In the spring issue of YALS, you’ll find an easy-to-reference listing of all the YALSA award winners and book and media lists announced at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. Since ebooks are on the rise, I thought I’d take a look at which of the winners are currently available as ebooks and which are available for libraries on OverDrive.

Counting the winners and honors of the awards (except for Odyssey) and the top ten books on the Best Fiction, Quick Picks, and Popular Paperback lists, we end up with 50 unique titles. Of those, 37 are available as ebooks that can be purchased through the usual channels including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Google Books. The only titles that aren’t available electronically are non-fiction titles, graphic novels, and older fiction titles. Of the 37 ebooks, 20 are available for libraries to lend in OverDrive, according to their search engine.

As the ebook market continues to grow, I expect we will see more backlist titles become available, while full-color ereaders and tablet computers will allow graphic-intensive books to be offered electronically. Whether or not more ebooks will be available for library lending, however, remains to be seen. I hope that next year, more of the award-winning and noteworthy books honored by YALSA will be available to as many readers as possible in their desired reading format. (more…)

Get ready– ALA Annual in Anaheim is just around the corner! Be sure to take advantage of Division Member advance rates – $230 for the entire conference by June 14th for YALSA members. Once you’ve registered, plan out your conference activities with the ALA Conference Scheduler. YALSA’s list of events at ALA Annual will give you plenty of options for your schedule!

After a long day of meetings, programs and ARCs, a new question arises: Where can you get a drink and some nibbles? We’re wrapping up our series on Orange County restaurants with one last recommendation:

(more…)

My library is in a community heavy on teen foot-traffic and light on teen activities (outside of the library), so during the summer it is common to see the room filled to the brim with teens escaping the heat, annoyed at the friends they have spent every hour of every day with, looking for something–anything–to do. How can we help them find that “anything” that actually keeps them entertained, and excited to return to do it again? Planning summer programs for a Teen Center is an imperfect art, but if you see it is such – an art – then you won’t feel as bad when things don’t come out perfectly, and conversely you will be astonished when the boring turns exciting. Here are a few passive and active programming ideas that I urge you to try in your own library. With a little money, and as little or as much librarian involvement as you can afford, these programs have the ability to interest the regulars and pull in the new patrons.

Art Gallery: If you have empty wall space, you have an art gallery. Post flyers calling for artists to submit their work, photography, drawings, paintings, computer graphics, etc. Using painters tape (which is safe for the walls and the art), hang the art. Make sure to include their name (and school? Age? Inspirational quote?) so they get credit. If funds and time permit, host an artist reception on the day you hang new art. Anyone whose art is hanging on the wall for that week/month (or however long of a rotation you decide upon) are guests of honor, but of course all library patrons can attend the “opening”. (more…)

In February, I posted about changes that were made to YALSA’s website that required a login to reach the selected lists and awards. I explained the rationale and indicated that there would be refinements in the process.

There have been refinements, but we haven’t done a very good job of sharing that information with you, so I want to apologize for that lack of timely communication and try to remedy it now.

First of all, I do apologize for the early glitches and for the unfriendliness of ALA’s web interface. It can be very discouraging to click on a link that says “login” and immediately get an “access denied” message. However, if you just click on the ALA login link in the upper right corner of the screen, all will be well. (more…)

Spring brings a time crunch for teen librarians everywhere: as the school year wraps up, public librarians must amp up for summer reading, and school librarians must set the media center to rights in those last, finals-crammed weeks.  There is no easier time of year to overwork ourselves.  However, if we wish our superiors to know our value, and if we care for a true work-life balance, the 40 hour work week must be honored. (more…)

App of the Week: iTranslate Voice

Cost: $0.99

Platform: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4S, iPod touch 3^rd/4th generation, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

I regularly hear the teens in my library grumble about their struggles in foreign language classes and having taken my share of Spanish classes, I can certainly relate.  It’s hard to remember a word’s spelling let along the pronunciation when you can only see it written. So when I recently stumbled upon this wonderful app, I knew I could not keep it to myself. iTranslate is definitely not the only language translation app on the market, but I am willing to bet that it very well may be the best. (more…)

Another aspect of the CSLP theme “Own the Night” is Mad Science which ties in excellently with the 2012 BFYA pick, This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel. The book follows young Victor Frankenstein’s early attempts at alchemy as he strives to create the Elixir of Life to restore his ill twin brother. There are so many science programs that could be linked up with this book. Here are a few of my favorites. (more…)

It was spring of 2011. I had only been an intern for a few months at Patchogue-Medford, and I was just a face to many people in the area. Barbara Moon was looking for volunteers for the first Author’s Unlimited, and I showed up decked out for work. Tie and all.  Imagine my surprise when everyone was wearing yellow. It was my job to greet, so I stood outside the doors to St. Joseph’s Danzi Center.  Barbara tells me I did an excellent job greeting, but I’m not sure how I could have screwed that up.  In between bouts of providing directions, I stared at the trees across the athletic field and pondered my new profession.

(more…)

Do you remember the first search engine you ever used? Was it Alta Vista? (That dates some of us.) Was it Google? Have you noticed how search has changed over the years? Some search engines no longer exist, new ones arrive on the scene (and sometimes depart pretty quickly) and others change in order to remain relevant. The world of search is not static and Google’s Knowledge Graph that launched recently shows just how true that is.
(more…)

A weekly short list of tweets that librarians and the teens that they serve may find interesting.

Do you have a favorite Tweet from the past week? If so add it in the comments for this post. Or, if you read a Twitter post between May 25 and May 31 that you think is a must for the next Tweets of the Week send a direct or @ message to lbraun2000 on Twitter.
(more…)