Change is needed, but so too are values

In “Radical Change”, Margaret Tice argues that one of the traditional leadership positions in children’s services—the children’s coordinator in a public library system—is under attack.

A good coordinator does a whole lot more than order up some professional development courses. She helps shape the library’s strategic direction, manages and grows excellent library services for children, and collaborates with a range of local partners, stakeholders, and funders. I’ve always thought that the Toronto Public Library got it right when it gave this position the title “children and youth advocate.”

But are these jobs really in decline? At this point, it’s hard to say. Tice has collected some “anecdata,” based on personal knowledge and responses to queries on Listservs that demonstrate that yes, some of these positions have been eliminated while others are just sitting vacant. “The State of Youth Services in Public Libraries,” SLJ’s research study that’s scheduled for later this year, will delve more conclusively into whether these jobs are going the way of the dinosaurs—and explore the impact of such changes on libraries and the kids they serve.

In the meantime, it’s clear that some library systems are operating without this type of leadership, and Tice makes some useful recommendations on how to fill the gap. My hunch is that she’s on to something, although I bet the situation is complex, with a lot of differing, local responses. Maybe declining funding explains why many public library positions are left unfilled these days—and it’s not that youth services is being uniquely targeted.

Despite the weak economy, libraries are already creating new service models—and new ways to manage them. An array of forces is challenging public libraries today: most information needs can be easily resolved through the Internet; ebook readership is growing exponentially; parents are either unemployed—and demanding more from the library—or working three jobs with no time for the library; families, more than ever, look to the library as an after-school center; users of all ages are so engaged with media that books are increasingly marginalized; and local school districts have either downsized school librarians or laid them off entirely, expecting the public library to fill their role. And that’s not the half of it.

If your local public library isn’t reinventing itself in response to these pressures, there’s a good chance it’s headed for trouble.

Children’s librarians need to help lead these discussions on the future of the public library, with the understanding that it won’t be business as usual. Much of what we’ve known, and taken for granted—including coordinator positions—will be under increasing scrutiny.

But no matter what form future public libraries take, it’s critical that children’s librarians retain the most important aspect of their work. And one of the clearest distillations of the profession’s value was developed by one of its great matriarchs, Anne Carroll Moore, and discussed in these pages—exactly 12 years ago—by Julie Cummins (see “Moore Than Meets the Eye,” July 1999).

Called the “Four Respects,” they include respect for children (and their information needs and reading interests). Respect for children’s books (today, it would include all media). Respect for fellow workers (with the understanding that excellent service to children involves the whole library). And respect for the professional standing of children’s librarians (acknowledging the unique value of their training and ongoing development).

Sometimes to move forward, it helps to look backward.

Brian Kenney
Editor-in-Chief
bkenney@mediasourceinc.com