Public Library Youth Services Observation & Interview Assignment

Public Youth Services Observation & Interview Assignment

            I chose to observe at the Hoover Public Library.  Although I work there, I’ve never worked in the children’s or teens department.  I observed over the weekend, knowing that it is one of the busiest days for the library and would give me a better understanding of how youth and teen librarians work under pressure and how they interact with their patrons, whether a youth, young adult, or parent.

            As you enter the library, you immediately see the circulation desk and three open areas across from it: the adult movie area, computers in the fiction department, and the main hallway.  Not until you step in the hallway do you see signs that point to children’s, teens, fiction, nonfiction, and the plaza area. The signage does need to be more appealing.  All of the signage font for the departments is the same usually has patrons and children asking where the departments are anyway (because the signage is on the top of the hallway.  They usually do not notice where the departments are until they reach the middle of the hallway where there are colorful signs indicating the children’s area and the teens area.

            I noticed that most children, after entering the hallway, know exactly where to run to end up in the children’s department.  That doesn’t mean, however, that they know where they’re going.  Any child under the age of 5 or even 6 can locate the area unaided and be able to find their way around.

            The wonderful part about the children’s department is that the children’s department takes up the entire left side of the library until the hallways curves.  There are signs in the middle of the hallway to indicate the children’s and teens area.  The children’s department signage says “Kids Zone” on an archway into the children’s area and the teens area has a large neon blue sign that says Teens hanging above the teen desk.  The teen area is across from the children’s department and also continues down the hallway to the right.  Each department is decorated in a different fashion than the rest of the library, with places for children to sit, smaller desks with computers, lower shelves, bean bags, and an enclosed preschool room for smaller children to run around and play their own games and choose books appropriate for them.  The teen area is also decorated differently and has booths and large tables for teens to sit in.  If a youth or young adult walked out of either of these areas, they’d know they were no longer in Kansas anymore. 

The furnishings in the children’s and teen’s department are targeted towards each group.  Like previously stated, the children’s department has a preschool room that has glass windows so that parents can view their children from in or outside of the room.  The children’s department created a game of finding the room where their programs are by putting stars on the floor which lead to the programming room.  That way, when parents and children need to know where to go, the phrase “Follow the Stars” is an easy for everyone to remember and causes quite the excitement when children see the stars and know where to go.  There are small tables, plenty of board games, books for all ages, shorter computer areas, smaller restroom areas, and the staff are always walking around to help patrons.  I believe that these furnishings help create a friendly environment that make children happy when they seem them.  When children learn how things work in the library and have been there several times, they know where they can go, they know where items are, and they know where to go to find their favorite things in the library.

As soon as you enter the children’s and teens area, the area is inviting. There are bright colors, fun and innovative seating with bean bags and tables (and a coffee shop to be able to eat and drink at the tables), posters of the hottest new books in the teen desk and various displays in the youth department of popular books or popular events.

             Upon entering the youth and teen departments, I realized that there are period of time when no one is at the desks, either because they are helping another patron for a long period of time or because they are having to assist with programs.  This indicates that the library’s youth and teen departments are popular and that staff is welcoming and assist youth and teens to find the perfect book for them.  I also realized that most of the staff had youth or teen regulars.  Some staff are more popular than others, but youths and their parents would come up to the desk and ask for certain librarians because that librarian had found materials they enjoyed or simply to stop by and chat with each other. Many of the regular youth and young adults knew the librarians by name and would joke with them.  This leads me to think that some of these youth and young adults might be volunteers or work on a readers advisory team at the library.

            The fiction section of the children’s area has short shelves that are easily accessible to reach for youth and adults.  The nonfiction section of the children’s area is tall and would require an adult to reach some of the material.  The library does have a short stool that children can use to reach books on the upper level, but it’s not the safest route.  There is an area for preschool age children that have very short shelves that include children’s books.  The room is in an L shape.  The longer part of the room has all of the short shelves containing picture books that all ages can reach; the other part of the room has computers along the wall, several chairs, bean bags, toys, and plush carpeting.  There is a desk in between the two areas so that staff can assist if there is a lost child in the area or if someone needs help finding something.  The shelves do not have any rounded edges or protection areas.  The floor is carpeted to prevent children from hurting themselves if they fall.  The layout, because the space is so large, is organized in a good way, but can be confusing to a child.  There is a preschool room, a program room that is tucked away, and a large space where there are computers and desks and tables and shelving.  Therefore, for the youth that use the space, it can be confusing.  For adults, it’s confusing as well.  It is easy to locate the catalog because all of the library computers have the catalog on them.  It’s difficult to find specific types of books without asking for assistance from staff.  Again, it’s fantastic that they have a large space and a large collection, but for someone who hasn’t entered the library, trying to find something is daunting.  Even to find the bathroom or water fountain, you have to have been to a program to have seen the hidden bathrooms.  The one good part of both the children and teen departments is that a helpful librarian is visible almost anywhere you are; there are desks upon entering each area of the library.

            The internet throughout the library is filtered and it’s no different in the children’s department.  In fact, the computers in the preschool room are limited to materials for very young adults.  There are computers throughout the space and youth and young adults are able to use the computers to search anything as long as it’s allowed through the filter.  There is a rule that adults may use the library computers in the children’s and teen area, but if there is a child or teen who needs, the adult must give up the computer.

            There is adequate light throughout the library, but very little soundproofing except in the program room, which is kept tucked away from the main part of the library; you have to follow the stars to get there.  There is no soundproofing in the teen area either.  However, the shelving in that area is a large square space where tables and chairs are set apart from the computers.  This setup helps diffuse noise between those working on the computer on a project and those who are there to meet their friends.

            A young person would have to be at least 5-6 years old to navigate the department with minimal adult assistance.  However, the library has a rule that all children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.  If I were a youth in a wheelchair, it would be hard to navigate the department.