While for many people September means going back to school–either back to working at a school, back to classes of their own, or just back to learning things on the job after summer vacation or summer reading programs–for recent graduates who are still looking for their first professional position after getting their MLS, September means it’s now been two or four or more months of being out of school. In fact, this is the first fall in 20 years that I haven’t been headed back to the classroom. While some of my classmates got lucky and were offered a new position or a raise or more responsibilities at the job they already had, there are plenty of us who are still looking.

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As part of our 30 Days of Back to School series, we’ll be interviewing other professionals who work with teens in and out of school. How can we collaborate to better serve our teens? Where do our services overlap, and where can we pass the baton to more effectively meet young adult needs?

First up: Molly Gesenhues. Molly is a guidance counselor with Chicago Public Schools who was also gracious enough to participate in YALSA’s full-day pre-conference in Washington DC.

mk: Thanks for joining us! Can you start by telling us a little bit about your job description?
Molly: Well, I’m a high school counselor. I work with students grade nine through twelve on their academic, social-emotional, and post-secondary goals. I get to see teens on an individual level as well as in groups and, if I’m lucky, in the classroom.

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At the opening of a new school year, I’m enjoying the chance at a clean slate–new colleagues hired over the summer, new ninth graders and transfer students, all brand new faces to introduce to my library. As I prepare for orientations–whether it’s a full tour or a five minute spiel–I’m re-evaluating my library ground rules. What are the most important things for new students to know? What kind of a space do I want to create for classes and faculty groups alike? How do I convey my educational philosophy in a sentence or two?

When I think about the range of possible library infractions, it really boils down to one question: what’s going to make me the crankiest?

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I returned to school this fall to find that parts of my library had been, shall we say, artfully rearranged. At a time when I had been expecting to come up with brilliant displays, brainstorm for Teen Read Week at a leisurely pace, and craft eloquent emails inviting English teachers with new 9th graders to visit the library during opening week, I found myself instead unpacking books from cardboard boxes.

The spatial rearrangement was perhaps a blessing in disguise, since I hadn’t particularly liked the configuration of shelves last year and planned to get around to it at some point–you know, after I got those other twelve odd jobs off of my desk–but in the meantime it means a lot of confusion in my once orderly library. Where are the biographies? Oh, over there, on that unmarked shelf. What about fiction? Well, it starts over there, and ends over there, but if you’re looking for new series they might be hidden behind that big wheeled desk that the maintenance staff doesn’t know where to stash permanently.

And what about reference?
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Symposium Early Bird Extended! YALSA has extended early bird registration for the YA Lit Symposium in Albuquerque, New Mexico through Sept. 17! If you register in the next two weeks, you’ll enjoy our lowest rates. Join us Nov. 5-7 to network with your fellow librarians and educators, meet 30+ YA authors, and earn 12 contact hours. Learn more about the symposium and register at www.ala.org/yalitsymposium.

Bundled Registration Now Open Planning to attend both ALA Annual Conference and Midwinter Meeting in 2011? Take advantage of bundled pricing and save. YALSA members pay just $300 for both conferences if they register at www.ala.org/midwinter by Sept. 30.

Teen Read Week Registration Teen Read Week registration ends in less than a month! Register by Sept. 20 to be entered into a drawing for free books from Carolrhoda Lab, Cinco Puntos, and Viz Media. Plus you’ll help show YALSA that initiatives like Teen Read Week or worth supporting. Learn more and register at www.ala.org/teenread.

YALSA’s Reluctant Reader Webinar Looking for guidance to reach out to reluctant readers in your library? Sign up for YALSA’s Sept. 9 webinar, Ready, Set, Go: 30 Ways to Reach Reluctant Readers in 60 Minutes, presented by Jen Hubert Swan. The webinar takes place at 2 p.m. Eastern and costs $39 for YALSA members, $49 for all other individuals. Group registration costs $195. Learn more and register at www.ala.org/yalsa/webinars.

After the jump, we have news on the Teens’ Top Ten, Selection Committee Volunteer Forms, online course registration, the I Love My Librarian Award, the YALSA Dessert Cookbook we’re auctioning off at Midwinter, and a link to American Libraries’ interview with Rob Reiner, director of Flipped!

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While you might leave library school versed in everything from read/write web applications to AACR2 description, it’s what they don’t teach you in library school that can make or break your school media program.

The professional leave process, lesson planning, supervision duties, professional development responsibilities, and even dress code can be radically local, so even veteran librarians will have to learn some different processes when they change buildings or districts.

Laura Houk, who left Dekalb County to become librarian at Madison County High School this fall, said her challenges included figuring out how the circulation system works and the local purchasing process. “You don’t know if you’ll have supplies, money, or what your collection will look like,” said Houk. Acknowledging that you can’t change everything at once, Houk advises incoming school librarians to be “flexible and do the best you can with what you have,” something particularly important for school librarians in a state where school library materials budgets have been eliminated the past two years.

A learning curve exists for school librarians leaving the classroom as well. Ashley Markham moved from  teaching second graders to become the media specialist at a new school, Buckhorn Middle, in the same district this fall. While many system-wide policies are the same, changing age groups has brought some surprises. Markham said fewer more middle-school teachers seemed to bring their classes to the library than at the elementary level. Her advice to beginning school librarians hoping to infuse information literacy skills into the curriculum is to “meet with the teachers and discuss the units you’ll focus on, to make sure you’ll have what you need.” Markham will be combining collections from two existing schools, but will also have a budget to establish her program and make sure that the resources are there for those research units.

For faculty and student icebreakers and other ideas, check out Kathy Schrock’s Back-To-School Resources, and the collective intelligence of LM_NET provides some great fodder for librarians going back-to-school, be it the first or the thirtieth time.

What is YOUR back-to-school advice?

Over the past several years a few times a month I am asked, “How do you keep up?” My answer is always the same, by knowing other librarians, educators, technology-interested people, etc. who stay informed on topics that I need to know about. And, by connecting with those people via a variety of venues such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YALSA, library school classrooms, and so on. Learning from others and knowing that if I don’t know something, someone else in my professional learning network (PLN) will, has really opened up my ability to keep up. I have given up thinking that I need to know everything – really I have – and am comfortable with knowing that what I don’t know others will. All I have to do is ask my PLN, or pay attention to various virtual spaces where PLN hang out. For example: (more…)

In a lively chat last night, YALSA President Kim Patton discussed her presidential theme, Think Big. You can read the transcript (PDF) if you weren’t able to make it.

Join us for our next chat on Oct. 6, when Kim Bolan will lead a discussion on teen space design at libraries! Join us for this exciting chat at 8 p.m. Eastern on Oct. 6 (directions for the Meebo room will be posted to the YALSA blog on Sept. 29).

I know, you’ve been putting it off, thinking you had plenty of time, but now time is running out. You only have to the end of the month (Sept. 30) to submit your Selection Committee Volunteer Form if you want to be on a selection committee for 2011-12.

And this year, you have the chance to be on a new task force, the one that will be starting up YALSA’s new Readers’ Choice List. This is a list of books that members will get to vote on, and we need some motivated, tech-savvy, organized types to get the list off to a great start, by coming up with categories; receiving, organizing, and vetting the nominations; and conducting the online vote next November.

Also, don’t forget about putting your name in to be on an ALA Committee. There are some fascinating opportunities in ALA committees, like Accreditation, Website Advisory, Public & Cultural Programs Advisory, Literacy, and many more. The ALA Committee volunteer form is open until November 5.

Throughout the month of September, YALSA will be featuring a post every day on topics ranging from collaborating with teachers to truancy in the public library to keeping your library curriculum current–all topics impacted by the changing of the seasons when many of us start our year.

Whether you’re an aspiring librarian, working in a school or public library, or providing services to teens in some other setting, we all know that September means big changes for the young adults in our lives. Some of them are anxiously navigating their first few days of high school. Others are getting behind the wheel as upperclassmen and new drivers. Others are making the transition to college. Still more are entering the workforce, traveling around the world, and contemplating military service.

What does the first day of September mean to you? This month the YALSA blog will bring you success stories, tips, and resources for serving teens during this time of transformation–both for our teens, and for our libraries.