Winter online course registration now open YALSA opened registration this week for its winter session of online courses. Get teens engaged with reading after taking Booktalks Quick & Simple with Nancy Keane and rev up  your special events with Power Programming for Teens with Amy Alessio.  Classes last four weeks. Pricing starts at $135 for YALSA members (10% discount for groups of 10 or more). Learn more at YALSA’s Online Courses page or by contacting Eve Gaus at egaus@ala.org.

YALSA Events at Midwinter Join us for our two ticketed pre-Midwinter events, Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition and Games, Gadgets and Gurus.  Details and how to register for them after the jump (you can read about everything we have planned for Midwinter Meeting at the YALSA Midwinter Wiki).

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When I walked in my library this morning, I had no internet. No intranet, even–I couldn’t load the high school home page at all.

On another morning this might have sent me into a panic, but I already knew I had a light schedule for the day and wouldn’t be giving out many library passes because today’s an advisory day for frosh and sophomores, so I headed over to the front office, remembering that one of our secretaries was out for the day and her counterpart might need a hand.

Half an hour later, I returned to find that one of our paras had graciously stepped up and made a pencil and paper list of passes for juniors and seniors as well as one for a handful of book checkouts.

Low tech? Absolutely. Just as effective in a pinch? You bet!

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As I have visited other libraries and talked to many librarians across the country I can’t help but feel very thankful to live in Idaho. Why is that you may ask? Because Idaho partners!

I’m amazed at the Idaho Commission for Libraries (ICFL) and all of the partnerships that it has and shares with all of the libraries across the state and the partnerships that my library here in Rexburg, Idaho has. I would like to share a few examples.

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For the past few months, YALSA has been holding informal online chats in ALA Connect on the first Wednesday of each month. Beginning in December, we’d like to encourage YALSA members to connect with each other in person as well as online.

We’re thrilled to announce First Wednesdays with YALSA — a chance for our members to use our monthly chats as a tool for gathering with other members in their area to socialize, exchange ideas, network, and exchange news and tips about YALSA and the profession as a whole.

The next chat (focusing on teens and technology) takes place Dec. 2 – read on to find out how you can be part of First Wednesdays with YALSA!

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Being a student member of ALA and YALSA I have learned a few things about being a librarian that can’t be taught in school:

1. Being a librarian requires a love of learning that never fades
2. Librarians are innovative, always coming up with new and creative ways to reach teens
3. Librarians love to share their ideas on wikis, blogs, via Twitter and Facebook, at conferences, and in podcasts

It is for all of these reasons that there is nothing else I would rather do than be a librarian. And it is also for these reasons that libraries and librarians really have the opportunity to inspire teens this Teen Tech Week. (more…)

Fairy tale retellings often feel like a dime a dozen.  Whether they’re modernized or grounded in the past, gender flipped or boundaries blurred, the heart of the fairy tale must remain.  Otherwise, the retelling feels cold and disconnected, lacking all the magic of the original story.  But sometimes, a retelling gives the fairy tale a new complexity and shading.

Beauty
Robin McKinley
Published 1978
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This was the first time for me that a library conference was held in the city where I work. As a public librarian it was a great experience to hear the perspective from school librarians and network with a lot of great colleagues. Though the conference was a blend of academic and public librarians as well. (more…)

Register for YALSA’s pre-Midwinter events Registration is now open for YALSA’s pre-Midwinter events! Sign up for the Midwinter Institute, “Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition” (featuring Cory Doctorow and others) and Midwinter Social Event, ”Games, Gadgets & Gurus.” Register for both and save! Register through Midwinter registration or, if you only want to attend these two events, by downloading this form (PDF; skip section I) and following the directions at the YALSA wiki. Want to add these events to an existing registration? You can add events two ways: (1) By phone: Call ALA Registration at 1-800-974-3084 and ask to add a workshop to your existing registration.; (2) Online: Add an event to your existing registration by clicking on this link. Use your log in and password to access your existing Midwinter registration and add events in the “Your Events” section (screen 6). Then simply check out and pay for the events you’ve added. You can see all of YALSA’s plans for Midwinter at the YALSA Midwinter Wiki, http://bit.ly/yalsamw2010.

Apply for $40K in awards & grants from YALSA YALSA members can apply for more than $40,000 in grants and awards! This year, we will award up the YALSA/Baker & Taylor Conference Grants, theYALSA/BWI Collection Development Grants, the YALSA/Greenwood Publishing Group Service to Young Adults Award, the MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens, the Frances Henne/YALSA/VOYA Research Grant, and the Great Books Giveaway. Applications for all YALSA member awards are due by Dec. 1. Details on all the awards and grants are available online at www.ala.org/yalsa/awards&grants.

After the jump, apply to manage YALSA’s new blog,  apply for YA Lit Symposium Stipend, and register for Teen Tech Week!

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In this YALSA Podcast,  Seattle librarian Laurie Amster-Burton, a 2009 Baker & Taylor Conference Grant recipient,  shares her experience at ALA Annual, including attending events, going to the exhibits, meeting teens and other YALSA members, and more.

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In addition to the Baker & Taylor grants, YALSA gives more than $40,000 in grants and awards to its members each year. Learn more and apply by Dec. 1 at www.ala.org/yalsa/awards&grants.

You can also download this podcast, and others, at YALSA’s Podcasts site.

Resources applicable for school and public libraries to celebrate Teen Tech Week this March (7-13) can be found here.

Learn Create Share @ Your Library is the theme for this year’s upcoming Teen Tech Week. New resources and programming ideas can be found on the site as well as previous year’s sites. (more…)