Professional Resources

If you are interested in learning more about librarianship for children or young adults, these are some of the established organizations you will want to explore.

ALSC: Association for Library Service to Children (a division of the American Library Association)
http://www.ala.org/alsc/

YALSA: Young Adult Library Services Association (a division of the American Library Association)
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/

Depending on what state you are in, you may be able to join a statewide group of children's librarians through your state library organizations.

Do you want to more know about the daily ins and outs of librarianship? Subscribe to an email list! There are more email lists out there than your inbox can handle, so you may want to subscribe to several and find your favorites. ALA offers many specialized lists through a service located at http://lists.ala.org/sympa. In your region or state you can also find localized lists. These are great for keeping up with area workshops and events. One of the most popular is the Publib list. My personal favorite is The Cardigan- you can learn more about it here!

If you are going to be supervising other library staff, the Ask a Manager blog and is a great way to continually learn about a variety of management issues. You might also want to check out the Harvard Business Review's Management Tip of the Day email newsletter. While these are not library specific resources, their advice is applicable to most workplaces.  

These organizations and online resources are all useful, but if you seriously want to know more about the daily details of being a Children's Librarian, volunteer at your local library! Ask questions, help out, and then ask more questions. 

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