Libraries, Literacy, and African American Youth: Research and Practice

This important book is a call to action for the library community to address the literacy and life outcome gaps impacting African American youth. It provides strategies that enable school and public librarians to transform their services, programs, and collections to be more responsive to the literacy strengths, experiences, and needs of African American youth.

• Clarifies the role of public and school librarians in meeting the literacy needs of African American youth

• Brings together research findings on the literacy strengths and needs of African American youth and best practices for librarians seeking to improve their services to this population

• Provides specific examples of successful programs for working with African American youth that can be adapted by other school or public libraries

• Creates an ongoing vehicle for collaborative learner-centered relationships between public and school librarians serving the same community