When: Oct 19-Dec 13, 2026 (8 weeks)
Where: Online & Asynchronous
Cost: $360
CE Credit: 2.6 CEUs/26 LEUs
Program #: 319426
Registration opening soon!
Payment and Cancellation Policy
Questions? Email the CE Team
Youth services is one of the most dynamic and rewarding areas of public library work, and one of the most complex! This course gives you a solid foundation in the principles, practices, and current landscape of serving children and teens in public libraries. Whether you are just starting out or looking to refresh your approach, you will leave with practical tools and a clearer sense of what excellent youth services looks like today.
Learning Outcomes:
- Apply foundational concepts in child and adolescent development to library services
- Develop age-appropriate collections and programming that reflect your community’s needs
- Build and sustain meaningful community partnerships
- Create welcoming, youth-centered spaces
- Navigate challenging patron interactions with confidence
- Advocate for youth services within your library and beyond
- Identify and respond to current trends shaping the field
Course Audience: Library staff at any stage of their career who work with or support services for children and teens.
This course was formerly called “Youth Services 101.”
Instructor
Brooke Newberry is the Deputy Director at the La Crosse Public Library in Wisconsin, where she has spent 14 years connecting kids, teens, and families with library services. She holds a Master’s Degree in Library Science from Indiana University and has taught youth services across the United States and internationally. A longtime leader in the field, she has served on the 2023 Caldecott Committee and as chair of the Early Childhood Programs and Services Committee for the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). Brooke believes that great library service for kids and teens creates belonging, sparks curiosity, and builds lifelong relationships with learning and community, meeting young people where they are, treating them with dignity and joy, and recognizing that the best youth services don’t just serve children but help shape who children believe they are allowed to become. When she is not at the library, you can find her calling Bingo every week for a local nonprofit!