This scenario looks at Core Skill A1: Being an approachable and knowledgeable friend to young people; relating to them with understanding and confidence.

Setting the Scene

Eight year old Tom approaches you at the library enquiry desk. It's a busy morning in the library, you've had non-stop phone calls and you can see more people coming up to the desk. Tom tells you that he's really interested in space travel and asks you where there are books about it in the library. Reflect how you would respond to this situation and choose one of the strategies on below that is nearest to what you would do.

What do you do?

Option	Description
A	Point to the appropriate shelves and say "Have a look over there and see if there's anything you want."
B	Talk to Tom about why he needs the information and what he needs from the books. Then show Tom the appropriate parts of the library and explain how different materials might help in different ways. Check that there are suitable resources.
C	Explain how the Dewey classification scheme works and why it is so useful and then set Tom the task of finding his way around the library shelves. Tell him you'll check to see he's getting on OK.