Innovative Technology: nominate your library!

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The American Library Association’s Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) is soliciting nominations for best library practices using cutting-edge technology.

“We want to showcase libraries that are serving their communities with novel and innovative methods and provide the library community with some successful models for delivering quality library service in new ways,” said Vivian Pisano, Chair of OITP’s America’s Libraries for the 21st Century Subcommittee.

If you wish to submit a nomination, please complete and submit the form available at http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oitp/Cutting%20Edge/Nomination-Form.doc Read More →

Twists on the Tale

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Put Rapunzel in the Wild West. Send the Lady of the Lake to Avalon High. Teach Elizabeth Bennet how to fight zombies or send the Marvel comic book Heroes and Villains back to 1602. The Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Committee is creating a ‘Twists on the Tale’ recommendation list for 2010. ‘ The list will include retellings of classic literature, folktales and fairytales, as well as stories with twists on iconic characters. Some titles nominated for the list are Jake, Reinvented by Gordon Korman, Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst, and Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman. You can find the current nomination list at www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/poppaper. Nominations open up on August 1st and field nominations are accepted. Please help us create a great list!

Librarian Demographics

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If you offer me a choice between going to a conference program and observing the work of a committee or board…I’ll pick the committee’  and board stuff almost every time. You’ll find debate, controversy, and loads of interesting discussions.

Yesterday, I observed the ALA Executive Board. They had a pretty interesting agenda, including a report on librarian demographics. It was fascinating stuff and merits discussion amongst a wider audience.

The demographers have not compiled their findings into a final report, and it will probably be a while before we see their interpretations. I’ll walk you through the slides, but keep in mind…while the numbers aren’t completely raw, you might consider them still medium-rare. Read More →

Committee on Literacy planning meeting

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The ALA Committee on Literacy invites members to a discussion and planning meeting on Saturday, July 11 at 1:30 pm at McCormick Place West in W-176c to share ideas about an exciting new project to support online information and learning opportunities for adults and teens with low reading skills.

The objective of this meeting is to explore the possibility of a national project to support cooperative collection development of online information portals for adults and teens with low literacy skills. Project participants would share responsibility for and access to a web library that will respond to the common information needs of teens and adults with low reading skills. Read More →

Outreach to Young Adults with Special Needs

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By now, I’m sure you know that YALSA is seeking to provide more and different ways for members to participate in the division.’  One of the ways this is happening is the transition of small committees to formats that allow for broader participation (with no conference attendance requirements!).

YALSA’s Outreach to Young Adults with Special Needs Committee is being restructured as an Interest Group so that any YALSA member interested in library services to young adults who do not or cannot use the library because of socioeconomic, legal, educational, or physical factors may participate. Read More →

Three cheers for Linda

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Hi-ho, Heidi the Blog Manager here, reporting to you live from my first day on the job. I’d like to start with a big round of applause for Linda Braun, who got this whole thing started and helped it grow to 10,000+ pageviews per month. Thanks, Linda, for your outstanding contributions to YALSA. If you’d like to take a little trip down memory lane, here’s Linda’s first post, back on January 9th, 2006.

What will ALA be in 2015?

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Every five years, ALA conducts a major evaluation of programs and services and plans for the future. A series of discussion forums will be held at state and regional meetings in the coming months to gather ideas.’  Be sure to attend and advocate for the interests of teens and YALSA! 9000 members participated in a recent survey to evaluate our progress towards the 2010 goals and help shape our association in the years to come. Were your opinions counted? Be on the lookout for opportunities to provide feedback and have a voice in ALA’s new strategic plan. What is your vision for the future of ALA?

Teen volunteers at the library

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My library has seen a surge of interest in volunteering lately, and we’re looking for ways to balance the number of people who’d like to volunteer with the energy and staff time it takes to manage a good volunteer program. We see lots of teens who have been assigned volunteer service as part of a probation agreement with the courts, and with the tight job market, some teens who can’t find work are searching for alternatives to gain experience that could land them a job in the future.

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Teen Librarians, YALSA, & The Economy – an EChat

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Howdy YALSA Members!

Please join YALSA Tuesday June 9th for a discussion about the impact of the recession on library workers who serve teens and how the association might provide support to our members in this economic climate. YALSA President Sarah Debraski will convene the discussion at 8:00PM, eastern in YALSA’s space on ALA Connect at http://connect.ala.org/yalsa. Please feel free to drop in any time between 8:00 and 9:00PM, eastern to share your thoughts and/or listen to what others have to say on the topic. Click on the link called ‘chat’ in the upper right corner of the page at any time between 8 and 9 to participate. Read More →