For this post I thought I would share my personal top 10 favorite YA websites.  Of course, the YALSA Blog would be on this list, as I check it at least once a week.  It is a great resource for YA librarians and for people who work with youth in general.  But, since you’re on the blog, reading this post, I’m going to assume you’re already aware of the awesomeness of the blog:)  The sites are listed in no particular order, with the exception of number 1, which deserves to be there. Please feel free to share your favorite sites in the comments section! (more…)

Have you heard? April 12 is YALSA’s first Booze for Books event.

What? What’s Booze for Books?
It’s a fundraising event in support of Books for Teens which focuses on raising money to get books into the hands of needy young adults.

How do you get involved?
The idea is that people around the country, and maybe around the world, will sponsor a Booze for Books fundraising event on April 12. Events can come in all shapes and sizes. You might have a book discussion group that night and ask those who attend to donate an amount of their choice to Books for Teens. (more…)

My colleague, YALSA member, ALA Emerging Leader, and first time conference attendee agreed for me to post her observations of Midwinter. I’ve no doubt we’ll be hearing from her more often! A warm welcome to Catherine Haydon! (more…)

ALA Council passed a resolution this morning in Support of Intellectual Freedom in Tucson Unified School District Mexican American Studies Program.
The full text of the WHEREAS clauses can be found on the Office of Intellectual Freedom site here.

The resolve clause reads:
1. Condemns the suppression of open inquiry and free expression caused by closure of ethnic and cultural studies programs on the basis of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
2. Condemns the restriction of access to educational materials associated with ethnic and cultural studies programs.
3. Urges the Arizona legislature to pass HB 2654, “An Act Repealing Sections 15-111 and 15-112, Arizona Revised Statutes: Relating to School Curriculum.

This resolution was moved by the Intellectual Freedom Committee and supported in principle by YALSA, among other divisions, committees and round tables.

The IFC also recommended that the resolution be sent to the Tucson Unified School District, the State of Arizona Department of Education Superintendent of Public Instruction, each member of the State of Arizona Legislature, the Governor of Arizona, United States Congressman Grijalva, and the United States Secretary of Education.

The Dallas Public Library was definitely the place to be last night. Starting with the reception that preceded his presentation, YA author/rock star John Green was swarmed by loyal readers who were anything but quiet!

In his introduction to John Green, Freedom to Read Foundation, (FTRF) President Kent Oliver shared a general overview of the kinds of cases the organization has been recently involved in; a harmful to minors statute to be applied to the Internet in Ohio, the removal of Vamos a Cuba in Florida, and video game bans in Illinois and Minnesota. FTRF is a legal arm of the American Library Association that John Green thanked several times throughout his presentation for their support to First Amendment Issues. (more…)

As a new YALSA blogger I should begin my first post with a short introduction. My name is Kim Anderson and I’m the Library Media Specialist at Jefferson Middle School in Champaign, Illinois. I’m a two-time graduate of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois (MLS, CAS), and I received my National Board Certification in 2008. I’ve been in education for fifteen years, seven in the classroom and six in the library. I was thirty-something when I finally found my calling in the library and have not looked back once. I love my work.  Love it.  When I’m not working, reading or thinking about the library I enjoy doing yoga, P90, Insanity Asylum, and gardening.  I recently decided I wanted to learn French and to play guitar.  Wish me luck.  Anyway, it is my love of talking and thinking about the library that lead me to start blogging here at YALSA.

At the beginning of each year our administration takes the JMS staff off campus for a retreat. I always arrive a bit early so I can walk out onto the docks and enjoy the peace of the lake while I think about where I want the school year to lead.  The solitude is short-lived though since the peacefulness doesn’t last long once the rest of the staff arrives. The day is always full of lively discussion, laughter and inspiration. This year our discussion centered around the research of Dr. Charles Hillman of the University of Illinois. Everyone was inspired by the idea that getting students moving could improve their academic gains. (You can check out “A Fit Body Means a Fit Mind”  if you want to read more).  The question is, how can I, the school librarian, help increase student fitness?  Last week the answer came in the form of two exercise bikes. In just under one hour we had two stationary bikes assembled in a corner of the library. They are battery operated (so no chords) and the wheels are completely silent.

The student interest was immediate. Now teachers just have to send their students to the library with a pass to read and ride. For now, the kids are enjoying a new place to move and I am happy to support a building-wide initiative.

Google texts and teen writing skills and you will get many articles on how texting negatively effects teen’s formal writing skills, all loaded with quotes from teachers about how they have seen the negative impact texting has on these skills.

The most interesting article I found was in the New York Times , printed in 2002 . The arguments made almost ten years ago are still the sames ones you will read about over and over in any article/blog/web forum today. Basically, that the shorthand teens use in text messaging is detrimental to their writing and can be found in written assignments, much to the frustration of their teachers.

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The Burlington Public Library in Burlington, Massachusetts has planned some exciting Teen Read Week events.

This is what we’ve shared with our teens:
Help us celebrate Teen Read Week from October 16-22. This year’s theme is: Picture It @ Your Library!

Teen Read Week Book Talk, Monday, October 17th from 3:30-4:15pm. Come to the Book Talk and learn more about graphic novels! Feel free to bring your own graphic novels to share.

 Teen Animanga Club – with giveaways! Don’t forget to check out this month’s Teen Animanga Club! Drop by the library Thursday, October 20 from 2:45-4pm!

Teen Read Week Party! Friday, October 21st from 3-4:30pm. Celebrate the end of Teen Read Week with some food and fun!

In addition, we are running a: Picture It! Contest

The Picture It! Contest will run from Sunday, October 16th to Saturday, October 22nd. Choose a favorite scene/quote from a book and illustrate it. Entry forms (including contest rules) will be available in the library starting Sunday, October 16th.

Please click here for the entry form.

Our public library regularly hosts film festivals for teens, offering them a choice of a variety of movies and allowing them to decide which to view that evening. We provide snacks and some quality company. For Teen Read Week, we focused on movie choices that were stories that originated as novels, including I Am Number Four and Flipped (the latter title was a huge hit with summer reading this past year). The focus of the PICTURE IT Film Festival was to point out that movies and books are two different perspectives on telling a story. For many readers, stories are told beautifully with words that allow us to create our own scenery and become connected to characters in our own ways. For just as many viewers, stories are told through images, colors, actions, and emotions portrayed directly through our physical senses. The stories are the same, but the perspectives are often vastly different. Some readers (and viewers) simply enjoy a different method of storytelling over another. It’s up to the readers and viewer to internalize the story in their own way, whether it’s read, seen, or both!

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Teen Read Week is the preferred week in our library calendar, largely because students refer to it as “cookie week”.  I am not above using shameless bribery to get kids into the library, particularly during the first two months of school, and I am the first to admit that my killer recipe for chocolate chip cookies has played a key role in my success as a librarian.

To my mind, theme weeks are a gift from the ALA gods.  Banned Books Week is my preferred method for teasing newbies into the library space in September (my library advisory board’s favorite display is all the books taught in our English curriculum which are banned in other schools or public libraries – it makes them feel like James Dean-esque rebels), but October is all about reading for fun, and that means playing up Teen Read Week in a big, big way.

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