Explains how libraries and communities can work together to strike a true partnership with the young adults in their community to develop services for teens that are both collaborative and outcome-driven.

Assuming that the environment in which young adults function is becoming more threatening, this work reviews those library services which it sees as most pivotal to teenagers' wellbeing. It covers reference material, advisory services, outreach material, youth participation and more.

Finally, a single volume that comprehensively introduces and addresses the most pressing issues and opportunities in young adult (teen) library services. Perpetually in the shadow of service to children, and historically riven by fractious relationships between public and school libraries, young adult services continue to suffer inadequacies and inequities of all kinds. Consequently, this area of specialization remains without the capacity to build the institutional, political, cultural, or professional influence needed to grow and develop beyond ritual and repetition. Young Adult Services: Challenges and Opportunities (COYAS) begins to address these inequities by preparing professionals. In COYAS, LIS youth services instructors, especially those in the United States and Canada, will find a single, broad, and diverse engagement with scholars and acknowledged experts on the most pressing issues confronting YA services today. Students at both graduate and undergraduate levels will benefit from the field-tested topics delivered through accessible treatments. Practicing YA (and youth) librarians will appreciate the support and evidence-based analysis they likely found lacking in their MLIS programs. Earnest youth advocates will value the pursuit of issues beyond cliché and perpetual “crash course” entry-level conversations. In addition, instructors and students will both value the brevity of concisely focused chapters, sectional introductions, as well as the study guide questions that conclude each chapter. Content areas include history and critical engagement with foundational concepts in YA services, current practices regarding challenges and opportunities, as well as forward leaning issues for future development of the field. COYAS will ultimately empower librarians in delivering professional-grade information services to improve the quality of young people’s experience in this important cultural institution.

As high school enrollment continues to rise, the need for effective librarianship serving young adults is greater than ever before. "Young Adults Deserve the Best: Competencies for Librarians Serving Youth,” developed by Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), is a document outlining areas of focus for providing quality library service in collaboration with teenagers. In this book, Sarah Flowers identifies and expands on these competency areas. This useful work includes Anecdotes and success stories from the field Guidelines which can be used to create evaluation instruments, determine staffing needs, and develop job descriptions Additional professional resources following each chapter that will help librarians turn theory into practiceThe first book to thoroughly expand on this important document, Young Adults Deserve the Best is a key foundational tool not only for librarians but also for young adult specialists, youth advocacy professionals, and school administrators.