Someone told me a few weeks ago that the average 16 year old was born the year I graduated high school. Then, I got a Facebook invitation reminding me that I have been out of graduate school for ten years. Wow! Where has all the time gone? And how do I keep up with today’s youth, and the chasm of years between myself and them continues to grow?
One great tool is the Beloit College Mindset List…
A little while ago my Twitter friend grdnldy wrote a post that said, “How did I miss this, digital drugs http://tinyurl.com/69tsex“ I wrote back and said, “Perhaps because the hype is more than the reality. Perhaps a bit of breeding hysteria for something that might not really be a real issue.” But, actually, before I wrote that reply, I did a quick Google search and found that several media outlets had recently run a story on digital drugs. (more…)
Like many of you, I suspect, I have been watching the Olympics into the wee small hours of the morning. Each time, I find myself sucked into the competitions and the people who are competing. In some ways, this is like going to ALA. Now, stick with me here. Twice each year, we gather to renew friendships, to talk about books and reading and teens. The competition? Our predictions about which books will receive the medals this time around. There always seems to be an air of excitement. That air is heightened by the “celebrity” spotting. In our case, the celebs are the authors and illustrators who create these world class books we have come to love. (more…)
The preliminary program for ALA Techsource GLLS2008 is available. It will take place November 2-4, 2008 in Oak Brook, IL at the Doubletree Hotel. The program looks like nothing short of phenomenal! (more…)
Sitting in a local coffee shop and talking with a colleague about the library might be a great way to connect with teens in your community. A few weeks ago, I sat in a coffee shop looking at blueprints of a new children’s space with a children’s librarian. As we got up to get ready to leave, one of the teen boys sitting at a nearby table asked what we were up to. We told him and when talking with him we discovered that he was a college student studying theater, lighting design, and such.
Yesterday, when on the phone with the same children’s librarian, I found out there was a new teen volunteer helping out in the library. At one point the librarian said, “Oh wait, it’s Hugo (name changed) remember he’s the teen we talked to that day in the coffee shop.” (more…)
Early Bird Registration for the Symposium Ends: Coming to the inaugural Young Adult Literature Symposium? Make sure to register by Sept. 1 to take advantage of the early bird registration rates! Learn more at the Young Adult Literature Symposium website and make sure to watch our video highlighting what to expect at the symposium.
See more news from the YALSA office…
A few weeks ago I had the chance to participate in a small tech summit, at which a variety of types of librarians discussed different ways technology is being used in libraries, library schools, and actually, in life. As the Swiss Army Librarian noted in his post, at the event we didn’t just talk about technology. The group also talked about a variety of library topics, including customer service and how librarians are using the phrase customer service as a way to justify practices that aren’t actually very customer friendly at all. (more…)
Wednesday morning, Kelly and I tested the online play and live streaming, and everything ended up working out great (see my previous post for info on the setup)! Be sure to check out the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Teen Media page on Friday, August 22nd @ 3:00 PM for streaming video directly from our Wii. We’ll be streaming the menu process as well, so if you catch us early you can see how to set things up.
Oh, and as promised, now you can watch the video of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s public “call out” to the teens of PLCMC, featuring Shing, Spig C, and myself on the mic:
“Youth subculture” is part of the lexicon of pop sociology. Most teen librarians can point to examples of youth subcultures, punks, goths, metalheads etc., but even sociologists haven’t always had a practical definition of the term. Defining “youth subcultures” can be key to understanding the world view of some of the young patrons we serve. (more…)
In this podcast Linda Braun talks with Barry Joseph and Amira Fouad (of Global Kids and RezEd) about topics related to teens, gaming, education, and virtual worlds.
You can:
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Links to resources mentioned in the podcast: (more…)
