Overview

How do we break through and truly reach our young adult patrons? It begins with understanding them. Librarians who work with teens need information and a big-picture perspective on adolescence that reflects the latest knowledge of cognate fields and the contemporary realities of young people’s lives. In this greatly revised and updated edition of her popular guide Burek Pierce provides exactly that, selecting and synthesizing emerging information from multiple fields of research to effectively support librarians’ work with teens. Far-reaching but pragmatic, this book discusses such important topics as identity and community, sex and sexualities, what experts can tell us about the adolescent brain, and how teens use technology to mediate the world; replaces outdated developmental theories that have been discarded in their home fields but are still sometimes used in the LIS world; looks at how to blend what research tells us about teens with day-to-day work in libraries; reflects new norms of professional practice, such as the increased importance of community engagement and partnerships, offering librarians a path towards cooperation and collaboration with peers outside the library world; and includes a bibliography of essential reading for YA librarians. Educators and practitioners, as well as students preparing to enter the field, will all benefit from this compact overview of contemporary research on adolescence.

Full Product Details

9780838915486

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Jennifer Burek Pierce is associate professor in the School of Library & Information Science at the University of Iowa. Books, games, and toys for young people are of particular interest to her, as is the marketing of these materials. Her books include What Adolescents Ought to Know: Sexual Health Texts in Early 20th Century America (UMass Press, 2011) and the first edition of Sex, Brains, and Video Games: A Librarian’s Guide to Teens in the Twenty-First Century (ALA Editions, 2008). She developed the Youth Matters column for American Libraries and has also written for The Chronicle of Higher Education. She serves on the advisory board for the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities, the University of Iowa’s center for community engagement.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available