Contribute to Our Newest Book! Have a great teen programming idea that’s inexpensive? (Like, less than $100.) You could have it published in Cool Teen Programs under $100, edited by Jenine Lillian. You can find the questionnaire for the form online at www.tinyurl.com/under100 and send it to coolteenprograms@gmail.com by Nov. 20. Those whose programs are chosen for publication will be notified by Jan. 16.

YALSA’s Hitting the Road: We want to have a YALSA presence at a library conference in every state in 2009! If you’re planning on attending your state’s public or school library association conference in 2009 and are willing to volunteer some of your time to represent YALSA, we want to hear from you. The deadline to volunteer is Friday, November 14. You don’t need to be a teen services expert or a long-time member—you just need to have some enthusiasm and some time to volunteer. Apply for one of these options: host a social event, present a program or staff an exhibit booth. Learn more at the YALSA Road Trip wiki.

Find out more news from the YALSA Office after the jump.

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The ALA Public Programs Office and YALSA are accepting applications for the next round of Great Stories CLUB grants.  Electronic applications will be accepted through November 14 at www.ala.org/greatstories. Funding was provided for this program by Oprah’s Angel Network.

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Had a Great Teen Read Week Program? Tell Us: We know you all had amazing plans for Teen Read Week. Make sure to enter your event in the Best Teen Read Week Celebration Contest, from YALSA, AdLit.Org, Mirrorstone, 2008 TRW corporate sponsor. You could win one of two author visits or a prize pack from YALSA and AdLit.org! The deadline to enter is Nov. 7.

YALSA’s Hitting the Road: We have set a goal to have a YALSA presence at a library conference in every state in 2009! If you’re planning on attending your state’s public or school library association conference in 2009 and are willing to volunteer some of your time to represent YALSA, we want to hear from you. The deadline to volunteer has been extended to Nov. 14th. You don’t need to be a teen services expert or a long-time member—you just need to have some enthusiasm and some time to volunteer. Please feel free to team up with friends or colleagues in your state, too. Based on your interest and availability, you can choose to apply for one of these options: host a social event, present a program or staff an exhibit booth. Learn more at the YALSA Road Trip wiki.

Find out more news from the YALSA Office after the jump.

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The votes are in … and Stephenie Meyer again rises to the top of the Teens’ Top Ten! More than 8,000 teens voiced their choice for their favorite books in the annual Teens’ Top Ten poll during Teen Read Week, Oct. 12-18, with “Eclipse,” the third book in Meyer’s vampire series easily taking first place. This is Meyer’s second time atop the Teens’ Top Ten list, as “New Moon” took the top slot last year.

Thanks to YALSA’s YA Galley committee and the fifteen teen book groups who made this year’s list possible! (Want to learn more? Check out the YA Galley Participants page on the YALSA site.)

Here’s the full list:

1. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
4. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
5. Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
6. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
7. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
8. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
9. Before I Die by Jenny Downham
10. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone who voted!

Teen Read Week Is Almost Here! Teen Read Week starts on Sunday! Bookmark www.ala.org/teenread and have your teens begin voting for the 2009 theme (voting doesn’t open until Sunday)! The theme options are: Seek the Unknown @ your library®, Read Beyond Reality @ your library or Unbelievable Reads @ your library.

Got a Cool Event for Teen Read Week? Tell Us! Visit YALSA’s Teen Read Week wiki and tell us what your Teen Read Week plans are! And after Teen Read Week, make sure to enter your event in the Best Teen Read Week Celebration Contest, from YALSA, AdLit.Org, Mirrorstone, 2008 TRW corporate sponsor.

And Don’t Forget the Teens’ Top Ten! Teens’ Top Ten voting starts Sunday as well! Encourage your teens to vote in the only booklist created entirely by and for teens! We’ve also developed a widget to add to your library blog or site to encourage teens to vote. Download the button to the left and link back to www.ala.org/teenstopten beginning Oct. 12.

Find out more news from the YALSA Office after the jump.

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One of the highlights of working in the YALSA office is I get to see all of the amazing ways people celebrate and promote Teen Read Week. One popular promotional tool I’ve seen this year is the Teen Read Week trailer. Here are two great examples: one featuring teens at the Kendall Young Library in Webster City, Iowa (thanks to librarian Bonnie Korslund for sharing!), and the other from the Readergirlz, for their Night Bites chat series, in which they’re sponsoring live chats with YA authors each night of Teen Read Week.

If you’re interested in creating your own trailer, go for it! Just make sure to tag it “yalsa” and “trw08″ when you put it up on YouTube.

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This Is Your Last Chance to Save. After tomorrow, registration for the Young Adult Literature Symposium rises to onsite pricing. If you’re on the fence about going, visit the Symposium website and register before the pricing expires! Unfortunately, tickets are no longer available to the preconference or the genre luncheon. We are not opening up any more spots on the waiting list.

Midwinter Advanced Registration Open! Advanced registration is now available for the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver, Jan. 23-28! Register for Midwinter by Dec. 5 and save over onsite registration prices. Housing is open as well. In addition, if you purchased 2009 bundled registration, you were not able to register for special events like YALSA’s Serving Today’s Diverse Teens Institute or the YALSA Mixer and Tech Playground on Jan. 23.  If you’re interested in attending either the institute or the mixer, be sure to visit the Midwinter website and sign up today. Want to see what YALSA’s doing in Denver? Check out the YALSA wiki.

Find out more news from the YALSA Office after the jump.

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It’s Deadline Week for YALSA! Committee volunteer forms are due to the YALSA office on Tuesday; bundled registration for 2009 Midwinter and Annual end on Tuesday; applications for the YALSA Road Trip are due Tuesday; questions for our podcast with ALA President Jim Rettig are due Wednesday; and online course registration and advanced registration for the YA Lit Symposium end Friday.

Find out how to complete all your tasks for next week after the jump…

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As you begin the new academic year, think about tools available from YALSA to help you reach the future librarians in your classrooms! With more than 30 million teens in the U.S. today, no matter what type of librarianship your students choose, they’ll be interacting with teen library users in some way.

Supplement Your Syllabus with Free Stuff from YALSA

YALSA is happy to provide handouts about its grants and awards, special events, initiatives, membership, and more, as well as swag including pens, posters and pins. Interested? Fill out the Materials Request Form on our website. If you’d like free copies of our journal, Young Adult Library Services, for your classroom (limited quantities), please contact us at yalsa@ala.org.

We can also help you with guest speakers! If you’re looking for someone to discuss YALSA or any aspect of young adult literature or YA librarianship, YALSA can connect you with an expert speaker. Contact Beth Yoke at byoke@ala.org for more information.

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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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