Jessie Mae Maimone's Dissertation Defense

Public libraries in the United States are often touted as a place with doors open to all, bastions of knowledge that make information accessible to the public without regard for the race of their patrons. But U.S. public libraries have a racist past that is often unattended to and the ramifications of past acts of racism may seep into the present, especially where Black teens are concerned. In order to understand how race affects Black teenagers, what they see as the purpose of libraries, and what an ideal library would look like for them, semi-structured group interviews were conducted to discuss the experience of Black teens in their public libraries in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Thematic analysis was used to analyze and interpret the data, and codes were created deductively, with Critical Race Theory and critical youth studies as frameworks for interpretation. The findings show that race affects how teens in libraries are judged and monitored by librarians, and that other identity factors play a role in how teens are viewed in libraries. While Black teens see libraries as a place for quiet, solo activities, mainly intended for children and adults, an ideal library supports Black teens with various social, educational, and resource programs to meet their needs. In their ideal libraries, librarians are caring, supportive, and help to allocate resources to the teens who need them. The findings also speak to the need for the competencies for teen services librarians to take a whole community approach that listens to teens, including frequent, occasional, and non-users, and to better promote resources so teens know what’s available to them. Note that “youth” and “teen” will be used interchangeably (“children” is used for individuals younger than thirteen-years-old), and that “libraries” will always indicate public libraries unless otherwise noted.

Questions? Contact Jessie Mae Maimone.