Is there a need for distinct tween materials, sections, services, statistics?

ALA defines Young Adults (i.e. teens) as ages 12-18. While tween was termed by corporations for marketing to the under 12, I've had parents pushing for non-Juvenile based books, movies, programming, etc for their (in their eyes) no longer juvenile but not yet teenaged child.

Should tween materials, space & services be labeled as such & separated from Juvenile or YA? If so, where should the distinction be drawn, especially with regards to materials (e.g. Harry Potter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid). If not, how do you satisfy the needs of older children (8-12 depending on the kid) who seem to have outgrown Juv materials & programs but might not be ready (intellectually or emotionally) to mix with the older crowd?

Fisher

• youth-services

Comments

• Mary Jo Finch: We are really struggling with this at our library. We have two branches and a floating collection. One library fills up with high schoolers every day, and the other with middle schoolers. Both groups hang out in the YA section, but the material needs are significantly different. We don't have space to do tween sections at each branch, so currently our YA collection leans young, which isn't cool for the high schoolers.

Answer by andrea

there is most definitely a need for all of the above. what i've seen most implemented is tween materials and some services.

there's a need for more tween statistics. with statistics, one can then make the case for tween spaces, which would be wonderful as too often, the eleven year olds don't want to be in the 'baby' section but don't feel comfortable in the teen section (or else fill it up, causing the true teens to go elsewhere) and so end p wandering around usually the non-fiction shelves.. or that's my experience at least.

in terms of where the distinction should be made, i think that largely depends on the community, and as such would be need to be made at the local level.

Comments

• 1. Alan Thomas II: I agree in principle, and indeed my library has done just this (while still keeping tweens with Youth Services and high schoolers with Adult Services). However, we must be careful that we do not allow more fine-grained subdivisions to develop into a de facto ratings/censorship system (saying that this or that is too old for the some age group); rather, it needs to be a difference in terms of social spaces so that they have somewhere they feel comfortable hanging out. Fortunately, the latter seems to be what's on the answerers' minds here.
• andrea: yes, in my mind it's more important to provide tween services, or any age-specific services for that matter, in terms of space and programming. content, i.e. books, magazines, etc, should be decided by the users themselves, not the librarians.

Answer by KatieR

There is a need to think of Juvenile fiction as "Tween" and to make this into as distinct a section as Young Adult has become -- at one point YA was mixed in with Juvenile and Adult.

To me, most of what is in a juvenile fiction collection really is for the tween age group. I don't really think there is a need to go through the process of gathering statistics to justify this but rather we need to retool our thinking. Instead of calling it "the chapter book" section, call it the "tween section" and approach it like you were going to make a teen space (comfortable chairs, an area to sit and talk with friends, etc.).

We retooled our juvenile fiction section into the "Tween Cove" but rearranging some shelving to create more of a space and less of aisles of shelving and added a few chairs. We've seen our juvenile fiction circulation rise and they aren't chomping at the bit quite as much to get into "The Cave" (our teen area).

Comments

• MariBar: While this makes a lot of sense -- too much subdivision can be counterproductive -- my library wouldn't work well as a complete re-brand because our Juvenile collection serves enthusiastic 7-9 year-olds who really don't need tween transition. That said, I think all of the users of our Juvenile area would love the "Tween Cove" you've created.
• KatieR: Thank you. :) Every library is different and needs to look at its own patron base before making any big changes. We saw this need and have successfully addressed it. Hopefully it helps out someone else struggling with a tween community. Creating a "space", no matter what area you are targeting, really helps highlight & increase traffic to an area.
• andrea: at my old library, there were many six and seven year olds reading chapter books and those are not what usually referred to as tweens, so a tween space there would not have worked for us. it depends a lot on the community, i'm thinking. we had a series section where a tween space would have worked if we'd had the space and budget to create one as *many* of those books were more tween-oriented, but there are so many exceptions, i think it's better to have age-specific spaces fairly separate, if possible, from the regular shelving so as not to alienate or cut off any potential readers.