Competencies for Librarians Serving Children in Libraries

Created by the ALSC Education Committee, 1989. Revised by the ALSC Education Committee: 1999, 2009, 2015, 2020; approved by the 2020 ALSC Board of Directors.

Download a PDF Version of the 2020 Competencies Here - (a professionally-designed PDF available to ALSC members as a benefit of their membership)

View a recording of the 2015 competencies discussion at the Leadership and ALSC meeting during 2016 ALA Midwinter

Competencies for Librarians Serving Children in Libraries

Librarians are vital to all children, caregivers, and the communities that support them. The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), believes that all children and their caregivers need and deserve the very best opportunities, which is why ALSC members are leaders in the field of children's library service, particularly in areas of access, advocacy, outreach, inclusion, diversity, family literacy, and lifelong learning.

To achieve this excellence, ALSC recommends the following competencies to all children’s librarians and other library staff whose primary duties include delivering library service to and advocating library service for children ages 0 to 14 and their caregivers. ALSC strongly recommends a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from an ALA-accredited graduate school as the appropriate professional degree for the librarian serving children in the library, and, because children deserve the highest-quality service, ALSC expects the same standards to guide service provided by paraprofessional staff; these staff should be supported in their professional development required to provide this work and be compensated in parity.

Through specialized coursework in undergraduate and graduate study, on-the-job training, and continuing education opportunities, librarians and paraprofessionals serving children and their caregivers should achieve and maintain the following skills, orientations, and understandings to ensure children receive the highest quality of library service as defined in the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights and its interpretations, ALA's Code of Ethics, and in the ALA and Association of American Publishers’ joint Freedom to Read Statement. Library service to children and their caregivers, as envisioned by ALSC, is best accomplished when all competencies are developed and achieved by all staff.

Demonstrates knowledge, management, use and appreciation of children’s literature, multimodal materials, digital media, and other materials that contribute to a diverse, current, and relevant children’s collection.
Maintains a diverse collection that is inclusive of the needs of all children and their caregivers in the community and recognizes children’s need to see and learn about people like and unlike themselves in the materials they access.
Advocates for and purchases materials by and about underrepresented communities, addressing the need for more representation of marginalized groups.
Maintains collections in different languages and formats, as appropriate, to remove linguistic barriers to access.
Understands and applies criteria for evaluating the content, artistic merit, and cultural authenticity of children’s materials in all genres and formats.
Keeps current by consulting a wide variety of print and digital review sources (including blogs and online scholarship) and publishers’ promotions (including those of independent presses), by attending professional meetings, by considering patron suggestions and popular demand, and by reading, viewing, and listening.
Keeps up-to-date on teen and adult digital and print reference sources that may serve the needs of children, families, and their caregivers.
Understands and implements the library’s comprehensive collection development policy, and develops, assesses, and revises policy as necessary. Works to ensure that collection policy is consistent with the library’s mission, the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights and its interpretations, and other relevant standards.
Responds to community challenges to materials according to the library’s materials-review policy, collection development policy, the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights and its interpretations, and other relevant standards.
Demonstrates a knowledge of cataloging, classification, indexing procedures, and practices to support access to children’s materials.

Competencies for Librarians Serving Children in Libraries

I. Commitment to Client Group

II. Reference and User Services

III. Programming Skills

IV. Collection Knowledge and Management

V. Outreach and Advocacy

VI. Administrative and Management Skills

VII. Professionalism and Professional Development