For the longest time, it seemed like I couldn’t turn around without reading another Librarians: Not Just For Books Anymore article or blog post. You know the kind–profiles of hip, edgy librarians by journalists who are shocked, just Shocked! to find a librarian running a gaming event, or teaching web 2.0 skills, or maintaining the library’s virtual presence with social networking tools. (Bonus points if the accompanying picture features a tattooed librarian!)

At the time, it was easy enough to just roll my eyes, or play Librarian Stereotype Bingo by looking for mentions of shushing or buns. (Seriously, did there used to be some weird hybrid of library and finishing school that churned out librarians with a uniform hairstyle? Is this a Thing? What is with all the emphasis on buns?!)

But now, it seems, we’ve reached new era when it comes to libraries in the news and blogosphere: the era of Libraries: Ur Doin It Rong.

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As we get closer to Annual (just 38 days left!), maybe some of you have started to look through the schedule to choose the sessions you want to attend. Did YALSA’s Speed Networking for Librarians catch your eye?

Are you the only teen services librarian at your library? Tired of being lonely and want a simple way to connect with your peers? Attend this informal event to meet colleagues from around the country and exchange practical ideas and information to help you bolster your teen services program.

This program is inspired by the speed dating model of getting to know someone: participants will be divided into smallish groups and seated two groups at a table. Every few minutes, groups will swap tables, giving you a chance to get to know a lot of fellow YALSA members in a more personal way in a short period of time. The event will be on Saturday, June 25th from 1:30 to 3:30pm.

Here’s where you come in: we need volunteers to help facilitate conversations at each table. You’ll be provided with a list of questions and discussion topics ahead of time, so your basic responsibility will just be to keep the conversation going. This is a great chance to dip your toe into volunteering at Annual if you haven’t done that yet and to expand your professional network. It’s also an opportunity for more seasoned YALSA members to help out at an event where new members and students will be present, which will help them feel welcome within our organization.

If you’re interested in being a facilitator, please email me. And if being a facilitator doesn’t sound like you, at least consider participating in the speed networking event!

Thank you to everyone who completed the Strategic Plan survey in March.  The complete results can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/6frdks5.

During Annual Conference, a special Strategic Planning Session will be held Saturday, June 25 from 10:00-12:00 in the convention center, room 352. All members are encouraged to attend and participate by discussing the issues and trends in the field important to them.

Because the plan drives all YALSA activities and initiatives for the next 3-5 years, it’s vital that members share their opinions on what direction the new plan should take.   You won’t want to miss this opportunity to be involved in the future of YALSA! (Check the wiki for more details about this and other YALSA events at Annual.)

A short list of tweets posted over the last week that librarians and the teens that they serve may find interesting:

• “Social Privacy in Networked Publics: Teens’ Attitudes, Practices & Strategies” (draft paper by me, @alicetiara) http://bit.ly/ixbtHk – @zephoria
• Teens using Facebook DO care about privacy too. http://www.boingboing.net/2011/05/09/teens-and-privacy-on.html – @RoundShapeApril
• Another smart piece on privacy from @ceciliakang – With quick click, teens online part with privacy: http://wapo.st/mtttSS – @mary_madden
• Taylor Swift takes on the bullies in her new video. WATCH: http://slate.me/mdQ9f5 #goodmessage – @slate
• Library of Congress Launches A National Jukebox http://rww.to/mahKhU – @rww (more…)

A few weeks ago Lafayette Public Library along with the local Juvenile Detention Center hosted a visit by the Neighborhood Story Project (NSP) and one of their young adult authors, Daron Crawford.  The NSP is an amazing organization that works with individuals of New Orleans to tell there own story in their own words.  They have published two sets of books by high school students. These books give the reader a unique insider view of real teen life in New Orleans.  The NSP staff works intensively with the teens during and after school to help them document their own story with interviews of family and friends and photographs of their neighborhood and the people in it.  Daron Crawford was one of the authors of the latest set of books that was published in 2009.  He has since graduated from high school and is in culinary school in New Orleans.  Check out the books of the Neighborhood Story Project while in New Orleans.  http://www.neighborhoodstoryproject.org

-Amy Wander

April was National Autism Awareness Month, but now that we are well in to May it is important to not forget how autism affects our communities and the teens we work with. Autism is a term used to describe a spectrum of brain development disorders, including PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified), Asperger’s Syndrome, Rett Syndrome and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. One in 110 children in the United States is diagnosed with autism, making it one of the most prevalent childhood disorders. Based on the statistics, the chances are that at least one of the teens you interact with is affected by autism.  What can we do as librarians to serve young adults with autism?

The most important thing to remember is that autism is a spectrum disorder, and no two young adults with autism will have identical needs.  Like many librarian-patron interactions, it is sometimes most useful to ask the person or his or her caretaker, “Is there something I can help you with?” For some great ideas about how you can offer better services for patrons with autism, check out Libraries and Autism: We’re Connected. The organization has produced a series of customer service training videos that are worth watching if you are interested in learning more about libraries and how we can assist this underserved population.

Gagdets, and gizmos, and apps! Oh, my!  Keeping up with technology trends and incorporating new tools into library programming and promotion can be daunting—but it doesn’t have to be.

Join us at the 2011 YALSA Preconference: The Nuts & Bolts of Serving Teens, where Jesse Vieau will share his experiences using technology in teen programming and library promotion.  Jesse is the Teen Services Librarian at the Madison (WI) Public Library.  Formerly a Teen Services Librarian in the Loft @ ImaginOn, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, Jesse’s work with teens includes collaborating with teen interns using Google Docs, facilitating digital projects in teen detention centers, and hosting a digital petting zoo in which teens mentor senior citizens as they explore new technology.

At The Nuts & Bolts of Serving Teens, Jesse will deliver ideas for practical, inexpensive ways you can use technology as you work with teens.  You will discover new tools, gadgets, hardware, and software that are easy to use and appealing to teens.  Jesse will also share his tips for using technology to manage your heavy workload and to promote library services to teens.  You will leave the event with a list of user-friendly tools, and will be ready to implement new programs or services at your library.

The preconference will also include presentations on core competencies for teen librarians, collection management, teen behavior, and developing relationships between your library and teens, and is scheduled for 12:30-4:30 PM on June 24 in New Orleans.

To add The Nuts & Bolts of Serving Teens to your 2011 ALA Annual Conference Registration, visit http://www.alaannual.org/ or call 1-800-974-3084. Registration for 2011 ALA Annual Conference is not necessary to participate in the preconference. Tickets for the event cost $129 and include light refreshments.

Maybe it’s not warm enough where you are to be thinking about New Orleans in June.  Maybe you have yet to register.  Regardless…ALA Annual Conference is only 42 days away.

The first issue of pre-conference Cognotes was sent out via e-mail yesterday morning, reminding us that we are one step closer to presenting, exhibiting, learning, observing, networking, shopping, and experiencing everything that Annual and New Orleans have to offer.  Using Cognotes as my guide, let me point out a few YALSA-related things that may be of interest to you.  Start working on your schedule now.

- Is there an LGBTQ community in your library?  Do you want to make your library a safe space?  Attend Friday night’s Opening General Session with guest speaker Dan Savage.  He and his husband started the It Gets Better Project that encourages young people to look towards the future, instead of letting the anger and hate from today’s bullies get the best of them.  This could be the inspiration to start your own LGBTQ program at your library.

- Is your library overrun with tweens?  Attend the Jeff Kinney talk on Saturday morning and make all your tween patrons jealous!  The creator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid has used graphic artistry and hilarious storylines to turn reluctant readers into kids who fight over who gets to read it first (and again and again and again).

- Visit the Graphic Novel Pavilion in the exhibit hall through the weekend.  From guest speakers to panels, you will definitely hear some interesting stuff!  Near the stage are graphic novel and comic book exhibitors, so be sure to ask them what is the hot new thing on the market.  This will be especially enlightening to those of us who don’t know too much about graphic novels and comic books.  Start here where you have enthusiasts ready to teach you!  Side note: go see the documentary Comic Book Literacy on Monday in Auditorium C of the Convention Center.

- Head on over to the Gaming Pavilion to learn about new games that fit into library programming as well as class curriculums (here’s looking at you, school library media specialists!).

- Attend a YALSA-sponsored pre-conference and get pumped before the festivities officially begin Friday night.  The Nuts & Bolts for Serving Teens Preconference is four straight hours, jam-packed with guest speakers giving you tips on “providing basic but effective programs and services for teens”.  This could be especially useful for those newbies (n00bs) who want to work with teens, but haven’t a clue where to begin!

There is a lot to think about when it comes to planning for ALA.  What exhibits/vendors do I make sure I see?  Which guest speakers should I hear?  What preconference is best for me?  Before putting any ink to your planner, consider what you want to get out of the entire weekend.  Is there a problem at your library that you would like to fix?  Has your director given you a task?  What is most important to you professionally?  Answer these questions before you get to New Orleans, and you will find yourself in exactly the right places.

On Monday and Tuesday, YALSA President Kim Patton, YALSA Executive Director Beth Yoke, and I went to Washington, D.C., to represent YALSA at National Library Legislative Day. On Monday, we met with several hundred other librarians and library supporters from 49 states for some briefings from ALA’s Washington Office staff. They gave us information about the current state of appropriations and other library-related legislation. They gave us tips on talking to legislators and their staffs, and an overview of the current climate on the Hill.

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Title: Fruit Ninja
Platform: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch (also available in a slightly different format for Android)
Cost: .99

Say you’re a hungry ninja with a hankering for fruit salad, but it’s just not as satisfying if you don’t make it yourself, with your sword.  Fruit Ninja is a fast paced action game that gets you slicing up fruit with a satisfying squelch.  Slide your finger across the screen in a sword’s swipe to slice  fruit, but make sure you don’t slice any bombs.

There are three game modes available: Regular, where if you miss three fruits or hit any bombs, it’s game over, Arcade: where you have 60 seconds to slice as many fruits as you can, get bonuses like fruit frenzy or freeze, and have bombs that deduct points rather than end your game, and Zen mode: 90 seconds, no bombs, nothing but fruit.  Sensei Ninja keeps track of your achievements and provides Jeopardy-worthy  fruit trivia between rounds. (The watermelon is cousins with  cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash.)

Fruit Ninja links up with social gaming network OpenFeint , which allows you to  invite friends from Facebook and Twitter,  keep track of scores, and challenge the high scorers.

Recommended by teens for everybody. This game has some of my regulars saying:

“It’s fantastic and fruit is delicious!”

“It has good graphics, no visible pixels, especially when the fruit splits. And it’s addictive.”

It’s apps like these that make me want to get a couple of iPod Touches just for gaming at my library. But while I’m figuring out how to do that, go download Fruit Ninja and start slicing and dicing!