[OYAN] New Adult and YA collection questions

Sat Jul 23 13:05:13 PDT 2022

Hi Greta!

I'm at Corvallis Public Library and we do not have a dedicated New Adult section, though we do have distinct YA/Teen and adult spaces and collections on two different floors of our library. On the other end of YA, we've carved out just a small space for tweens with some ongoing displays of tween books, a small seating area, and a catalog computer.

In any case, I think we haven't created a New Adult space and/or collection because of space restrictions, and just not having a staff person to take on that initiative or focus on/specialize in that age demographic. I'd LOVE to someday have a New Adult Services focus somewhere in our library, especially as Corvallis is a university town and we have an abundance of new adults (18/19 to early 20's/traditional college age, in my mind).

I buy for all our YA collections, and work with our adult selectors when I get requests that could be older YA or New Adult. Some of the parameters I look for, as a YA selector, are:
- age of protagonist -- are they in college? out of college? Most of the time, college stories are going to go in adult and I would consider to be New Adult, with some notable exceptions, like Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and Check, Please! By Ngozi Ukazu.
- relationship status of the protagonist - if they're married, that's automatically adult or new adult
- is the protagonist in school at all, or are they working/starting a career? Most of the time, a protagonist who's not in school and working would fall into adult/new adult territory... again with some exceptions, like The Project by Courtney Summers.
- what is the focus, theme, subject matter, and general "feel" of the story? I'm not sure how to describe it, but often there's a difference in how a YA or teen book feels or is described when compared to a new adult and/or adult book.

I think this ties into appeal and publisher's/reviewer's recommended ages, too. Can I see a teen being interested in this book? What age range does the publisher recommend? YA is tricky because it overlaps on one end with kids' lit and on the other with adult lit. On the adult lit crossover, sometimes teens want a glimpse of what their futures might look like with college, etc. The teen books about college tend to be about the summer leading up to college, or are about recent high school graduates, rather than older college students and/or new college grads, which would fall more under new adult.

Apologies if this seems rambling and vague! I'm very excited about new adult services and eager to chat about them! I'm curious to see what other library folks have to say about this topic!!

Ultimately, the most important thing is that books are available for a wide range of teen and adult audiences, and that folks can find what they're looking for at your library. There are benefits to breaking things out into different physical spaces (easier to figure out "your section"), and drawbacks (more places to look for things). Making findability tools, like booklists, reader's guides, shelf-talkers, booktalk videos, displays, etc can really help users find new adult materials, no matter where you catalog and shelve them :)

Thanks, Greta!
Kristy

Kristy Kemper Hodge (she/her/hers)
CBCPL Teen Services Librarian
Kristy.kemperhodge at corvallisoregon.gov
541-766-6707
Schedule: Tuesday - Saturday

Corvallis-Benton County Public Library
645 NW Monroe Ave
Corvallis, Oregon 97330
Enrich | Excite | Explore

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Today's Topics:

   1. New Adult and YA collection questions (BERGQUIST Greta E * SLO)
   2. Friday,  July 22nd Shoutout (BERGQUIST Greta E * SLO)

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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2022 21:18:31 +0000
From: BERGQUIST Greta E * SLO <Greta.BERGQUIST at slo.oregon.gov>
To: OYAN Listserv <oyan at omls.oregon.gov>
Subject: [OYAN] New Adult and YA collection questions
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Hi all,

I've gotten a couple questions from small libraries about New Adult and YA, and the differences between YA, New Adult, and Adult. I wondered if any of you are pulling out New Adult as a separate section and if so, what made you decide to take this approach? Or not to, as the case may be? Any ideas you have to share would be really helpful. Thanks!

Best,
Greta

Greta Bergquist, MLIS, MAT (she/her/hers) Youth Services Consultant State Library of Oregon greta.bergquist at slo.oregon.gov<mailto:greta.bergquist at slo.oregon.gov>  | 971-375-3549 www.oregon.gov/library<http://www.oregon.gov/library>
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Coronavirus Info: https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/coronavirus

[Title: State Library of Oregon]

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Message: 2
Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2022 01:01:22 +0000
From: BERGQUIST Greta E * SLO <Greta.BERGQUIST at slo.oregon.gov>
To: "r2r-or at omls.oregon.gov" <r2r-or at omls.oregon.gov>, OYAN Listserv
        <oyan at omls.oregon.gov>, "kids-lib at omls.oregon.gov"
        <kids-lib at omls.oregon.gov>, "or-srp at omls.oregon.gov"
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Cc: OTTUM Tamara K * SLO <Tamara.OTTUM at slo.oregon.gov>
Subject: [OYAN] Friday,  July 22nd Shoutout
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        <CO6PR09MB731927C952159880AD4F9877D9939 at CO6PR09MB7319.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

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Hello all,

This summer we have 19 teen interns in libraries across Oregon funded through ARPA and LSTA funding. I met virtually with teen interns this week to learn about their experience. They are overall a thoughtful, hardworking, fun group. They are each doing individualized projects for their libraries -  grant writing, pop-up STEAM stations, community market outreach, mental health resources, 3-D printing camps, a community book review project, and more! Every single teen talked about how much they enjoy working with their library staff. Here's a few things I heard from teen interns this week:

  *   "Everyone here is so nice and kind, I love working here." (Driftwood)
  *   "I didn't know libraries did so much stuff for the community!" (Tigard)
  *   "I like interacting with our old people. I probably shouldn't say old people, is there a different word? They are really interesting." (Athena)
  *   "I love everything about this job, it helps me learn how to talk to different people and to kids, I didn't know how to talk to kids before." (Dallas)
  *   "I wish our community knew more about all the hard work we are doing behind the scenes for programs to happen." (Willamina)

I know not all of you have interns but I also know you are like many of the library staff they described - doing so much for your communities. It's been a rough week in some parts, especially around intellectual freedom, and there are some really tough things happening around the state. But there's also so much good. I hope you can take a little of that good stuff into the weekend with you. Thanks for all you're doing.

Best,
Greta

Greta Bergquist, MLIS, MAT (she/her/hers) Youth Services Consultant State Library of Oregon greta.bergquist at slo.oregon.gov<mailto:greta.bergquist at slo.oregon.gov>  | 971-375-3549 www.oregon.gov/library<http://www.oregon.gov/library>
Follow us: Facebook<http://fb.me/StateLibraryOR> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/StateLibraryOR> | Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/statelibraryor/> | Pinterest<https://pinterest.com/statelibraryor/> | YouTube<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-kU8Gu0jS_YcnXg-b_TRA/featured>
Coronavirus Info: https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/coronavirus

[Title: State Library of Oregon]

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