High Quality Youth Library Work

Finnish path toward national

Youth Library Quality Recommendation

IFLA Satellite Conference ”15-20 -year olds reading. What? When? How?

National Quality Recommendation for Finnish public libraries

The document sets the guidelines for standards of ● Administrator's service commitment for library services● Library facilities ● Collections● Services and their use● Human resources and competence

http://www.minedu.fi/export/sites/default/OPM/Julkaisut/2011/liitteet/OKM35.pdf?lang=en

National Quality Recommendation concerning

(children and) youth, eg.● Library services have been made attractive through

cooperation with day-care centres and schools.● Most school children are library users. Instructions in

library use and information management are a part of municipal curriculum.

● The opinions of children and young people are taken into consideration. Separate user surveys are drawn up for children and young people

National Quality Recommendation concerning

(children and) youth, eg.

● Services for young people have been developed in cooperation with youth work services and young people themselves.

● The special needs of youth have been taken into consideration in the design and equipment of facilities, as well as in service provision.

● Not enough, too abstract and insufficient. ● Next step could be a similar recommendation on Youth

Library work.● A thesis by Greta Hansén-Haug (2013), with the support

of Finnish Library Association and its Youth Library workgroup.

● In addition to speaking out the need of a national quality recommendation, Hansén-Haug created a Finnish framework for evaluating and assessing the quality.

Evaluation framework

● Based on

– YALSA Teen Services Evaluation Tool– IFLA Guidelines for Library Sevices for Young Adults– Other international recommendations and frameworks

● Modified for Finnish society, legislation and library system

– School library network is not very extensive, public libraries serve also as school libraries

– Lack of strong tradition on publications/studies concerning youth library work

Categories of framework

● Planning and evaluating

● Resources

● Involvement and cooperation

● Staff attitudes

● Development of staff professional knowledge

Categories of framework

● The knowledge of target group needs

● The knowledge of materials

● Collections

● Other services

● Marketing of services

Evaluation scale

Distinguished Proficient Basic Below basic

Example: Involvement and co-operation ->

Youth participation on planning and carrying out the services

Distinguished

The library has an ongoing evaluating committee/team of young clients. They have a significant role on planning and carrying out the services concerning themselves. The opininions of young clients are regularly asked using different methods and medias.

Proficient

The opininions of young clients are regularly asked using different methods of customer satisfactory questionnaires.

Example: Category involvement and co-operation -> Youth participation on planning and carrying

out the services

Basic

Young clients have a possibility to leave feedback, opinions and comments using either a paper or online feedback form.

Below basic

Young clients do not have a way of expressing their opinions about library services.

Uses of evaluation framework● Internal self-assesment in libraries● Legitimation on youth library advocacy● Part of evaluation process

(personal, organizational, regional, national)

The beginning of the path

toward national quality

recommendation?