Adult services describes all aspects of library work with adults,
but the focus is normally on public service activities. While the
definition of "adult" varies notably, especially since some content for
adults will appeal to teens, here we consider adults to be those who
are settled in the community and employed aged eighteen and older.
Typically, they have adult concerns about such topics as employment,
health care, raising a family, financial management and the like. While
they may be students, course or curriculum support is not usually a
major focus of adult services although it could be.
Often, the definition consists of an enumeration of examples such as
readers advisory work, programs, partnering with other community
organizations to provide focused services and the like.
Adult services may be related to different perceptions of the proper
role of the public library. These are not exclusive and most libraries
combine several of these roles. Some are more popular than others,
especially when funding is limited.
Diversity or individualization ought to be a characteristic of
adult services. Thoughtful, current community analysis is the key
ingredient. Communities may be more heterogeneous or more homogeneous
and services should reflect that while also providing for those less
likely to have their needs met elsewhere. In the past, services have
tended to be traditional and limited. Few libraries have been
innovative in creating and maintaining a portfolio of adult services.
Few
services have reached out to the community and most required adults to
come to the library when it was convenient for the library. Often,
little effort was spent on developing partnerships with community
organizations and institutions.
By the 1890s, librarians began to focus on services beyond
collecting
and preserving print content. There was considerable emphasis on what
has been called "Angloconformism," the notion that white Anglo-Saxon
culture was superior and that immigrants should assimilate and become
part of the dominant culture -- Americanization and the melting pot.
Services focused on outreach programs emphasizing citizenship and good
habits. English as a second language began to receive some attention.
In the early 1900s, adult services were part of an extension and
outreach movement. Later, the melting pot advocates would argue that
the different cultures should contribute to one unique American one.
Public libraries were involved in this Americanization and citizenship
work with collections and services. At the same time, the hope that
collections and services would elevate taste and help to education and
improve urban populations continued. The library could provide the
content that would help to educate and elevate popular taste.
Reading for recreation was only gradually accepted as a legitimate
role in contrast to non-fiction. Over time, the novel became accepted,
especially if it taught useful lessons, as an adjunct to biography and
history. Proponents argued that recreational reading was certainly
better than no reading at all or as an alternative to the baser forms
of entertainment. The 1933 public library standards recognized the
importance of recreational reading.
In the 1920s and 1930s, adult services became part of the national
adult education movement. Reading guidance, service to particular
groups, and education programs were common in large urban public
libraries. William S Learned's 1924 Carnegie Corporation Report on the
potential of the public library as an adult education agency gained
considerable attention. In 1926, ALA established a Library and Adult
Education Board and library involvement in adult education initiatives
increased.
The phrase "adult services," however, was not widely used until the
late 1930s. A major change in approach happened in the mid to late
1930s when public libraries typically retired a separate adult
education staff and made this function part of the more general adult
services staff.
Between 1930 and 1960, the focus shifted from adult education to
civic responsibility and appropriate use of leisure time. ALA
encouraged public libraries to become and be seen as a community center
with a variety of programs and collections. Success in gaining federal
funding for public libraries, especially rural ones, resulted in the
Library Services Act and the Library Services and Construction Acts to
"insure that all Americans had access to library services and
collections." Thus, public libraries became part of the national
agenda. Maintaining "our democratic way of life" by focusing on
citizenship and the American way was popular in the 1940s and 1950s.
In 1957, ALA established the Adult Services Division and it began to
issue a newsletter. Originally, it was aimed at services to adults in
all types of libraries and not just public libraries. At this time,
adult services included:
Between 1960 and 1980, adult services placed more emphasis on social
responsibility. Social unrest in the 1950s and the Great Society
initiatives encourage urban libraries to participate in the war on
poverty, urban renewal, civil rights, and better health care.
Storefront libraries, service in community centers and other outreach
initiatives became fashionable. As one librarian said, the public
library would "bring every human being in the community in contact with
the human record." Both society and more public librarians recognized
the values of different cultures [cultural pluralism or cultural
relativism] rather than the melting pot. Librarians began to consider
providing more services and collections to those less likely to use
them. At the same time, there was growing interest in sights and sounds
rather than just the print collection. Such collections also relate to
providing the public with what they want rather than what they need.
In 1973, ASD was merged with the Reference Services Division to form
the Reference and Adult Services Division. However, adult services
continue to be part of other ALA divisions, including the Public
Library Association. Reference clearly dominated the new division.
From the 1980s, adult services received less emphasis in the profession. Many libraries faced reduction in funding and adult services were not seen as a basic priority. Special funding for innovative programs from governmental agencies declined notably. In 1987, Planning and Role Setting for Public Libraries identified eight potential roles for the public library:
While adult services are found in public libraries in different
sorts of communities, better funded libraries in urban and suburban
areas are more likely to have a more developed program rather than a
collection of a few services. The most frequently encountered services
include:
Last major revision: July 2005.
