this course aims to prepare students for library work with two broad groups of young people, commonly referred to as “tweens” (ages 9-12) and “teens” (ages 13 to 18) in the public library. The goal of this course is to provide students with opportunities to develop the dispositions, knowledge and abilities needed to effectively plan, implement, and evaluate public library collections, services, and programs aimed at both tweens and teens.
OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of this course students will be able to:
- Draw upon foundational knowledge of human development to identify needs, and to design, and provide inclusive services, collections, and programs for diverse tweens and teens.
- Employ recommended selection resources to organize, manage, and defend diverse and inclusive fiction, non-fiction, and digital collections that appeal to the interests and abilities of tweens and teens.
- Identify and demonstrate interpersonal skills necessary for effective reference, readers advisory services, program delivery, and information literacy and library instruction for tweens and teens.
- Evaluate and design library spaces aimed at welcoming groups of tweens and teens into the public library.
- Design, conduct, and evaluate a range of informal learning programs aimed at groups and subgroups of tweens and teens.
- Contribute to advocacy efforts for the needs of equity-deserving youth and families in diverse communities.
- Communicate and collaborate with schools, other youth-serving agencies, and young community members to co-design and implement services and programs for aimed at tweens and teens.
CONTENT:
- Human development as it applies to both tweens and teens
- Collection development aimed at tweens and teens
- Digital resources and services for both tweens and teens
- Effective information literacy, reference, and readers advisory services for tweens and teens
- Censorship and intellectual freedom issues as they apply to these age groups
- Library programs and spaces for tweens and teens
- Effective and equitable community engagement strategies for meeting the informal learning needs and interests of all tweens and teens
- Understanding the specific needs of equity-deserving young people in these age groups (i.e., disabled youth; refugee youth; BIPOC youth, etc.)
- Promotion, advocacy, management, and leadership of public library services aimed at tweens and teens