Education for Youth Services Specialization in Librarianship:
Background Paper
Eliza T. Dresang
April 1999
INTRODUCTION

Change is accelerating in all aspects of life. Society is changing. Youth are changing. Libraries are changing. Library service to children and young adults in public libraries is changing. Education in American Library Association (ALA) accredited schools is changing. Because of the accelerated alteration in circumstances around us, we must carefully separate what we know today from what we knew yesterday and what we might know tomorrow.

This paper is a beginning step toward establishing what we do know and what we do not know about the education that youth service librarians receive in our ALA accredited institutions of higher learning at the cusp of the 21st century. It addresses issues in practice as they interact with this education and how education and practice affect one another. Following this, I have identified some of the issues that we must face as we move to the future and initiated a discussion of them to be continued on the list serv, at the Congress, and beyond. I'm sure others will add to this list.

For use in this paper, I assume professional as a librarian who has a degree from an ALA accredited school of library and information studies.

ESTABLISHMENT OF YOUTH SERVICES SPECIALIZATION IN LIBRARY EDUCATION AND PRACTICE

A brief overview of  the place of the children's and young adult services specialization in the initial years of library education establishes its very early recognition as part of the curriculum.

Education

Melvil Dewey started formal professional education for librarianship in 1887 at the Columbia School of Library Economy. Little more than a decade later in 1898 the first course for training children's librarians was developed at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. In 1900 Pittsburgh initiated a two-year Training Class for Children's Librarians that expanded to a full-fledged training school in 1909. The enrollment went from five in 1900 to sixty-five in 1906. Cleveland's Western Reserve University's courses in children's librarianship opened in 1909.

Practice

An introduction to the pioneering children's and young adults services librarians at the premier public libraries during the zenith of the Carnegie and Melvil years (last 19th and early 20th centuries) and beyond establishes the early and ongoing importance of this specialty that is integral to and alieader of the profession.

Library services to children in public libraries emerged as a recognized specialty in this period of growth and development. The first children's librarians in public libraries had no special training but were simply public librarians who had a special interest in children's work. Minerva Sanders (Pawtucket RI) and Caroline Hewins (Hartford) were in this cohort. So was Effie L. Power, employed by the Cleveland Public Library in 1895 and the first person to be hired specifically for children's work. (See Jenkins 1994)

Anne Carroll Moore graduated from the Library School of the Pratt Institute in 1896 (two years before the course of study for children's librarianship was started) and worked as a children's librarian in the Pratt Institute Free Library from 1896 - 1906. In 1900 she advocated for and became first chairperson of the Children's Library Section of ALA, founded in 1876. She started the children's department in the New York Public Library in 1906 and was supervisor of it until 1941.

As the 20th century moved into its second quartile, other notable pioneers with particular specialties in children's librarianship emerged. Pura Belpré, attended the Library School of the New York Public Library and became the first Puerto Rican librarian hired by New York Public Library and established an active, community-oriented library service to Puerto Rican children living in Harlem. Augusta Baker became the first coordinator of youth services in the New York Public Library, and she and her counterpart in Chicago, Charlemae Rollins, worked tirelessly to bring to the attention of the library educators, the profession and the public the need for both resources and services for African American youth.

Three librarians are considered founders of young adult library services: Mabel Williams, who started Work With Schools at New York Public Library in 1919; Jean Roos who set up the first young adult services area in a public library in Cleveland in 1925; and Margaret Alexander Edwards who instituted "Y work" at the Enock Pratt Free Library in Baltimore in 1933. The Young Adult Library Services Association Margaret A. Edwards Award and the Alex Award both given in recognition of excellence in literature read by young adults. (See Steinfirst 1994)

Bottom Line (#1)

The specialization in librarianship for children and young adults has been an essential part of both education and practice for more than one hundred years. Librarians serving youth were among the major pioneers in the profession, setting standards for service that included outreach to youth who were not traditional users of libraries.

WHAT RESEARCH REVEALS ABOUT EDUCATION AND PRACTICE AND WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW

Below I summarize  what I find to be the most salient findings regarding issues that affect the education of youth services librarians. These findings come chiefly from a review of recent and relevant literature. A few are based on opinions of  experienced professionals who responded to a call for comments. Some of these findings are tentative. Others need updating. ALL of these findings have caveats and limiting factors. Reading the background behind each finding and understanding its sources are essential to interpret the findings correctly.

Following this summary is a discussion of  each topic.

Note that youth services in library education refers to courses on children's and young adult resources, programming, and services excluding specific school media preparation courses.

        FINDINGS ABOUT EDUCATION IMPORTANT FOR PRACTICE
FINDINGS ABOUT PRACTICE IMPORTANT FOR EDUCATION
 
  • Public library services for youth, particularly preadolescent children, are alive and well.
  • The demand for youth services librarians dramatically exceeds the supply.
  • The most frequent users of the public library are youth and families with children.
  • The service valued above all others by the public is programming for children.
  • Programming for elementary age children takes place in most public libraries.
  • New and expanded services for youth have become increasingly common practice.
  • Older youth use technology-related services more than any other.
  • Several benefactors from the private sector support youth services in libraries.
  • A youth services librarian with professional training is the most important factor for quality services.


    • ISSUES TO ADDRESS (A BEGINNING)
     

  • Paucity of up-to-date, ongoing, analyzed information.
  • Relation of library and information studies education to shortage of professionals (reasons for and solutions).
  • Diversity of faculty and graduates (reasons for lack of and solutions).
  • Effect of distance education on availability to students and supply of professionals.
  • Impact of the  gap between educational supply and professional demand.
  • Effect (and status) of continuing education.
  • Changes needed in the curriculum.
  • Collaboration and cooperation with other educators and organizations.
  • Impact of broadening employment opportunities for youth service specialists.
  • Need for an invigoring shared vision, widely marketed.


    • ____________________________________________
    FINDINGS ABOUT EDUCATION IMPORTANT FOR PRACTICE (DISCUSSION)

    Faculty Status and Concerns

    Youth services faculty have not vanished.

    The 1998 - 99 Membership Directory of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) lists at least one tenure track faculty and fairly often two (most associate professors) who teach courses with a "child or young adult audience" (not including those listing school media centers/libraries unless they overlap) at all but two ALA accredited schools. Numerous adjuncts or part-time faculty are listed at most schools, also, including at those two without tenure track faculty. (I did not check on whether these statistics are accurately reported). This statistic does not indicate, of course, whether this is a gain or loss to the field or what the quantity or quality of the education is.

    The most recent formal study of  the youth services specialization in ALA accredited schools took place in early 1995 (Steinfirst and Bracy, 1996). Comparisons are made with a study a decade earlier covering the years 1982 - 85 by Allen and Bush (1987) in order to establish whether growth, stabilization, or decline had occurred in this specialization. The catalyst for both studies was concern about quality and quantity of courses, faculty, and graduates in the youth services specialization. Steinfirst and Bracy surveyed both tenure track faculty and Deans; Allen and Bush surveyed Deans only.  The Allen and Bush study included courses for school media specialists which were excluded, as much as possible, from the Steinfirst and Bracy study; "orange and apple" comparisons between youth services in 1996 and school media programs in 1987 are not reported below.
     
     

    Comparison of Allen and Bush Study (1987) and Steinfirst and Bracy Study (1996)
    Category  Finding  -- Allen and Bush (1987) Finding -- Steinfirst and Bracy (1996)
    Tenured faculty (associate or full professors) in Youth Services  66% of accreditd schools 70% of accredited schools
    Faculty teaching only youth services (excluding school media or combinations) 20% of those surveyed 23% (Faculty) of those surveyed
    Stable number of faculty  Yes Yes
    Faculty teaching all youth services (including school media) 1.9  1.9 (Deans)
    Average class size in youth services 11.27 21.5 (Deans); 25 (faculty)
    Stable Course Load Majority yes Majority yes
    Adjuncts Teaching Some Courses 55.3% 88% (Deans); 69% (Faculty) (Note: most say at about the same rate as teach other courses)
    Youth Material Adequately Addressed in Other Classes NA Yes (Deans 87%); No (Deans 17%)
    Yes (Fac. 33 %); No (Fac. 63%)
    Status of Faculty Teaching Youth Services NA Same as Other Faculty (median  yes but more Deans than Faculty say yes)
    Doctoral Students in Specialty: # and increase or stable NA 9 (mean) 5 (median);  Deans (47%); Fac (42%) (other responses decrease & NA)
    Optimism about specialty Yes Yes: with almost all Deans optimistic and supportive of the specialty; Faculty more content where youth services are the "bread and butter of the program" and less where curricula have moved aggressively to information science 
    Perception that specialization is changing or unstable  NA Yes (Deans 41%); No (56%)
    Yes (Fac. 61%); No ( Fac. 39%)
    Verbally Expressed Concerns (no # of respondents given for this) 
    Lack of interest in children's/YA work; decline in enrollment in specialization; low pay for children's and school librarians; inability to hire faculty to meet university standards.    		 (9 faculty respondents of 48)
     technology eliminating other coursework, overwork/stress, retiring faculty won't be replaced in specialty; more adjuncts teaching courses

    The researchers general conclusion is that education for the specialty was healthy at the time of the earlier study and remained healthy at the time of the more recent study.  In the concluding summary remarks in their article, Steinfirst and Bracy state that while a comparison of the survey results shows a change in the focus of concern over the past decade, in both cases, hope was more pronounced than despair. Steinfirst and Bracy concur with Allen and Bush that "there are many signs of vigor and commitment to youth service in many library schools." (Allen and Bush, 504; Steinfirst and Bracy, 248)

    Curriculum

    The ALA Standards for Accreditation include the following statement: "The design of specialized learning experiences takes into account the statement of knowledge and competencies developed by relevant professional organizations."  With this in mind, the Competencies for Librarians Serving Children in Public Libraries developed by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC/ALA) and the Young Adults Deserve the Best: Competencies for Librarians Serving Youth developed by the Young Adult Library Service Association (YALSA/ALA) serve as a way to study both the input (the content of education for youth services) and the output (the competencies of those who have experienced this education).

    I could locate no comprehensive surveys of the content of education for youth services comparable to the faculty status surveys reported above. The ALISE directory information does not distinguish whether faculty teach youth services courses aimed at resources or services.

    What evidence exists comes from reputable and geographically-diverse experienced educators and professionals and may or may not be representative. Another source of information about youth services education comes from Mary R. Sommerville, recently retired director of the Miami-Dade Public Library. In an informal survey of Deans and public library coordinators of children's services (1998) that reflects but is not based on the competencies, she reports the following about educational programs:

    (1) Substantial concern that there are not adequate courses "in early childhood education, child development, reading and developmental psychology." (51)  Also that "storytelling courses seem to be offered, but how to develop children's programs and provide outreach is a missing piece, as is marketing children's services." (51)

    (2) Note, on the positive side, that in addition to courses in public library services and information needs of children and specialized continuing education institutes "several schools have courses with content emphasizing multicultural literature." (51 - 52)

    Another survey of faculty in 1993 (East and Lam 1995) investigated curriculum change designed to include multicultural education (both ALSC and YALSA call for competency related to diversity). Sixty-five percent of the twenty-four respondents indicated some change in the curriculum to include or expand multiculturalism. The comment was made by one respondent that all children's literature courses contain multicultural literature(205).

    The 1998 ALISE Statistical Report shows 84.5% of faculty members are white. There are no statistics to tell how many of the minority faculty members are youth services specialists.

    There is no recent source of reliable data that I found focused on continuing education programs for youth service librarians.

    It should be noted, also, that there is no presumption that the competencies are comprehensive in determining appropriate curriculum content. (See Immroth 1989 on the need for and development of the ALSC competencies).

    Preparation of Recent Graduates

    The competencies, however, do provide our only systematic guide reflecting the articulated needs of the profession.

    Fourteen educators and professionals responded to my call for comments on the ALSC and YALSA list servs about the preparation of graduates during the past five years compared to the competencies listed by ALSC and YALSA.  Those who responded (acknowledged at end of this paper) were in leadership positions (including one state consultant), experienced, passionate in their opinion, from a broad geographical area, and of like mind.

    Praised were the graduates' communication skills, knowledge and evaluation of resources and technology.  All respondents agreed that these new graduates were skilled in the use of technology, but did not understand how to use the technology with and for the benefit of students of various ages and stages. One children's coordinator cited the poor preparation of youth service's professionals from a specific ALA school; that school is one of the two who do not list a tenure-track faculty member in the youth services area in the ALISE directory.

    In general, recent graduates seem more competent in areas related to resources than to services.

    The most frequently cited shortcoming in these recent graduates was a lack of  understanding of the theories of infant, child and adolescent learning and development and information on the new brain research as it relates to youth. Other deficits named were in the areas of community analysis, accountability (service, budget, collection development), supervision, grant-writing, and ability to handle intellectual freedom issues in the digital environment. The reports about programming were mixed: some found the new librarians quite competent in this area and others not. A state consultant noted that youth services librarians must do considerable teaching with the need that youth have for skills of internet access and that professional training in how to approach this type of instruction is needed. Some stated that youth services librarians are less well prepared today for the challenges they have to meet on the job than they were a decade ago.

    Several respondents lauded the internship experience for youth in libraries where standards for practice are high as an excellent venue for preparation to practice. Those graduates who had such experience tended to be the most competent beginning professionals.

    Respondents did not address the readiness of librarians to deal with diversity. But at an Institute for Library Service to Youth held at the University of South Florida in March 1999, there was a hue and cry for more bilingual librarians and culturally sensitive library service. This may be another example that reflects lack of community analysis skills and/or youth librarians more adept in the resources than in the services. As the information below indicates, the focus on library services for youth with particular special needs has become the interest of several wealthy benefactors as well as of the public. There may be a mismatch between education, the focus of library professionals, and the vision of the public for services in this area.

    The Bottom Line (#2)

    It appears that fears regarding the elimination of the education of youth services librarians in ALA accredited schools of library and information studies  in recent years are unfounded except in a few isolated (but important in such a small field) cases. Faculty size, percentage of a faculty who are youth services and tenure track, and job satisfaction have remained relatively stable -- as far as the data exists. However, that is only the surface view. There is no reliable data on the content of courses or the extent to which that content has been altered in the digital age. Subtle shifts that may exist may not show in the surveys that have been conducted, except by allusion. It is not possible, for example, to tell what is being taught to youth services librarians about the core values of our profession as reflected in the Library Bill of Rights, its interpretation in relation to electronic resources, and the interprestations for youth and whether they are incorporated into the resources and services courses. Nor is it possible to determine how aggressively service to children with specific special needs and backgrounds is included.

    It appears that some but not all the competencies required and expected of youth librarians are taught (in general) in the accredited schools, with more emphasis on resources than on services, and that attention needs to be paid to revising or extending the curriculum to incorporate all of the competencies identified as necessary in the new millennium with specific attention to diversity.

    FINDINGS ABOUT PRACTICE IMPORTANT FOR EDUCATION (DISCUSSION)

    A century ago, specialization in youth services became an early component of professional library education. Evidence from the field indicates that this specialization should remain and grow in the new millennium.

    Strong evidence exists that youth services in public libraries provided by professional libraries is valued and will continue to exist as a strong force in the 21st century.

    Equally strong evidence exists that there are not enough professional youth services specialists to meet the demand. It appears that the demand will increase, rather than decrease, in the foreseeable future. Education may or may not have remained stable in this period of rapid societal change, but it is not producing an adequate number of youth service specialists according to reports from the profession.

    Public Opinion

    The question, then, focuses on what the public (young and old) wants for youth that libraries can provide. Fortunately this is one of the questions that can be answered with confidence because of carefully planned and executed research that took place in 1996 and 1998.

    In 1996, a public opinion research study was initiated. It was funded by the Kellogg Foundation and conducted and published by the Benton Foundation to document the vision of library leaders and of the public regarding public libraries in the digital age. Both foundations are interested in communication technology and its link to the public good. The report of this research is titled Buildings, Books, and Bytes(1996).  The Benton Foundation used interviews, focus groups, and surveys to collect data. The public selected five key roles of librarians as "very important." Two of these five roles focus specifically on children as a primary target of the services.

    The report also documented that families with children are particularly strong supporters of libraries as well as heavy computer users. Overall, there was an enormous overlap between library, computer, and book store users. Library leaders expressed some concern that the super bookstores would eventually damage support for libraries, but this report showed no such cause for alarm. Although the public had some ambivalence about exactly how library buildings might be useful in the future, particularly the 18 – 24 age group, there was no ambivalence in any age group about the desire to have both librarians and libraries working with youth. Furthermore, this report documented that Americans support spending more tax dollars supplemented by special fees to supplement library operating funds and to purchase computer information and access for those who lack it elsewhere.Given a choice, respondents preferred spending money for computer software located in libraries than for their own personal computers.

    Additional research has shown that youth are not taking time from reading for their explorations on computers, but rather from television (Tapscott, 1998, 30) Computers and reading appeal to the same clientele.

    Provision and Use of Services and Resources

    Services and Resources for Children and Young Adults in Public Libraries (1995), a statistical analysis report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), based on data collected in the spring 1994, documents the use of public libraries by youth and other salient information about youth services. A representative sample of public libraries was included in the survey. Following are some of the findings relevant to this study of education of youth services librarians in relation to practice:

    A further indicator of the importance of professionally trained staff to services for youth come from research involving an application of output measures. Virgnia A. Walter adapted the public library output measures developed in the late 80s and used to evaluate resources and services for children (1992) and young adults (1995). Barbara Immroth and Keith Lance in a status report on the children's output measures (1995) note that professional staff is the greatest input predictor of both input and output measures. Their analysis of data collected in fourteen states shows that: My colleagues here at Florida State, Christine Koontz and Dean Jue of the Florida Resources and Environmental Analysis Center, are nearing the end of an extremely revealing research study documenting the inhouse use of materials in public libraries as far higher for libraries who clientelle are chiefy low income patrons than it is for middle or high income areas, bringing into question the use of circulation statistics as the principle measure of use. This data is not broken down by age, but this general statistic suggests again how important the presence of a trained professional librarian is for youth who need the services most.

    Shortage of Professionals to Serve Youth

    Mary Sommerville's survey in 1998 which brought twenty-four responses as well as the fourteen persons who responded to me in the spring 1999 corroborate the last listed finding in the NCES study -- the shortage of professional librarians to serve youth. She states that "most respondents agree that recruitment of children's librarians is still a problem [comparing to an earlier report in 1987]. Salary and amenities, proximity of an accredited library school, and attractiveness of the surrounding area all affect recruitment." (50)

    In my list serv responses, many more respondents focused on the shortage of youth service professionals than on the lack of proper education. All fourteen commented on the need for more professionals. One library system in Florida upgraded paraprofessional positions to professional, searched for almost a year, then reduced the positions back to paraprofessional because of unsuccessful recruitment. A coordinator of children's services reported that it takes twice as long to fill vacancies as it did a decade ago and that more and more she is forced to hire librarians who do not have professional training in the area. From Washington state came the report that "I advertised a position nationally in November 1998 and by the closing date of December 31, I had NO qualified applicants. I have re-posted the position as "Open Until Filled" and as of March 9 had no further applicants." From Memphis comes this statement, "Here in Memphis, TN, we are definitely experiencing difficulty hiring children's/young adult specialists. I have been on several recruiting missions in the past four years with very little success." From Alabama and Georgia comes the verification that public library youth services jobs are even more plentiful than those for school media specialists. From Michigan comes "there are numerous children's and YA openings all over our state." From New York, despite the accredited schools in the area" in trying to fill a 20 hour per week position, we found there was definitely a shortage of children's librarians in the Rochester area. We finally promoted a clerk to Library Assistant (paraprofessional)." From California came the observation that there is both a shortage of professionals and a long-term shortage of services. Also from California, "I think the biggest challenge we face in California right now in public libraries is the provision of service to young adults and the lack of professionals entering this specialty."

    There can be no mistake. The demand for ALA accredited schools' MLS graduates with youth service specialty far exceeds the supply.

    Private Foundation Support for Public Library Services to Youth

    While the supply of librarians is short, the demand is likely to increase even more with specific programs targeted to enhance and promote public library services to children.

    The DeWitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund has stepped in not only to document but to enhance and promote the first key role identified for librarians in the Kellogg/Benton Report, "providing reading hours and other programs for children." The Fund has recently approved a long-term initiative to increase the availability of high-quality programs for school-age children in libraries.  Interest lies particularly in low-income communities. The Fund’s investment is intended to build the capacity of public libraries to support and sustain these programs. This initiative is called "Public Libraries: Partners in Youth Development." The American Library Association and the Urban Libraries Council will assist in this initiative.

    In order to establish a bench mark and to identify the level of programming support that already exists in public libraries, the Fund commissioned ALA to collect information about current public library programs for youth. Data collection included a survey and interviews. In February 1998 ALA mailed questionnaires to 1500 public libraries in the United States with a 83% return. Listed are the percentage of libraries providing the service and the primary target audience to whom it was provided:

    One interesting user finding of this survey is that no programs had as a primary target any of the six specific groups in which the DeWitt Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund has special interest, i.e., recent immigrants (with English not primary home language), low income communities, rural youth, institutionalized youth, and youth with disabilities. Of these the low income were the most often even considered in programming. A full report on this survey will be available in the near future from the ALA Office for Research and Statistics.

    Findings of this survey document a high level of support by librarians, library directors, library staff, and library boards for continuing this kind of programming. The majority of respondents expected to serve more youth in the next year and almost no one expected fewer participants in any of the programs.

    Ten public libraries have received funding for the next phase of this study. These funds are planning grants for what can be done to extend already existing quality services. Eight to ten of these libraries will then receive sizeable grants to implement their plans.

    These are not the only foundations that have recently supported youth services projects. Both ALSC and YALSC have numerous strong and productive alliances with others foundations that have benefitted and will continue to benefit practice. It is not clear what emphasis these essential alliances have in the education of youth service professionals.

    Other Private/Public Support

    The investment of several other substantial benefactors serve as an indicator of investment in public library youth services that will stretch into the foreseeable future. One benefactor is the Bill and Melinda Gates Library Foundation. The Gates have identified public libraries as the best way to bring computers to those young people who might not have an opportunity to use them in their homes. As with the Dewitt Wallace - Reader's Digest Fund, the emphasis is on low-income communities. Working with ALA, the Gates Foundation instituted a process to provide both computers and software accompanied by training and technical assistance to the most needy applicants. Although not limited to children, the statement of principles of this Foundation clearly indicates it has children as a target audience.

    Internet service providers (ISP) have become, willing or unwilling, supporters of access to the Internet in public libraries. An act of Congress requires ISPs to give reduced rates to schools and public libraries with the aim of achieving universal service by the year 2000. The program is administered by the government. Despite the clumsiness of the application process, moves to repeal it, and the as-yet unsuccessful attempt to impose filtering regulations on recipients, the U.S. Congress has made possible access to the Internet in public libraries that might never have achieved the funding needed. As Councilor Karen Schneider says in her Internet Librarian column in the March 1999 American Libraries, "we e-rate optimists can dream enough to believe that in the long run we will see a very positive impact on our revenue streams, freeing money so we can continue to provide all kinds of wonderful services -- books, computers, videotapes, and the Internet -- without sacrificing one to the other."

    This government-enforced funding is not targeted specifically at children; however, it provides access in both school and public libraries, so, like the Gates Library Foundation, intends for children using libraries to be beneficiares.

    The Bottom Line (#3)

    The bottom line is that there is substantial and growing public and private support for youth services in public libraries as we enter the 21st century and that both concern and demand exists for this service to be of high caliber. According to the data, no choice need be made between digital and other resources and services as the same users want access to both. Funds from both public and private sources are forthcoming to assure that these resources and services for youth in public libraries continue and expand. The evidence that exists is that the support may benefit children more than it does young adults, and that young adult resources and services are in shorter supply than those for children.

    It is not as certain that there will be professionals to meet this growing demand.

    ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED (A BEGINNING)

    The above discussion is intended to set the stage for a further discussion of the issues at the Congress for Professional Education and beyond. It is intended to provide reference to what we know and what we need to find out. It raises some issues, but I expect others to be added in the discussion before, at, and after the Congress.

     I will briefly response to these issues that have emerged through this review of the literature and professional opinion and provide a few "starter ideas" for pursuit of these and other topics.
     

    Data currently seems to be collected and analyzed approximately every five years by either researchers or government sources. In the rapid changing environment of the digital age, that is not frequently enough. We do not know whether the data collected in the mid-90s reflects the current situation in our accredited schools. The absence of data gives raise to speculation which may or may not be accurate. There is a need for a systematic way to assess the state of the time-honored and still alive-and-well specialization for youth services and to communicate this assessment in an easy-to-understand, easily accessible format.

    One factor mentioned in the study about which there is no knowledge is how well youth services is integrated into other courses. How can we tell? What can we do about alliances with other faculty and assurance that the proper inclusion takes place?

    The studies that we have do not give us an indication of why the extreme shortage that exists has come about. There are more people taking the courses offered. The percentage of  tenured youth services faculty and the course load has remained fairly stable (at least through mid-century. The number of adjuncts has increased. (Although the caveat is that there are very few full professors. This is a matter for concern and study).

    The number of Ph.D. students in this area has remained about the same. It is possible that stability is not sufficient -- that growth in this area is essential in both the masters area and in the Ph.D. programs so there will be new faculty to educate the increased number of masters students.

    No word was spoken about the possibility of faculty avoiding the competencies with which they themselves are less than comfortable. I don't know any who are, but feel it is something that must be examined. It is important for all of us who teach youth services to be sure that our house is in order -- that the reason that students are not prepared in certain areas (those, indeed, who are not) is not due to our hesitancy or our own lack of competency to teach what they need to know.

    The solution is clearly not to require that every accredited program include youth services, even if we wanted to, as all programs already do offer youth services (in some way). The answers, unfortunately, are not so simple. But what are they?

    It is also possible that in addition to looking to education, we need to look to practice rather than simply to education to find why this shortage exists.

    Sommerville states that "With increased demand and fewer applicants, directors must take an active approach by hiring a recruitment officer who concentrates on new graduates." Carol Fiore, youth services consultant for the state of Florida, takes recruitment a step further, stating that we need to start this process with high school students.

    Both Mary Sommerville's article and the list serv respondents suggest reasons for shortages:  higher salaries and more chance for advancement  in other places (school media centers, archives, and especially in recent years, in the private sector with internet service providers, web developers, and software producers seeking information professionals with expertise in information resources and services for children and young adults). Higher salaries can not be the solution everywhere, as for example, Therese Bigelow says that Kansas City pays well and still has difficulty locating qualified children's services specialists.

    In some cases, lack of acknowledgment or even realization in work places of the wide-variety of skills and knowledge and the rigor required by the job contributes to less job satisfaction -- and more willingness to move on to another professional position. Another respondent suggested that the youth services librarians themselves need to be more assertive in marketing what they do -- and more participative in online discussion groups both to learn and for visibility.

    What can be done to increase the supply of highly qualified professional librarians for youth? What implication will this have for education? No one knows for sure what the answer is.

    Would it be possible to find some alliances in education such as exist in practice -- to support the funding of education as well as professional practice?

    According to childstats, the source of government statistics on children, approximately one-quarter of the population is below 18. However, disproportionate number of children live in poverty. Approximately forty percent of those whose families have incomes below the poverty line are children. In addition, the number of children of color and their percentage of the youth population is growing very rapidly.

    In order to match educational preparation to the reality of need, library and information studies education needs to join hands with these foundations who are aiming their sights toward improvement through public libraries of access to information and services for children who may not have it at home.

    ALA with its Spectrum scholar program is attempting to bring more minorities into librarianship. One strategy might be a concerted effort to recruit some of those minorities into Ph.D. programs and then to faculty positions. This is only a small step toward a resolving a large issue. Sommerville states that "Directors need to understand the need for recruitment and training of children's librarians of color, and with Spanish and Asian-language skills." (50)

    How can this lack of diversity be further addressed?

    Kathleen de la Peña McCook's and William E. Moen's article (1992 ) on patterns of selection of education documents that proximity is a large factor in students' choice of a school for their masters degree. Perhaps the availability of various web-based programs will allow more professionals to enter and complete the master's program with youth specialty.

    What is or will be the effect of distance education on supply and demand? How many children's and young adult programs are available? Will it mean that fewer or more institutions develop specialties since they can be more broadly available?
     

    Some professionals mentioned accommodations to the lack of professional children's and young adult librarians such as hiring someone with a bachelor's degree and encouraging that person to go on for a masters or having a professional supervise several prarprofessionals in branches. There has been no systematic study of this and no close look at the implications.

    How is the profession coping with the shortage? Is what is happening healthy (a new paradigm) or simply desperation?

    There are many pieces of this puzzle that need to be assembled, including web-based opportunities.

    What types of continuing education opportunities do or need to exist to generate more competent professionals?

    Technology is not as much a threat within the curriculum as it is an opportunity. As Kay Vandergrift said, "Part of the solution certainly will lie in incorporating information science in exciting and innovative ways within our field."

    If youth services librarians are not graduating with all the needed competencies, why? What can be done to provide alliances with the information science-related faculty and courses? What can be done to shape the curriculum in this area?
     

    The number one competency which new professionals lack is an understanding of child and adolescent development, including the new brain research. We do not necessarily need to "do it all" ourselves. We can develop a suggested or even required course of study for our youth service specialists that includes a course in developmental psychology and its implications or its counterpart in Schools of Education.

    Students who plan to go into many different types of libraries enroll in courses such as "the instructional roleof the libraian", not just school media specialists. Public library youth specialists might be urged to enroll in this type of course, also, as the role of library with youth shifts.

    This Congress is based on the idea of collaborative decision making.


    Not much was said about this because not much is known.  I teach the management of information course that is required of all master's students at Florida State University, so I get to know the entire range of students. I know that some of these students will be working with private organizations, such as online booksotres or software development firms or in non-library public agencies. I do not lament that these information professionals are exposed to the core values of intellectual freedom or to the particular sensitivities that other types of management courses may not offer.  I do not believe that the answer to the shortage of good children's and young adult librarians is to be sad that people who "know our trade" are taking places where their knowledge of children and the information access children need is essential.

    What we do know is that better recruitment is even more essential if our youth service professionals are broadening their understanding of types of jobs.

    What do we need to know about educating this broad range of information professionals who work with children? What impact will that have on the whole curriculum?
     

    This need is drawn from the discussion of what we know and need to know. In a a time of great change such as the one in which we live -- and always will -- there must be something cohesive that keeps people of like purpose united. It cannot be something georgraphical, it has to be something intangible.

    When I studied the reports of the surveys of library and information studies educators for youth services, I experienced a sense of "hunkering down," of a somewhat embattled feeling. It seemed that the attack is perceived as coming from both within  (those faculty who teach information technology) and from without (demands from the profession).

    Youth services educators expressed a believe that the profession is changing, but not an optimism about that change. After having spent a number of hours reading the literature and seeking opinions on the state of education and its relation to practice, I  find evidence that we need to refocus our thinking not just on  what is right (even though a lot is) -- but even better on what is possible in the education of youth service professionals.

    In the Fifth Discipline: the Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (1990), Peter Senge of MIT discusses the impact of having mental models and shared vision. Although he speaks to these in the context of learning organizations, it seems to me that they could apply to a learning profession also. Of mental models Senge says:

        Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures or images that influence how we understand the world and
         how we take action.

         The discipline of working with mental models starts with turning the mirror inward; learning to unearth our internal pictures of the world, to bring
         them to the surface and hold them rigorously to scrutiny. It also includes the ability to carry on "learningful" conversations that balance inquiry
         and advocacy, where people expose their own thinking effectively and make that thinking open to the influence of others.

    And, he explains shared vision:

        The practice of shared vision involves the skills of unearthing shared "pictures of the future" that foster genuine commitment and enrollment
         rather than compliance.

    This shared vision would be developed from "learninful" conversation in which we balance inquiry and advocacy  with all stakholders involved. Once the vision is agreed upon, it would be shared among all educators for information professionals, not youth service professionals alone, as well as with professionals in the field.

    With this vision clearly in mind, it could be articulated to others.

    This takes knowing clearly where we are and seeking answers to the questions above that remain in doubt. We would need to develop means to have up-to-date analyzed data annually rather than ever five years, and refuse to make assumptions or assertions without it. We would have to try to get at the root of the causes of the education/practice mismatch.

    Then we could take this information, our shared vision, and, assertively telling our story, go after what we need to reach the vision we have -- whether it be in education of in practice. For, in fact, there is no insurmountable barrier for us to "hunker down" behind. The wind is blowing in our favor.

    Here's why I'm suggesting that we discuss this need:

    These are exciting and challenging times (neither the best of times, nor the worse of times, but an era pregnant with opportunity). As I reviewed the support of the various foundations  -- they are seeking out youth service professionals -- and as I read about the community support for public libraries (even when they can't always figure out for what) and as I looked at the innovative programming occurring in public library services to youth, I thought of the tremendous possibilities that lie ahead. We are not working uphill in convincing others of our belief that youth are worthwhile and in need of our resources and services, or at least it appears we have to be. Technology, for which many youth have an affinity, has become our friend -- it probably never was our enemy. But now we can see it as an extremely important service to our young users -- working hand in hand with the rich and rewarding treasures of handheld books to provide an enriched life and learning experience through all kinds of literacies. We need to incorporate what is of value from those with deep interest in information technology-- not feel embattered by them.

    The American Library Association supports the dual vision of intellectual freedom and intellectual access. Our shared vision should grow out of both. We have heard strongly the need for services to youth from poorer backgrounds and who have little access to the information they need.

    TIme and again respondents said the people attracted to the field of youth services are "capable and motivated."  We attract the "raw talent" but just not enough of it.

    What my investigation has said to me is that we  need to set our sights high -- to envision more professionals in public libraries and many other information agencies around the land who are truly competent in the skills and knowledge it takes to work successfully with youth in a digital age and who are grounded in the principles of intellectual freedom and intellectual access -- the core of our professional values. We need to find the youth who need our expertise and partner with them in meeting their needs. We need to envision commitment and collaboration. We who are faculty need pledge to gain the skills that we need to educate these new professionals in whatever competencies they need today and tomorrow. We need to recommit ourselves to the end-user, bringing service into contact with all resources and connectivity to the world at large.

    One hundred years ago youth services professionals carried a vision forward that gave us the libraries that serve youth, the prominent place in the professional association, the literary awards, and the sensitivity to the needs of all youth in their diversity. Perhaps the answer to our shortage is the need to articulate in as loud a voice as we can this new 21st century vision of who the child is and what we, in partnership with many others, have to offer. We need to market our waves and help entering professionals understand the great challenges and opportunities.

    As Jane Anne Hannigan said in 1984 essay on library education, which is just as relevant today as it was then, (and I highly recommend reading it), "the process is one that library and information science educators must engage in as we move toward our own maturity with clarity of purpose and a wise perception of power." (23)

    Bottom Line (#4)

    We live in a time of great change and must continously, proactively, work with it. We know some things. Others we need to find out.

    We thing we do know for sure: the challenging opportunities in the current environment provide for moving toward our own maturity with clarity of purpose and a wise perception of power.

    Eliza T. Dresang,
    Associate Professor
    School of Information Stuidies
    Florida State University
    http://www.fsu.edu/~lis/faculty/dresang.html

    I acknowledge with gratitude the following  upon whose responses to my queries I based some of my analysis Joan Atkinson, Therese Bigelow, Carole Fiore, Beth Gallaway, Melissa Gross, Leslie Edmonds Holt, Barbara Immroth, Tim Mallory, Margaret Pavelka, Mary Seratt, Kay Vandergrift, Lisa Wemett, Virginia Walter, Audrey Wolter

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    Buttlar, Lois and Rosemary DuMont. "Library and Information Science Competencies Revisited." Journal of Education for Library and
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    East, Dennis and Errol Lam. "In Search of Multiculturalism in the Library Science Curriculum." Journal of Education for Library and Information
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