YALSA’s Selected Lists: Now Available!

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YALSA’s 2010 Selected Lists are now available online! To see the best recommended materials for teen reading, viewing, and listening, visit the following lists:

You can learn more about all of YALSA’s selected lists, as well as our literary awards, at www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists.

Thank you to all our hard-working committees for creating this year’s lists.

Happy reading!

The YALSA Update: Midwinter & More

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Midwinter starts next week! Even if you’re not attending, there’s plenty for you to know as YALSA and ALA head to Boston.

Morris/Nonfiction Book Trailer Contest: Teens at your library could win a box of books and a $100 gift certificate to a major bookseller; you could win $200 in books from YALSA! Encourage teens at your library to create book trailers featuring the finalists from the 2010 Morris Award or Nonfiction Award and upload them to YouTube by Jan. 17, tagged either “yalsamorris” or “yalsanf.” Read the official rules (PDF)’  to learn more.

Keep up with what’s going on YALSA will be blogging, podcasting, and Twittering from Midwinter. We’ll have liveblogs of a few events, including the BBYA Teen Session, the Youth Media Awards, and the Morris/Nonfiction presentation.’  We’ll also be covering important board decisions, like those about YALSA’s selected lists and virtual participation. Follow along on the blog or YALSA’s Twitter page. Coming to Midwinter? Join the conversation by tagging your blog posts, tweets, and Flickr photos with #yalsa and #alamw10 #mw2010 .

Watch the Youth Media Awards in the comfort of your library or home ALA will provide a free live webcast of its Youth Media Awards on Jan. 18, starting at 7:45 a.m. The number of available connections for the Webcast is limited and the broadcast is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Online visitors can view the live Webcast the morning of the announcements by going to http://alawebcast.unikron.com.

If you’re going to Boston, see what we have planned after the jump, including the Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition institute, the Games, Gadgets, and Gurus social event, the Youth Media Awards announcement, and the Morris/Nonfiction Award Reception.

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Start Your New Year with YALSA

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YALSA’s First Wednesdays continue in 2010! Join us tomorrow for an online chat in YALSA’s space in ALA Connect (you must be a member to participate). The chat will take place at 8 p.m. Eastern, with the topic of “Start Your New Year with YALSA.” Hosted by President Linda Braun and President-Elect Kim Patton, participants will chat about the many ways you can get involved with our association, whether it’s participating online by joining an interest group in ALA Connect, proposing a program for Annual 2011, volunteering for a committee, or something else.

YALSA members should use their login for the ALA website. If you’ve lost your password, you can recover it through the ALA website. Once logged in, head to the YALSA area (it’s http://connect.ala.org/yalsa or you can navigate there within Connect by choosing “YALSA” from under “My ALA Groups”) and then click “Chats.”

Can’t make it? The transcript will be posted on the YALSA Blog on Thursday.

YALSA Podcast #79: Meet YALSA’s staff

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In this podcast, YALSA Communications Specialist Stephanie Kuenn talks to the rest of YALSA’s staff about their work and how they serve members. Listen to interviews with:

  • Beth Yoke, executive director;
  • Letitia Smith, membership coordinator;
  • Eve Gaus, program officer for continuing education;
  • Nichole Gilbert, program officer for events and conferences; and
  • Stevie Kuenn, communications specialist.

Listen

You can also download this podcast, and others, at YALSA’s Podcasts site.

YALSA’s Monthly Online Chats

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YALSA is now hosting online chats every month in our space in ALA Connect! It’s an easy, inexpensive way to be more engaged in YALSA and talk with other librarians about topics that matter in teen services. Chats take place the first Wednesday of each month from 8-9 p.m. Eastern and each one has a specific theme. Our next chat will be on Sept. 2, with Carla Land, chair of the Teen Read Week committee, moderating a discussion on Teen Read Week.

In our last membership survey, members indicated overwhelmingly that they sought more opportunities for virtual participation. The monthly online chats are one way that we are providing our members with what they want from us.

After the jump, find out topics for future chats – we’ve chosen themes through January – and how to log in and participate. Have a suggestion? Leave it in the comments.

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YALSA Board of Directors Meeting

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The YALSA Board of Directors will meet via conference call on Aug. 25, 3:30-5 p.m Eastern. Members interested in listening to the discussion can email yalsa@ala.org or call 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4390, for the phone number and passcode.

The YALSA Update: Symposium Proposals, Emerging Leaders & More

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YALSA’s YA Lit Symposium Needs You Think about joining YALSA in 2010 for the Young Adult Literature Symposium, Nov. 5-7, 2010, in Albuquerque, N.M, with a theme’  of “Beyond Good Intentions: Teens, Literature and Diversity.” Proposals for programs, papers, and the preconference will be accepted at the symposium website through Oct. 1. We’re also giving away two stipends to offset travel costs, one for someone whose worked directly with teens in a library setting for ten years or less and one for a student in an ALA-accredited MLS program (you must be enrolled in an MLS program at the start of the symposium); stipend applications are due by Jan. 4, 2010. Details on both are available at www.ala.org/yalitsymposium.

Be an Emerging Leader! YALSA will sponsor two Emerging Leaders for 2010. The Emerging Leaders program enables newer librarians from across the country to participate in problem-solving work groups; network with peers; gain an inside look into ALA structure, and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity. It puts them on the fast track to ALA and professional leadership. Applications are due Aug. 7. Learn more at the Emerging Leaders wiki.

After the jump, details on our online courses and member grants!

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The YALSA Update: Online Courses, E-Chats, & More!

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YALSA is back from Annual Conference, re-energized and ready to serve. See more about what happened at Annual in Linda Braun’s post-conference wrap-up post.

Annual handouts online! You can download materials from ALA Annual Conference (including YALSA’s events and programs) from the ALA Presentations Wiki at http://presentations.ala.org.

YALSA’s monthly e-chats are back! YALSA will host an online chat on the first Wednesday of each month at 8 p.m. Eastern, starting August 5. For our next-echat, on August 5, President Linda Braun and members of her presidential advisory task force will lead the discussion on taking smart risks for teen services, as part of her presidential theme, Risky Business. Join us in YALSA’s space in ALA Connect on August 5 at 8 p.m. Eastern!

Online course registration open! Register today for one of YALSA’s fall online courses. This fall, we’re offering three courses (including two brand-new classes!): AIMing at Tweens: Advising, Involving, Motivating (taught by Teri Lesesne); Graphic Novels and Teen Readers: The Basics and Beyond (taught by Francisca Goldsmith) and Reaching Teens with Gaming (taught by Beth Gallaway). Read descriptions and register at YALSA’s Online Courses page.

After the jump, learn more about the symposium, Young Adult Library Services’ new award, and how you can help YALSA engage in Risky Business this year.

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Teens Top Ten Nominees: Wherever Nina Lies

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http://www.thisispoint.com/books/whereverninalies.asp

Ellie has wondered for two years about her older sister Nina, who disappeared randomly one day. Everyone thinks Nina just ran away, but Ellie decides to look for Nina, since no one else will. Her search leads her to Sean, who empathizes over the loss of a sibling. Together, they begin a cross-country hunt for Nina, tracing credit card slips and phone numbers, hoping to discover who Nina really was. Read More →