Teen services are sometimes overlooked in libraries. Shrinking budgets and staff shortages can leave this important group without anyone to advocate for them. Being a Teen Library Services Advocate gives librarians and other stakeholders a guide to becoming an advocate both in the library and beyond the library. Author Linda Braun suggests that advocacy skills should be learned and implemented as an everyday activity to enhance the services and programs that teens receive.

The book begins with a discussion about what advocacy encompasses, why advocacy is important, and how to get started becoming an advocate for teen services. The second chapter focuses on collaboration: what it is, how to implement it, and with whom. The author discusses technologies that are conducive to collaboration and provides lengthy list of suggested community members who could serve as resources for advocacy collaboration. In chapter three, Braun focuses on how to fit advocacy tasks into a librarian’s everyday work. She emphasizes that becoming an advocate for teens doesn’t happen overnight; it takes practice. Chapters four and five discuss successful advocacy campaigns and examples of programs that enable teens to advocate for themselves. Braun also includes a chapter on taking advocacy outside of one’s own library, sharing excellent advice about how to make one’s voice heard in the venues where it matters most. The final chapter focuses on tools to enhance one’s advocacy work.

Overall, this book is a comprehensive resource for anyone who wants to become an advocate, whether it is for teens or another group. The information in the book is well organized and easy to understand. Recommended for any librarian who is passionate about advocating for teen services.