Linda Braun just wrote a nice article on hot topics found on the YALSA blog for 2008. The end of the year is always a great time to take stock on what has happened and dream of the way you would like things to be. While you are setting goal for your personal life, don’t forget to make some goals for your professional life, as well.

Here are my librarian resolutions for 2008 (more…)

Every year, beginning sometime in December, media outlets, bloggers, and others publish articles on the best and worst of the past 12 months.  When I read these I automatically start to think about what’s been going on with teens and libraries over the past year. One way I find that out is to look at a year’s worth of YALSA blog posts. Here’s some of what I found when I did that:

• Over the past twelve months video production became a real-live possibility for librarians and the teens that they serve. (more…)

Over the past couple of days I’ve been trying some new web tools and thinking about how to use them with teens.  Both of the tools I’ve investigated give librarians a chance to connect teens to web-based resources:

• Krunchd is a URL shortening tool with a difference. The difference is that instead of shortening one URL at a time, it’s possible to shorten a collection of URLs together and send them out as a group. Why is this useful? Because it means it’s possible to group URLs on a topic and describe and tag them all at once. (more…)

Jump on board Twitter now and start following “America’s Next Top Booktalker” before the competition begins.

Hear new sample booktalks, get title suggestions, and more!

Check out ANTB1 on Twitter.

Like all good satire, the television show South Park is often thought provoking. The recent episode The Ungroundable hit me where I work. In it, the school’s popular students embrace the current vampire craze (Twilight is directly referenced) to the point of wearing black clothes, plastic fangs and drinking Clamato juice as a blood substitute. No one is more horrified and disgusted by this than show’s well established clique of goths. They feel this is an appropriation and debasement of their style. For me, the show raised an immediate question with larger implications; how as a youth librarian, do you cater to both the vampire kids and the goths?

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What are your Friday night plans in the Mile High City? Lisa, Beth, Erin, and I are all going to be at the YALSA Tech Playground, showing off all sorts of applications, gadgets, and programs that you could use to connect with your teens. But beyond gizmos, we’re also going to be having a little challenge!

It’s time to break out your inner competitor for a chance to win the title of America’s Next Top Booktalker! Pick your favorite title, hop up on stage, and show off your booktalking prowess. See tips and tricks, feedback and suggestions come in via Twitter.

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The Brooklyn Musuem is offering a ‘socially networked museum membership‘ called 1stfans. Their membership gives them access to exclusive events, communication by their preferred electronic means among several choices and exclusive access to the Twitter Art Feed (which will engage contemporary artists).

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Yesterday I started going through my stack of library journals I subscribe to and I came across a 2005 issue of American Libraries with Barack Obama on the cover.  I thought how cool it was if we knew then, that he was to be the U.S. president elect today and soon the president.  (btw, it was not an easy decision of whether or not I should weed that issue from my collection).

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One of the podcasts I listen to (Buzz Out Loud) started a drinking game that centers around the phrase “In these tough economic times.” Whenever a podcast host uses that phrase, the other hosts yell out “drink.”

While the game is in response to the many press releases and news stories about the faltering economy, it is also a reminder that there are lots of people in the country that are looking for jobs. (That’s a fact that isn’t always so humorous.) Certainly it’s not just those in the technology industry on the job hunt. Librarians are in the job market too.

In order to help those serving teens locate jobs, YALSA put together a new wiki page as a way to provide information and resources on finding jobs and as a place to advertise positions in the field. If you know of a job, you can post information about it on the wiki. If you know of someone else that has a job opening, let that person know about the wiki and how to post information there.  And, if you know about a good resource for locating teen librarian jobs add it to the list that’s already started on the wiki. (more…)

In this series of podcasts learn about some of the ins and outs of YALSA’s Committees, web tools, and projects.   The short podcasts (each is between three and ten minutes) cover YALSA’s:

• Organization & Bylaws Committee with Chair Melissa Rabey and YALSA President Sarah Debraski

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• Financial Health and Advancement with Fiscal Officer Mary Hastler

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