September 22, 2008

Susan Vittitow, WY

Something to throw out there for consideration. Just got off a conference call with my local libraries where we went over this year's changes, etc.

The official definition of Children is age 14 and under, while Young Adult is ages 15-17. I know of very few -- if any -- libraries who make their YA distinction at age 15. I've seen it more commonly split between children's & YA between 6th and 7th grade.

Anyone else run across this?

Edythe Huffman, IN

Yes, I have, so I took the age off the definition.  Made my people happy, may skew the numbers but they probably weren't right to begin with. I fight too many battles anyway, so I threw in the towel on this one.

Ira Bray, CA

In California we are using the ALA YALSA definition of young adult, 12-18.

Hhttp://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/aboutyalsab/yalsafactsheet.cfmH

There is an overlap in target age with children, but the programs are classified by targeted group, not the age of attendees so it does not present a problem.

We've had good response to this first year of collecting YA program counts.

Thomas Ladd, NH

As usual, Ira make a good point - a YA program is defined by who we aim it at. 

New Hampshire has collected Children's/YA/Adult programs and total attendance in each category for several years.  While generally stating that ""children" are to be considered persons 14 years or younger.", the YA questions are defined as:

"Total Number of Young Adult Programs in Year.  "Young adult" is an age defined by your library.  "Program" is as defined for children's programs in the previous question.  If a program is for children and young adults together, count it in children's programs. DO NOT count joint programs as two programs.  If you do not count young adult programs separately from children's programs, enter n/a."

"  Young Adult Program Attendance.  The count of the audience at all programs for which the primary audience is young adults.  "Young adult" is an age defined by your library.  If a program is for children and young adults together, or you do not differentiate, count the attendance at each program ONLY ONCE, in Children's Program Attendance."

For us, at least, it has worked.

In answer to Susan's original question, I asked our NHSL Youth Services Coordinator, Ann Howy, who commented:

"You've hit on one of the big topics of the YA library world!  I would say that every library defines YA differently, but that most would think of it as ages 13 and up (up to what, I'm not sure.)  Many libraries in NH have "younger YA" collections as they often lose the older teens to other school districts or to adult reading.  I've seen many YA collections geared to kids starting in grades 6 and going through grades8 or 9.  The publication VOYA recognizes this wide age range by rating its reviews M, J or S--( M grades 6-8, J grades 7-9 and S grades 10-12.)"

I think I see now why we decided to leave the definition of a "YA" up to the individual library!

Bruce Pomerantz, MN

For what it's worth, when infrequently asked, Minnesota instructs libraries to enter YA in the Adult numbers that we collect (programs and attendance). No one has objected or promoted the need for a separate YA count.

Whether the lack of questions means there are few YA efforts or that libraries are entering the data in the children's category because they don't read the definitions is another issue.