Howdy. I’m Jesse Karp, librarian, reviewer and Great Graphic Novels for Teens committee-member. Since I work with ‘em and love ‘em and this is my first post, I figured I’d throw out my top five favorite graphic novels list. What better way to give you a sense of my tastes and (hopefully) inspire some more interest the form?
Here goes:

1. The Arrival by Tan (Beautiful, insightful silent tale of being a stranger in a strange land — pushes the art form to a whole new level)
2. The Storm in the Barn by Phelan (Powerful, folk tale-ish coming-of-age story and deep, moving homage to the art of storytelling in any form)
3. Superman for All Seasons by Loeb and Sale (a retelling of the big guy’s early years that gives it the feeling of real American mythology)
4. Tales of Colossus by Andrews (Medieval action/adventure . . . with a robot!)
5. Selina’s Big Score by Cooke (Catwoman goes for a huge heist — Cooke’s art is peerless).

There ya go. Hope there are a couple you don’t know about yet and that you’re curious enough to take a look.

I’ve been working at my new job for less than a month, but already I’m raising some eyebrows. And for once, it’s not the piercings or tattoos.

And, no, it’s not even the shelf of new books (wildly popular new books, I might add) that maybe kinda sorta definitely have some risque content.

I’m not even talking about wiping out the library reservation system our teachers knew and loved with one fell swoop.

So what am I doing that’s so controversial?

Instruction.

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I was driving down the FDR into NYC listening to the Buzz Out Loud podcast and feeling frustrated about the traffic. All of a sudden the podcast hosts read an email from a listener who asked fellow Buzz Out Loud listeners to rally around the Philadelphia libraries to help guarantee that the main library and branches would not be shut down permanently. The email spurred a conversation about libraries amongst the three hosts of the podcast and all of a sudden my frustration turned from being focused on the traffic to being focused on the hosts. I started yelling, out loud, in the car – where I was all by myself – at the hosts. (more…)

Recently a flyer went out to ALA/YALSA members about a grant opportunity called the Great Stories CLUB. It is a way to connect with hard-to-reach, underserved teens by conducting a Great Stories CLUB reading and discussion program in your library.  Books used in the program are relevant to their lives, including:

• One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones
• The Afterlife by Gary Soto
• The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin

The grant is available to libraries located within or working in partnership with facilities serving troubled teens, such as juvenile justice facilities, alternative high schools, drug rehabilitation centers and nonprofits serving teen parents.  Teen participants are invited to read and keep three theme-related books, as well as discuss each title with a group of their peers. 

By showing teens that reading can be a source of pleasure, a tool for self-exploration and a meaningful way to connect to the wider world, the program inspires young adults who face difficult situations to take control of their lives by embracing the power of reading.

For more information on the Great Stories CLUB, including guidelines, book descriptions, application instructions, and feedback from past participants, visit www.ala.org/greatstories. Online applications will be accepted through November 2.

One of several YA classics written by the late Robert Cormier, I Am the Cheese is a tense psychological study.  A young teenager named Adam starts on a bike ride from Massachusetts to Vermont.  At the same time, Adam is being questioned by an unknown man about his personal history.  What is the connection between these two stories?  The reader is left to figure that out over the course of the novel as a creeping sense of unease develops.

I Am the Cheese
Robert Cormier
Published 1977

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One of the things we (the Program Clearinghouse Committee) saw a lot on the ALA Annual conference survey results was a wish that there was a “conference buddy” type program for first time conference attendees and new YALSA members. There is an ALA program in place.

When people register for conference, they are asked if they are first time attendees. If they say yes, they are automatically contacted by an ALA Ambassador, who is a veteran conference attendee. Each Ambassador has three to five contacts to make, which includes sending an welcome email to the attendee to check and see if they have any questions, or if the Ambassador can help in some way to make the conference experience a good one.

Each Ambassador spends at least two hours at either the Membership Pavillion on the Exhibit Floor or at the Registration Desk. Ambassadors wear an ALA Ambassador ribbon on their badges so as to be easily identifiable. There was also a “Text an Ambassador” service for the first time in Chicago.

Information about the program is sent out in email blasts to all conference attendees and is available on the conference wiki.

The Wrestlemania Reading Challenge kicks off during Teen Read Week! If you’re looking for ways to promote the program, consult the toolkit:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/wrmc/ToolkitFinal_09.pdf

Get staff involved by introducing them to WWE superstars. Print pictures of wrestlers from the WWE website and label each picture with the wrestler’s name and nickname. Ask them to familiarize themselves with one wrestler. This way, they should feel comfortable engaging in a conversation about a wrestler with a teen.

http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/

http://www.wwe.com/superstars/smackdown/

Update, 11/5: YALSA will extend the application period to Nov. 30, 2009.

YALSA is seeking a Member Manager for its upcoming YA literature-focused blog (whose exact name is still to be determined) with the mission to provide an online resource for teens to use to find reading recommendations. This blog will focus solely on young adult literature and will provide teens with a definitive web connection to blog posts, images, booklists, and videos and more all related to teen reading.  The deadline for applications is October 30, 2009.

The Member Manager will lead an advisory board and together the group will be responsible for the content of the site. In addition, the Member Manager and the advisory board will solicit content submissions from the YALSA community.
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As part of a goal to provide quality continuing education opportunities to YALSA members and the library community, YALSA offers three sessions of e-courses per year as well as face-to-face licensed institutes. YALSA is currently looking for instructors for 2010 and 2011 to design and deliver curriculum for both types of learning experiences on the following topics:

• advocating for teen services
• incorporating youth participation into teen services
• readers’ advisory
• and innovative teen programming.

If you have experience in providing instruction to library workers, expertise in one of the topics mentioned above and are interested in developing the curriculum for it and teaching it, please complete the proposal form (Word doc) and send it to byoke@ala.org.

The e-courses are meant to be the equivalent of a full day face-to-face workshop, and will be offered online as a 4-week e-course. Licensed institutes are full day workshops. Instructors will be compensated for creating the curriculum and for facilitating the e-courses and institutes. Please submit your proposal by no later than October 30, 2009.

You know all about the $35,000+ in awards and grants that YALSA gives to members and that you can nominate books for YALSA’s literary and media awards. But ALA has many other awards and grant opportunities. After the jump, learn more about a few opportunities that are right up the youth services alley.

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