Creating a Tween Collection : A Practical Guide for Librarians

Creating a Tween Collection shows librarians how to evaluate their current juvenile and teen collections; meet all tween needs for recreation, education, and life skills; and carve out space, market, budget, and justify the need for a tween collection.

Specialized collections for tweens, or middle schoolers, are relatively new and becoming increasingly popular. This Practical Guide gives librarians everything they need to create such a collection. Beginning with a brief description of the early adolescent brain and developmental stages, and a history of youth and teen services in libraries, Creating a Tween Collection provides a solid foundation on which librarians can build support for such a collection. In addition, librarians will be given specific criteria for what constitutes “tween literature,” guidelines for forming parameters that will work for their community, and suggestions for using reviews and other sources in selecting appropriate materials and dealing with controversial titles. Finally, readers will learn how to re-allocate spaces and budgets, and how to market their new collection to patrons. This is a must-read for librarians who are looking to build a middle school collection in order to better serve their patrons.This book:oProvides rationale about the importance of a specialized Tween Collection.oGives specific examples for both fiction and nonfiction books, databases and websites.oProvides guidance for creating diverse collections and tips for dealing with possible challenges.oIncludes numerous case studies and booklists