We had a very low turnout for our Teen Gaming Interest Group meeting on Saturday afternoon, making a swap and share of resources difficult at best. One of the things we did was unanimously elect Jami Schwarzwalder as the new chair fo the Teen Gaming Interest Group. Congrats, Jami!

We also discussed creating a list of great games (tabletop and videogames) for teen programming. The list has been started on the YALSA wiki; please feel free to contribute annotations.

On Sunday morning, I counted over 125 at our Sunday Morning program, Beyond Gaming Tournaments. Slides and handouts are forthcoming at:

http://presentations.ala.org/index.php?title=Beyond_Gaming_Tournaments (more…)

I’ve been waiting a few days to write about the Teen Third Space because I’ve been allowing it to sink in.

I work in one of the oldest branches of my system. The teen space has one long table dominated by laptop users. Luckily we have a significant chunk of shelving, but the books aren’t new and shiny. In fact, everything is old, uncomfortable, and stained. The only thing that makes the teen area a teen area is the fact that it says “Teen” on the wall. Cuz there aren’t any teens sitting there. They’ll go anywhere else in the library to hang out, but do not want to be in the teen space at all. As the incoming teen librarian at this branch it is *the* major thing I need to fix.

So the President’s Program got me at just the right time. Titled “The Teen Third Space,” the session covered physical space, seating selection, and the electronic third space. (more…)

While I did not spend much time at the exhibits due to other commitments, I did bring home some ARCs to read. I spent most of the flight back to Houston reading TENDER MORSELS. I hope to finish the book this weekend. However, more than books, I brought back with me some terrific memories and some valuable information. (more…)

While many teens already know to go to Yahoo! Music Vidoes, Youtube, and Myspace for music videos, they may not know of these new resources.
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Since so many teen librarians are making the case for social networking still, I thought this OCLC session on Library Mashups would be of interest. I noticed they were taping; the session will probably be online soon at http://www.oclc.org/.
“Mashups on web are on the verge of replacing the PC as the dominant computing platform”
~Andrew K. Pace, OCLC

Andrew K. Pace defined mashup as something remixed to improve functionality and innovation as response to change under circumstance “hacking!”  He stressed that change is inevitable, and quoted Darwin reminding us that the successful species are the most adaptable ones. Pace referenced the 10 Dangerous Ideas presentation from PLA presentation , and invited attendees to jot down on notecards provided, their greatest resource and greatest challenge as we continued our discussion of innovation. (more…)

In this podcast listen to the full proceedings of the first ever Odyssey Award ceremony.  The Award is given to for the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults available in English in the United States. It is a joint award of YALSA and ALSC. (more…)

I had done another stenographer-on-too-much-coffee stint at this session (see Millennial Leadership), but luckily for me (and for you, dear reader) a lot of the material from Beyond Gaming Tournaments is online at the ALA Conference Materials Archive. So instead of duplicating a lot of content, allow me to direct you that-a-way and just summarize a few bits from the program for those of y’all who couldn’t attend. (more…)

In my last post, I showed some of the ways libraries are using video to provide information in new forms, promote their libraries, and provide fresh programming opportunities.  In my next few posts, I’ll explore some of the low-to-no cost options you can use to incorporate video in your library services.

In the last couple of years, a new generation of digital camcorders has emerged, aimed at ease of use, point-and-shoot functionality, and uploading online. These simple, sub $200 devices offer a small set of controls and automatic features, allowing you to point, press record, and upload easily.
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For the past two months in the mail I have been receiving a catalog from the Republic of Tea along with a free sample of tea. I thought, lucky little ole me to receive something for free in the mail that I actually like. After the ALA presentation on privacy (I swear, it didn’t occur to me before then) I’m receiving the ‘free’ tea in the mail because I purchase it at the grocery store during lunch breaks next door to my library. Freedom at the cost of selling my information perhaps. What are we willing to give our information for? Sometimes we might not feel we have a choice or know that we do. (more…)

The speeches of the Michael L. Printz Award winners are available via video. The speech by Award Winner Geraldine McCaughrean is available below. Video of the authors of the honor books is available by clicking the more link.

Click to play