Information services

The class 9 readings questioned the common issues a Young Adult Librarian faces from day to day. The authors do not have definite solutions for these issues but promote the idea that the librarian should be flexible enough to adapt to the situation as it comes. I think that this is something that is done in every profession and since a public library is not a school we should cater to teens in a way that will make the library a favorable place for them. When I was reading the manual I began to think of what I would do in the situation of the problem posed. I would follow the policy of the library but I would like to think that the library would be liberal in serving the public.

Our profession as librarians is all about alleviating the conflict between the patrons and the library. We are not interested in losing popularity. Since we want to please everyone we are sometimes "stuck between a rock and a hard place." Parents can be difficult and administration can be skeptical. The most important issue that young adult librarians seem to face from administration is: why should we continue to support YA when our main measure of success is still circulation and YA has lower circulation than children's or adult materials? The circulation numbers may be lower for YA but it may be not. For example, if the budget for children's materials is $20,000 and they circulate 80,000 items; but if your budget is $5,000 and you circulate 30,000 items, then YA has the higher circulation-per-dollar ratio.