The History of Youth Services Librarianship: A Review of the Research Literature

Youth services librarianship - a term that encompasses all library services to youth (children and young adults, ages zero to eighteen) in school and public library settings has long been considered the classic success story of American libraries. This classic success, however, has received little attention from library history scholars. Further, past and current research in the history of children's, young adult, and/or school librarianship is scattered through scholarly and mass market publications in library and information science, history, education, and English. This essay provides a review of the existing research literature of this multidisciplinary field and suggests a research agenda for future scholars in this area.