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Monday, April 10, 2017

Week 13 Prompt -- Tardy to the Party

So sorry that I'm late on this, but I did some traveling and couldn't get around to it until now. Thanks Mercury Retrograde. :)

As a young adult librarian, the very thought of people not thinking that YA or New Adult literature as legitimate literary choices hurts my heart. I can tell you that from my (limited) experience, that adults do check out materials from my section and often. Sometimes it's not about the subject matter, sometimes it's genuinely about the reading/comprehension level. I work in a rural community and sometimes the adults that come in aren't interested in adult fiction because it's just too difficult for them to get through. I read to escape and if there's some sort of barrier to that, then I won't do it. I think Young Adult literature can help reluctant readers and readers who struggle with reading and comprehension at an adult level stay engaged in the act of reading. Isn't that what we're all in this for? If people are reading then as a librarian, I'm a happy camper.

One issue that may possibly come up (and sadly in this world, you have to plan for this kind of stuff) is having adults in your teen section. The way our library handles this is that my teen section is the front area of the upstairs stacks closest to the stairs, public areas, info desk and my teen room. It's easy for eyes to watch those stacks, moreso than the adult non-fiction towards the rear of the 2nd floor. I also have two large display areas close to the stairs, so as adults get to the second floor, there are enticing areas for them to check out YA materials without having to get further into the stacks. I also keep a permanent new graphic novels display out since patrons of all ages love to read them. A lot of patrons just read them in the library and then put them back on the display.

It is my personal belief that whatever gets a person reading is a good choice. If it's a YA novel or a graphic novel, those choices are just as valid. It doesn't make sense to me to discourage a patron from reading anything, even a magazine. Reading is acquiring knowledge, learning about new views and opinions, and having experiences you may not otherwise have. I'm not going to rule out an entire genre or format just because some people may think it's inappropriate. If it's inappropriate to read a ton of YA and graphic novels -- then I don't want to be appropriate. That's also, funnily enough, the reason why I was hired for my job as a teen librarian. I'm proof that it can and will work out for you if you prefer comics/graphic novels. Ha!

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