There’s just 12 more days until the deadline for submission of YALSA committee volunteer forms. Anyone interested in joining a YALSA selection committee, needs to submit a volunteer form by September 30.  Without those forms I won’t know you are interested in joining a selection committee. And, if I don’t know of your interest, it’s not possible for me to appoint you to a committee.

Once September 30 comes and goes then I’ll get to work on making the appointments.  I’ve been waiting until the 30th in order to make sure I have all the information I need in order to go forward.  What the appointment process entails is me going through the volunteer forms – well not really the forms the information from the forms that’s been added to Google Docs.  (more…)

I’d imagine that for most librarians, the thought of several thousand screaming middle schoolers is more a nightmare than a dream come true. But for pop idols Jesse McCartney and Jordin Sparks, each hysterical 12 year-old is the bread and butter of their professional life. Such is the land of teeny boppers, a cultural and marketing phenomenon of pop music, fashion, and celebrity aimed at adolescent girls. (more…)

We’d done “Books That Don’t Make You Blush.” We’d done “Religion: Relationship with the Divine” and “Read ‘em and Weep. It was time for Popular Paperbacks to take a walk on the wild side. In 2007, the committee decided it was time to put together a list about teens’ decisions to have sex, or not. It’s no secret that teens are fascinated by sex, and that they receive mixed messages about it on a daily basis. We wanted to put together a list of books that would show how complicated the decision to have sex, or not having sex, can be. After much debate and a few raunchy jokes, the seven members of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults given the charge of constructing and giving focus to this list, including myself, got down to business. (more…)

YALSA is lucky to have so many active involved members in our association. If you are looking for a way to get even more involved, you can volunteer for an ALA committee (These are different from YALSA committees and appointments to these committees are not made by YALSA.) The online form is now available at:  http://cs.ala.org/alacommittees/volunteer.html The form allows members to select a 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd choice of committees to volunteer for.  You will be asked to provide the following information:

• on their past and current ALA service to committees, offices and as an Emerging Leader or Spectrum Scholar
• education
• ALA participation on committees, offices, and related activities
• State, regional, and other library associations participation (committees, offices, activities, including dates
• Number of years as ALA member

The deadline for completing the online committee volunteer form is December 5, 2008.
The form also includes a URL link to the ALA-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) online committee volunteer form.

Sarah Debraski

YALSA President

The MacArthur Foundation released a national survey about teens who play computer, console, or cell phone games. The survey uncovered that there is a significant amount of social interaction and potential for civic engagement for game players. The survey was conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and Mills College. (more…)

I was at Target today and I saw and interesting “thing” that got me thinking about school supplies. Livescribe has created a pen that not only records audio, but if you are taking notes on the specal paper will be able to play back the lecture when you tap on your notes. There is a usb attached to the pen so you can copy your notes into your computer as a image or as a video that replays the notes you took while playing the lecture.

This sounds really cool, especially for students who stuggle to learn in traditional lectures. However the pen costs about $150, and the paper goes for $20 for 400 sheets. This seems very expensive for students to use. I would hate to loose one of these pens if I was 13. I’d love to see teachers provide classroom sets but until every student has their own personal computer I doubt smart pen will be on a school’s supply list.

Want to have fun with your YALSA buddies at your state conference? Get to know new people and let them know about YALSA? It’s not too late to apply to host a YALSA event at your state conference! For more information about “Road Trip ’09″ and to fill out application, check out the wiki page.

Sarah Debraski

YALSA President

Last Chance to Register for Teen Read Week! Teen Read Week registration ends tomorrow at 5 p.m. Central! So if you haven’t already, join thousands of your colleagues in registering and showing your support for teen reading. On Monday, we’ll be drawing names randomly to win books from Zest Books and Mirrorstone. Learn more at the Teen Read Week website.

Want TRW Products? Order Soon! September 24 is the last day to order official Teen Read Week products  and have them arrive in time for Teen Read Week, using standard shipping. So order your posters, bookmarks and other incentives from the ALA Store today!

Committee Volunteer Forms Due! Committee volunteer forms are due to the YALSA Office by Sept. 30, as President-Elect Linda Braun is appointing the 2009-2010 selection list and award committees! Fill out your Committee Volunteer Form today.

Read more news from the YALSA Office…

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My husband has been waiting for Spore for two years now. Its a game created by designer Will Wright. The same guy who made SimCity and The Sims. The focus of the game is the development of a creature through various stages of civilization. Starting at single celled organism and reaching space exploration society the player gets to control what the species looks like as well as design buildings and vehicles. Its a cute game but this post isn’t about Spore. Its about the DRM on Spore. (more…)

As some blog readers know, I’m a big fan and user of Twitter.  And, as a result of my constant use of the technology, I find that often I need to search out information that I originally saw posted via Twitter.  As I’ve become more and more of a Twitter searcher I’ve realized a couple of things.

• First, Twitter is an amazing resource for locating information on current events. If you, or the teens you work with, are interested in news and views on almost any topic, searching Twitter is likely to not only lead to links to news from major media outlets, but also first-hand accounts from people involved in a particular event.   Of course, when reading postings on the site that are personal in nature, as opposed to coming from an established media source, the information might need to be evaluated more stringently than information gathered from library databases.  However, this need to evaluate provides a perfect opportunity for teaching and discussing evaluation skills with teens. (more…)