The YA Librarians' Manifesto

The YA Librarians’ Manifesto

We, the young adult librarians of Queens Library, state the following:

We believe that
• teens are beings of unlimited potential;
• teens are the keystone in a bridge of continuous library services at all stages of life; teens are our former child and our future adult customers, a vital link that must not be lost or broken;
• continual conversation with and input from our teens is essential to creating and maintaining relevant and flourishing library services for them;
• the programs and services we offer provide creative, educational, and experiential opportunities for teens unavailable elsewhere;
• teens should have separate spaces in our libraries, with dynamic materials collections that meet the wide range of their needs;
• high-quality library materials and programs for teens will keep them using the library into adulthood and that budgets for these services should reflect this.

We are
• experts on literature and information resources for teens;
• caring, supportive adults in our teens’ lives;
• resources for free information to help teens make the most of their lives;
• passionate advocates for our teens and for our libraries.

draft: September 30, 2008.
final version: October 16, 2008