Early Bird Registration Ends for the Symposium Sept. 1 is the LAST DAY to register at the Early Bird rate and save 25% over onsite registration fees for the Young Adult Literature Symposium! Join your colleagues at this inaugural symposium for fun networking events, dynamic programs on “How We Read Now” and the chance to meet your favorite YA authors! Learn more at the Young Adult Literature Symposium website! Starting Sept. 2, registrants will pay the advanced registration fee.

Tell Us What YOU Think! We’re taking answers for both our member survey and our ALA Annual Conference survey — but only until Aug. 29! So you’ve got one week to let us know how we can serve your needs better. Thanks for helping us out.

Read more news from the YALSA Office…

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As I mentioned in my last post on life as YALSA President-Elect, I’ve been talking with selection committee chairs about how these committees work (and don’t work.)  On Monday I had the last of these scheduled phone conversations and want to say thank you to all of the chairs who talked with me. Every conversation was helpful and I now have a much better sense of life as a selection committee chair. Thanks to all of the chairs for taking the time (sometimes quite a bit of it) to talk with me.

Now that that process is complete, the appointments to selection committees can begin – sort of.  There are a few of things that have to be in considered and in place before I can complete my part of the appointment process. These are: (more…)

A couple months ago Linda Braun blogged about the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Act, which was introduced in the House of Representatives in May.  Now, California appears to be following suit.  Assemblyman Ted Lieu from Torrance has introduced an amendment that would allow school officials to punish students that use electronic devices to harass fellow students.

The amendment is framed in terms of student safety, and considers cyberbullying to be behavior that would disrupt the “safe, secure and peaceful” school environment to which students are entitled.  Specifically, the amendment would let school officials “suspend a pupil or recommend a pupil for expulsion for bullying, including, but not limited to, bullying by an electronic act.”  Bullying is defined in this measure as: (more…)

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…

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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…

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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…)