Emerging Adults at the Library

Recently in Teen Services circles there has been a lot of talk about how we can best serve 18-24 year olds. Many of them do not want to leave the comfort of our teen areas or stop going to teen programs. Libraries across the country have come up with a variety of approaches. Some feel that to best serve both teens and these young adults continuing to keep firm boundaries of age limits at programs aids in emotional development. Others feel that to stop serving teens once they turn 19 is a type of abandonment. Will we hurt services to teens if we try to cater to this group? Should adult services be working harder to provide for them? What do we do when teen areas are filled with 20 somethings fraternizing with 13 year olds? How do we help them set appropriate boundaries?

These are questions we will be discussing at our September Teen Services meeting. Until then I'm hoping everyone attending will read this article and be prepared to discuss:

What is it About 20-Somethings?
By ROBIN MARANTZ HENIG
Published: August 18, 2010

There is a movement: movement to view the 20s as a distinct life stage, which he calls “emerging adulthood.” He says what is happening now is analogous to what happened a century ago, when social and economic changes helped create adolescence — a stage we take for granted but one that had to be recognized by psychologists, accepted by society and accommodated by institutions that served the young."

If you won't be attending this meeting, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this complex subject in the comments!