All public library staffers must work with children and teens at some point. But for those who are newer to the profession, it can feel daunting, because youth services aren’t required courses in library school. These six books touch on the vital aspects of working with young people, including building community engagement, creating learning environments, and planning storytimes and easy crafts. They also offer examples of how to support children in challenging situations.
Using Literature to Support Children’s Mental Health
Edited by Kim Becnel and Robin A. Moeller
There has been a huge increase in young people reporting symptoms of depression and anxiety in the past two decades, and this collection of essays supports librarians who want to do something to help. It prescribes selection criteria, book recommendations, and discussion questions that align with potential mental health concerns in youth, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, grief, climate fears, and effects of racism. It also explores concepts such as bibliotherapy, which uses reading and storytelling as a part of healing. This title is a good primer for library workers who are still learning how to provide readers’ advisory to children and teens.
ALA Editions, 2025. 152 p. $49.99. PBK. 979-8-8925-5576-0.
Wonder Libraries: 20 Expert Perspectives on What Kids Need Now
Edited by Elizabeth M. McChesney
In the preface, McChesney explains that “childhood is more than a stage a person moves through; it is a magical and fleeting period in human development to be protected and stewarded as a time of awe, wonder, learning, and risk-taking, and as the foundation for radically loving one another.” Teachers, pediatricians, psychologists, and other experts give examples of how librarians can provide community engagement outside the library as well as inside, such as by creating children’s reading nooks within laundromats and leading storytimes in pediatric clinics. Each chapter ends with practical steps for library workers.
ALA Editions, 2024. 144 p. $49.99. PBK. 979-8-8925-5580-7.
The Playful Library: Building Environments for Learning and Creativity
By Megan Lotts
More libraries are grasping the significance of engaging children through playtime. Our first way of connecting with babies is through silly behaviors such as making noises and wild gestures, and the benefits of games do not go away simply because a child grows up. In Lotts’s reflective text, she defines play and how it benefits the library by fostering originality and connection, as well as engaging and exciting people of all ages. She uses examples from her work as an academic librarian at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, such as creating library zines and promoting the library through a show-and-tell activity. The book is a wonderful starting point to get library staffers thinking creatively.
ALA Editions, 2024. 136 p. $54.99. PBK. 979-8-8925-5571-5.
Let’s Talk about Race in Storytimes
By Jessica Anne Bratt
Speaking about race during children’s programming can feel overwhelming, but it is crucial. In addition to book recommendations and sample scripts for developing antiracist storytimes, Bratt offers support for library staffers seeking to nurture children in appreciating diversity and identity, explaining bias, and examining author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s concept of “the danger of a single story.” The section on how to be a “co-conspirator” in antiracism efforts is especially impactful, reminding readers that true allies take on this task to lessen the work done by people of color. Although this title focuses exclusively on Black literature, its techniques can be applied to incorporate the stories and perspectives of all people of color.
ALA Editions, 2022. 112 p. $49.99. PBK. 978-0-8389-3789-1.
Move, Play, Learn: Interactive Storytimes with Music, Movement, and More
By Alyssa Jewell
For those planning infant or children’s storytimes for the first time, the guidance in Move, Play, Learn ensures that programs are interactive enough to keep the attention of children and parents. The book has all sorts of helpful features, such as 20 ready-to-use storytime plans, YouTube suggestions, song and book lists, and interviews with storytime professionals. I wish this book had existed in my early years as a children’s librarian; it contains all the information that took me years to learn through training and trial and error.
ALA Editions, 2019. 144 p. $47.99. PBK. 978-0-8389-1912-5.
Recycle and Play: Awesome DIY Zero-Waste Projects to Make for Kids
By Agnes Hsu
DIY projects that recycle everyday materials are essential because public libraries usually have limited budgets for programming. This trove of craft projects for kids features 50 learning activities, all of them using recycled materials like paper tubes and cardboard. Aimed adults who work with ages 3–6, the book includes easy projects like ice cream stamp art and more in-depth options like an egg carton alligator that eats letters of the alphabet. Hsu’s templates provide short, clear directions and large, bright photos, along with information on the types of learning they support. Hsu also makes suggestions for adapting these activities for older kids.
Quarry Books, 2022. 136 p. $24.99. PBK. 978-0-7603-7318-7. (Also available as an ebook.)
