The GSLIS concentration in youth literature and librarianship is a crossroads for critical inquiry, professional training, and educational outreach related to young people from birth through adolescence. In addition to unparalleled faculty and library resources, we cultivate a sense of community among our graduate students that creates lifelong affiliations. Over a third of our graduates have taken courses in youth services, an indication of our national impact on the future of information literacy, reading, and readers.
A Youth Literature and Services concentration involves the study of children’s and young adult literature; storytelling and folklore in the oral tradition; school and public youth services librarianship; multiple literacies; and text/reader interactions. This concentration gives students a strong foundation for work with children and young adults in both school and public library settings. Some questions that drive research in this area include the following:
How does knowledge in the form of oral, print, and electronic texts shape, reflect, and enrich the lives of children and young adults? How do stories, books, and other forms of knowledge cross boundaries of age level, culture, history, time, place, medium, and meaning? How do we understand and facilitate connections between young readers/users and texts/information?
The resources in this specialization at GSLIS offer unusual depth. Several full time faculty members at both GSLIS and the UIUC College of Education teach in the concentration, and adjunct instructors are experienced practitioners in the field. The University Library includes one of the most comprehensive collections of children's literature in the nation, second only to the Library of Congress. In addition to this extensive historical collection, the current output of U.S. juvenile publishing is also available to students through the books received at the Center for Children’s Books.
The Center for Children's Books, in partnership with its review journal, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, was founded in 1945. The Center contains an examination collection of more than 14,000 books for and about children and young adults that represents some of the finest modern literature published for young people in the country. In addition, the collection includes over 800 professional and reference books on children's literature. The Center's Bulletin is one of the most prestigious critical review journals of literature for children and young adults. The Bulletin and the Center for Children's Books provide opportunities for students, scholars, teachers, and librarians to explore idic and recent books, to research texts for best practices in reading and literacy programs, and to interact in a network of academic and community professionals. Workshops and conferences serve as outreach to local, regional, and national educators.
Practicum sites for on-campus students include the Urbana Free Library, Champaign Public Library, the University Laboratory High School library, and other public and school libraries. Students in the LEEP distance education enrollment option may also participate in practica at any local school or public library under the supervision of a professional librarian. GSLIS students may qualify to receive an Illinois K-12 Media Specialist certificate for library work in a school environment. In addition, students who have a current Illinois teaching certificate may obtain a Media endorsement through coursework at GSLIS.
Some of the primary concerns of any student are:
"Which courses should I take?"
"When are these courses offered?"
"What order should I take them in?"
The answer to this question is, to some extent, up to the individual student. Except for the core courses, most of a student's schedule is negotiable. (For a breakdown of courses according to requirement designation and emphasis of study, see the Graduate Student Course Worksheet.) Several of the regularly offered courses in Youth Literature and Services at GSLIS are listed below. Each is given with a course description that includes the number of credit hours offered for the course, as well as its prerequisites. These descriptions can also be found on the GSLIS course catalog page.
One or more practicum courses are strongly recommended to all Youth Literature and Services students.
Students interested in school media librarianship will complete some additional requirements for graduation.
The following courses are often given by GSLIS full-time faculty, but may also be offered by highly qualified local library practitioners and/or doctoral students. Student satisfaction in these courses is generally very high, regardless of the professional status of the teacher.
|
LIS 403: Literature and Resources for Children Offered: Fall Term. Credit: 3 UG hours [Section AU]; 2 to 4 GR hours [Section AG] Description: Evaluation, selection and use of books and other resources for children (ages 0-14) in public libraries and school media centers; explores standard selection criteria for print and nonprint materials in all formats and develops the ability to evaluate and promote materials according to their various uses (personal and curricular) and according to children's various needs (intellectual, emotional, social and physical). Prerequisites: Junior or senior standing and consent of instructor for undergraduates; LIS graduate student. |
| LIS 404: Literature and Resources for
Young Adults Offered: Spring Term. Credit: 3 UG hours [Section AU]; 2 or 4 GR hours [Section AG] Description: Evaluation, selection and use of books and other resources for young adults (ages 12-18) in public libraries and school media centers; explores standard selection criteria for print and nonprint materials in all formats and develops the ability to evaluate and promote materials according to their various uses (personal and curricular) and according to young adults' various needs (intellectual, emotional, social and physical). Prerequisites: Junior or senior standing and consent of instructor for undergraduates and non-LIS graduate students; LIS graduate student. |
|
LIS 409: Storytelling Offered: Spring Term. Credit: 3 UG hours [Section AU]; 2 or 4 GR hours [Section AG] Description: Fundamental principles of the art of storytelling including techniques of adaptation and presentation; content and sources of materials; story cycles; methods of learning; practice in storytelling; and planning the story hour for school and public libraries, recreational centers, the radio, and television. Prerequisites: Junior or senior standing and consent of instructor for undergraduates and non-LIS graduate students; LIS graduate student. |
|
LIS 506: Youth Services Librarianship Offered: Fall Term. Credit: 4 GR hours Description: Theory and techniques in planning, implementing and evaluating library programs/services for youth (age 0-18) in public and school libraries/media centers; the knowledge base, skills, and competencies needed by the library media professional in the development of all aspects of youg people's reading/viewing/listening and information literacy skills. Prerequisites: None. |
|
LIS 514: History of Children's Literature Offered: 1 term per year. Credit: 2 or 4 GR hours Description: Interpretation of children's literature from the earliest times, including the impact of changing social and cultural patterns on books for children; attention to early printers and publishers of children's books and to magazines for children. Prerequisites: None. |
|
LIS 590IF: Intellectual Freedom & Library Services for Youth Offered: Occasionally. Credit: 2 or 4 GR hours Description: This course examines the intellectual freedom issues that affect children and young adults, including the censorship of books and student publications and the use of Internet filtering software in libraries and schools. In addition, it explores cultural factors that affect young people's reading and viewing choices, including literary awards, mass media, youth culture, youth activism, and corporate marketing to youth. This course provides an opportunity for in-depth discussion of censorship controversies and developing the skills and strategies needed to navigate them. Prerequisites: None. |
|
LIS 590LR: Literacy, Reading & Readers Offered: Occasionally. Credit: 4 GR hours Description: Reading and literacy play a central role in all areas of LIS, as well as in its cognate fields, yet they are a largely invisible part of our professional infrastructure. This course will address this oversight through a multidisciplinary investigation of the various activities, processes, and means of acquisition associated with literacy and reading as physical, social, educational and cultural activities. Drawing upon scholarship in LIS, education, literature, history, sociology, psychology, and anthropology, and with special consideration given to the dimensions of age, gender, class, religion, race and ethnicity, we will expand upon traditional notions of literacy and explore the notion of multiple literacies. Prerequisites: None. |
|
LIS 590ML: Media Literacy and Youth Offered: 1 term per year. Credit: 2 or 4 GR hours Description: Literacy involves the ability to read, write, and understand the meanings of text. Media literacy and critical viewing extend traditional literacy to include the construction and deconstruction of texts mediated by audio and video technologies. This course has a three-fold task: to examine our own histories with media and to question how we currently use and analyze mass mediated texts and technologies; to acquaint students with instructional resources and strategies for media literacy in libraries and schools; and to guide students in a production project that will utilize and deepen their critical understanding. The course will take child development into account as we consider the need for media literacy in the rapidly changing media environment of the digital age. Prerequisites: None. |
|
LIS 590NF: Information Books and Resources for Youth Offered: Summer Term. Credit: 2 or 4 GR hours Description: Evaluation, selection and use of information books and other resources for young people (ages 0-18) in public libraries and school media centers; explores standard selection criteria for factual print and nonprint materials in all formats and develops the ability to evaluate and promote nonfiction books and resources according to their various uses (personal and curricular) and according to young people's various needs (intellectual, emotional, social and physical). Prerequisites: None. |
|
LIS 590SC: Critical Studies in Children's Literature Offered: Occasionally. Credit: 4 GR hours Description: Through reading and discussion of primary and secondary texts, students will gain an understanding of the history of critical approaches to children's literature and the approaches and schools that currently predominate in the field across various academic disciplines. They will also develop their skill in finding critical materials (and gain an understanding of the particular challenges this field, with its diverse academic associations, can pose to their research) and to assess their relevance and achievement. Finally, they will improve their own ability to interact critically with children's literature texts. Prerequisites: None. |
|
LIS 590SM: School Library Media Centers Offered: 1-2 terms per year. Credit: 2 or 4 GR hours Description: School Library Information Specialists serve children and young adults (ages 5-18) in K-12 school library media centers. Guided by best practices, they integrate the roles of teacher; instructional partner; program administrator; and information specialist. Students will acquire specific knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to design, develop, integrate and assess curriculum and instruction with an emphasis on the information needs of K-12 students, and will gain an increased understanding of the implementation of these roles building on the foundation established in the Youth Services Librarianship course (LIS 506). Readings and projects will provide students with opportunities to apply the practical knowledge and skills they have learned about building reading literacy, teaching information literacy skills, collaborating with teachers and integrating resources into teaching and learning. Prerequisites: LIS 506. |
Many courses are offered according to a set schedule—every Fall Semester, for example—while others are offered according to instructor availability and/or expressed student interest. These schedules are described in the course descriptions, above. If a course you are interested in does not appear on the schedule for the present time or near future, you can ask your advisor when it might be offered again.
The schedule of offered courses is updated several months before the beginning of every semester or term. Certain courses require additional paperwork. The academic calendar may also be of use in planning course registration.
As can be seen from the course listings, above, most of the Youth Literature and Services courses do not require any prerequisites other than admission to the university and can be taken in any order.
For questions regarding the K-12 program, contact Georgann Burch.
For questions about practica, go to Rae-Ann Montague.
Questions about admissions and student records should be directed to Valerie Youngen.
For all other questions, the first person to ask (after carefully perusing the GSLIS Web site for the necessary information) is almost always your advisor.
Questions about course offerings and study emphases outside of Youth Literature and Services but inside GSLIS may be directed to the appropriate faculty advisor. Courses offered through other departments are scheduled by the administrators of those departments.
