YALSA blog: an interview with Sarah Flowers, author of YOUNG ADULTS DESERVE THE BEST

October 26, 2010

YALSA has a list of competencies for librarians serving young adults and when I first read it, I was kind of terrified. The list is long! And it touches on so many different skills! I was worried that I didn’t have–and wouldn’t ever have–all of the qualities and abilities that I’d need to do a good job of serving teen in the library.

But Sarah Flowers, the president-elect of YALSA, recently wrote Young Adults Deserve the Best: YALSA’s Competencies in Action, which expands on the competencies and talks about what kinds of specific things a librarian can do to develop or demonstrate those competencies. Reading the book made the list seem a lot less scary, the competencies a lot more practically achievable–and even more reassuring was her repeated statement that the competencies aren’t so much a list of qualities those in entry-level positions should have so much as a vision for YA services that librarians grow into throughout their careers. It’s okay that you can’t check off everything on that list: through on-the-job experience, professional development, and what you learn through networking, you can develop your skills over time. I still feel like I have a long way to go before I feel strong in all of the competency areas, but I do feel more confident in how to get there.

Sarah was kind enough to let me interview her about the book and YALSA’s competencies for the YALSA blog. She goes into more detail about her motivation in writing the book, her view of the competencies, and overcoming hurdles in providing great teen services at the library.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Tags: interviews, professional development, readings, sarah flowers, teen services, yalsa blog, yalsa competencies