In general, Harper achieves this goal admirably. The book is packed with information, resources, links, standards, and guidelines—a great deal of fodder for development. However, her audience may, at times, feel frustrated with the back-and-forth between school librarians and public librarians, experienced professionals and novices; the lack of focus may put readers off track. In some instances, the author includes more explanation of basic concepts than professionals require; in other places, not enough explanation is included for beginners. In some ways, this project might have worked better as two books rather than one.

The textbook is divided into ten chapters (plus a bonus chapter on core reference collections). First, of course, is the introduction to reference service. Other works such as, Twenty-First-Century Kids, Twenty-First-Century Librarians (ALA, 2010), provide a better and more thorough history of children’s services. Other chapters cover developmentally appropriate practice in reference service, services for children with special needs, communication techniques, information literacy development, selection techniques for reference sources, ways to promote online search tools, and government resources for youth. All of these should pave the way to “positive and failure-free” (33) library experiences for young customers.

In the final two chapters, Harper covers evaluation, best practices, and management principles for providing reference service, including policy development and ethical considerations. Stressing that “an individual reference transaction can determine a child or young adult’s perception of the library or librarian as a helpful resource or one that should be avoided” (33), Harper highlights all of the elements that can make library services successful, and child-centered, and transformative.