This short book is a joy to read; at once both current and topical, but also innovative and a driving call to action. Co-authors Haines & Campbell have also collaborated on the 2015 ALSC white paper ‘Media Mentorship in Libraries Serving Youth’ and are well qualified to write on this topic.
They argue that a shift to media mentoring is a natural progression from what children and youth librarians have done forever, matching the right content in the right context to the right child (with awareness of culture relevancy), but offering that help and expertise in a variety of new media. The time has come for librarians (particularly youth and children librarians, but all librarians) to embrace digital apps and tools, and to use their expert curation skills to locate the best resources and match these with library customers. Their emphasis on replacing the overarching term ‘screen time’ with a more nuanced discussion on Lisa Guernsey’s ‘three C’s model’ (content, context and the child) enables parents and caregivers to make more informed decisions about using technology for learning and entertainment.
The book is divided into two main parts; Chapters 1–7 offer the theoretical underpinnings of media mentorship interspersed with lively ‘Voices from the Field’ – contributions from librarians, researchers, educators and other experts. Each chapter ends with a short list of recommended resources and a reference list. Part II of the book has 12 brief case studies that illustrate the three different types of media mentorship (media advisory in the library, programming and access to curated media) discussed in Chapter 7. There are a number of appendices, including two relevant white papers from ALSC (Media Mentoring in Libraries Serving Youth, and The Importance of Diversity in Programs and Collections for Children), and a rubric for evaluating apps and new media for children (11 elements for story and toy apps, 11 elements for just high-quality story telling apps, and 11 elements for just high-quality toy apps content).
This resource is aimed at youth services staff (dealing with children from ages 0 to 14), but many of the conclusions and discussions are relevant for wider library staff – particularly when other members of a family are affected in the context of a query for a child. Perhaps all librarians should be ‘media mentors’ and become more familiar and comfortable with different media tools to help others navigate the ‘digital Wild West’.
Counties Manukau Health Library
© 2016 Abigail Joy Tarbotton
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00049670.2016.1250322