What does a youth services librarian do?
Youth services librarians are people who plan and conduct the library's programs and services for children. The librarians execute their tasks under the supervision of a library director. They communicate with teachers, parents, homeschoolers, and community members for library service improvement. Their job includes assisting library patrons in search of the necessary material in answering reference questions and offering reader advisory. Also, they uphold patrons' confidentiality rights and their records.
Youth services librarian responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real youth services librarian resumes:
- Manage integrated library system including OPAC, serials control, cataloging and acquisitions.
- Cataloge books using OCLC database.
- Cataloge printed and non-print materials with OCLC.
- Reorganize the entire children's picture book and fiction collections.
- Develop, organize, cataloge and maintain library's serials collection.
- Order and catalogue children's picture books, videos, DVDs, and parenting collections or other materials as needed.
- Manage and maintain inventory of NAVAIR technical documentation.
Youth services librarian skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Youth Services Librarians are proficient in Social Work, Mental Health, and Community Outreach. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Initiative, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Youth Services Librarians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 19%
Demonstrate professional practices in social work community organizing, using course of study provided by Hunter College Social Work curriculum.
- Mental Health, 16%
Supervised and conducted psychological research in personality development, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental health disorders.
- Community Outreach, 7%
Provide community outreach to market and recruit both new providers and potential referrals to services.
- Library Services, 6%
Visit schools, neighborhood organizations, community meetings and participate in community affairs to promote library services, collections and programs.
- Collection Development, 5%
Manage youth services programming and collection development budgets.
- Library Materials, 4%
Shelve Library Materials, Manage Volunteers
Most youth services librarians use their skills in "social work," "mental health," and "community outreach" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential youth services librarian responsibilities here:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a youth services librarian to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "librarians need to be able to explain ideas and information in ways that patrons understand." Additionally, a youth services librarian resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "sharpen customer service and communication skills by providing directions to patrons, and by demonstrating library software. "
Initiative. Many youth services librarian duties rely on initiative. "new information, technology, and resources constantly change the details of what librarians do," so a youth services librarian will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways youth services librarian responsibilities rely on initiative: "created and edited profiles of gmu faculty and their research projects as part of the university's research profiles at mason initiative"
Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for youth services librarians to perform their duties. For an example of how youth services librarian responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "librarians must be able to work both as part of a team and with the public or with researchers." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a youth services librarian: "leveraged superior interpersonal skill to provide reference services to up to 50 clients each day. ".
Problem-solving skills. youth services librarian responsibilities often require "problem-solving skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "librarians conduct and assist with research." This resume example shows what youth services librarians do with problem-solving skills on a typical day: "research and implement hardware and software solutions for organizational use. "
Reading skills. Another crucial skill for a youth services librarian to carry out their responsibilities is "reading skills." A big part of what youth services librarians relies on this skill, since "librarians must be excellent readers." How this skill relates to youth services librarian duties can be seen in an example from a youth services librarian resume snippet: "planned library programs for children, teens and adults, summer reading programs, adult literacy/ged, computer training and technology. "
Technology skills. Another skill commonly found on youth services librarian job descriptions is "technology skills." It can come up quite often in youth services librarian duties, since "librarians use technology to help patrons research topics." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day youth services librarian responsibilities: "provided reference service and assistance with library technology to children and adults. "
The three companies that hire the most youth services librarians are:
- Burrell Behavioral Health4 youth services librarians jobs
- Memorial Healthcare System3 youth services librarians jobs
- Fort Bend County3 youth services librarians jobs
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Compare different youth services librarians
Youth services librarian vs. Circulation director
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, youth services librarian responsibilities require skills like "social work," "mental health," "community outreach," and "library services." Meanwhile a typical circulation director has skills in areas such as "audience development," "newspapers," "independent contractors," and "expense budget." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, circulation directors reach lower levels of education than youth services librarians. Circulation directors are 16.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Youth services librarian vs. Cataloger
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that youth services librarian responsibilities requires skills like "social work," "mental health," "community outreach," and "library services." But a cataloger might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "library catalog," "rda," "cataloging," and "oclc."
On average, catalogers earn a lower salary than youth services librarians. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, catalogers earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $40,571. Whereas youth services librarians have higher pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $49,634.In general, catalogers achieve similar levels of education than youth services librarians. They're 3.5% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Youth services librarian vs. Library supervisor
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from youth services librarian resumes include skills like "social work," "mental health," "community outreach," and "crisis intervention," whereas a library supervisor is more likely to list skills in "library patrons," "library operations," "library policies," and "student assistants. "
When it comes to education, library supervisors tend to earn lower degree levels compared to youth services librarians. In fact, they're 11.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Youth services librarian vs. Library director
Types of youth services librarian
Updated January 8, 2025
