The YALSA Update: Shortlists, Midwinter Registration & More

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Promote the Morris Award shortlist @ your library‘® The Morris shortlist is out! You can promote it to teens in your library with a downloadable bookmark (PDF) that allows you to put each book’s location at your library and customize the back with your logo and contact information. Congrats to this year’s five nominees!

Nonfiction Award shortlist next week Watch YALSA’s website and this blog to see the shortlist for YALSA’s 2010 Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award! The shortlist will be announced next week. This new award honors the best fiction written for young adults in a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year. Learn more at www.ala.org/yalsa/nonfiction.

Register for YALSA’s Midwinter events Even though today is the last day to receive the advanced registration discount, prices won’t change for either of YALSA’s pre-Midwinter ticketed events:’  Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition and Games, Gadgets and Gurus. You don’t need to register for Midwinter to attend either one.’  Details and how to register for them after the jump (you can read about everything we have planned for Midwinter Meeting, including a free program and reception honoring the 2010 Morris and Nonfiction Award honorees, at the YALSA Midwinter Wiki).

Read on for details on YALSA’s pre-Midwinter events, the Young Adult Literature Symposium Stipend, Teen Tech Week registration, and YALSA’s winter online courses.

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Getting Ready for Midwinter: The YALSA Board

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In eight weeks I’ll be in Boston for Midwinter 2010. I’m arriving early to go to ALISE (The Association for Library and Information Science Education) which this year includes a YALSA Happy Hour on Tuesday evening January 12, and a YALSA Booth throughout the ALISE conference. Along with getting ready for ALISE activities, I’m also spending time preparing for YALSA Board discussions that will take place in Boston. Board members are now looking over the draft agenda for these meetings and providing feedback on plans for discussions. Topics up for discussion include:

  • ALA Committee Participation Policy Change – Recently ALA changed the rules regarding the number of virtual members that could be appointed to Division committees. Previously, YALSA was limited to having 1/3 of the members of any committees, that allowed for virtual participation, to be virtual. With the new ALA policies on virtual committee member participation, there is no limit on the number of virtual members that can be a part of a committee. There is also now the possibility for some committees to be made entirely virtual. Read More →

The Best of Boston

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Midwinter is rapidly approaching. Those of us who already live in Boston don’t have much to do besides feel smug about how much we’re saving on airfare, but for folks coming in from out of town–particularly if it’s your first time in our fair city–no doubt the questions have already started. Is there anything to do on the waterfront? What’s the best way to get around the city? Where have all the R’s gone, and what is this “chowdah” you speak of?

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The YALSA Update: Emerging Leaders, Midwinter Events & More

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Congratulations! YALSA named its two 2010 Emerging Leaders! Anna Koval, teacher-librarian at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma, California, and Amy Barr, youth services librarian and assistant director at Kilgore Memorial Library in York, Nebraska. Both will attend the 2010 Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference. The Emerging Leaders are funded through the Friends of YALSA.

E-Chat Next Week! Mark your calendars! YALSA’s monthly online chats return next week in ALA Connect. On Nov. 4, we’ll be discussing inexpensive programming and ways to stretch your programming dollars with Jenine Lillian, editor of the new YALSA book, Cool Teen Programs for under $100. To join us, visit YALSA’s area in ALA Connect. 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.”

Lit Blog Applications and CE Proposals Due 10/30! Interested in editing YALSA’s new blog, focused exclusively on teen literature? Read the announcement to see the qualifications and find out how to apply. The deadline to propose new continuing education (online courses and face-to-face institutes) is tomorrow as well; see our announcement for topic ideas and the proposal form. Applications for the new blog manager and the CE proposals are both due to Beth Yoke at byoke@ala.org tomorrow.

After the jump, find out how you can sign up for special events at ALA’s Midwinter Meeting, apply for $40K in grants and awards, promote the Teens’ Top Ten at your library, or receive a stipend to attend the 2010 Young Adult Literature Symposium.

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The YALSA Update: Technology Proposals, Midwinter Events and More!

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Show off your Teen Tech Week skills Tell us about your amazing Teen Tech Week plans! YALSA and the Technology for Young Adults committee seek presenters for a poster session on Teen Tech Week best practices for the 2010 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. Applications are due on Oct. 17.’  Learn more and apply at the Tech Poster Session webpage.

Get the word out for Teen Read Week Teen Read Week is coming up fast! Tell your community and school what you’re planning by using the Teen Read Week publicity tools and listing your events on the 2009 Teen Read Week wiki.

Register for YALSA’s pre-Midwinter events Registration is now open for YALSA’s pre-Midwinter events! Sign up for the Midwinter Institute, “Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition” (featuring Cory Doctorow and others) and’ Midwinter Social Event,’ “Games, Gadgets & Gurus.” Register for both and save! Register through Midwinter registration or, if you only want to attend these two events, by downloading this form (PDF; skip section I) and following the directions at the YALSA wiki.’ Want to add these events to an existing registration? You can add events two ways: (1) By phone: Call ALA Registration at 1-800-974-3084 and ask to add a workshop to your existing registration.; (2) Online: Add an event to your existing registration by clicking on this link. Use your log in and password to access your existing Midwinter registration and add events in the “Your Events” section (screen 6). Then simply check out and pay for the events you’ve added. You can see all of YALSA’s plans for Midwinter at the YALSA Midwinter Wiki, http://bit.ly/yalsamw2010.

After the jump, find out how to apply to edit YALSA’s new literature blog, propose new continuing education for YALSA, and apply for more than $40,000 in grants and awards from YALSA!

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Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition

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Just years ago the Library 2.0 concept rocketed to fame, with libraries across the country adopting user-center practices, policies and content. Library 2.0 encourages libraries to constantly update their services and content to best serve their users. The need to keep services, convenient and user-centered is especially important in teen services where our users are constantly changing themselves. This asks teen librarians to constantly rethink their collection and services, not an easy task.

If you are ready to leap ahead with the next incarnation of library services to teens join us for Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition Institute in Boston. Registration for the institute opens today, October 1st. Participants will hear a speech from teen author and technology blogger Cory Doctorow (via Skype), as well as a thought provoking keynote speech by acting California State Librarian and futurist, Stacey Aldrich. Join in the discussion with librarians Laura Pearle, Wendy Stephens, and Buffy Hamilton as they present “Flip This Library” and rethink your library’s space and services for teens. Read More →

The YALSA Update: Back to School

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YALSA’s Online Courses Cooler temperatures, falling leaves … why not complete the picture by signing up for one of YALSA’s Online Courses this fall? YALSA is offering three courses’  (including two brand-new ones!): 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.

Bundled Registration Open If you’re planning to attend both ALA conferences this year (Midwinter Meeting in Boston, Jan. 15-19 and Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., June 24-29) , take advantage of bundled registration and save 20% off of advanced registration for each conference separately. You’ll be able to register for hotels now, too. Starting Oct. 1, you can add registration for YALSA’s Midwinter Institute, “Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition” and YALSA’s Midwinter Social Event, “Games, Gadgets & Gurus.”

After the jump, learn how you can propose a program or paper for the 2010 YA Lit Symposium, see how you can preorder YALSA’s newest book, tell YALSA your opinion on future continuing education topics, and find out deadlines for the Teens’ Top Ten and Teen Read Week.

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The YALSA Update: Teens’ Top Ten voting starts and more!

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Teens’ Top Ten Voting Begins Monday! The Teens’ Top Ten opens for voting on Monday! Teens can vote for their favorite books from the past year at the Teens’ Top Ten website through Sept. 18. We’re giving teens four weeks to vote this year, to make sure that every teen’s vote counts. Winners will be announced in a webcast featuring World Wrestling Entertainment Superstars and Divas (plus a few special guests!) during Teen Read Week, Oct. 18-24.

Canada: The New Frontier for the WrestleMania Reading Challenge For the first time, YALSA and World Wrestling Entertainment will open registration for the WrestleMania Reading Challenge to Canadian residents, excluding Quebec. Registration at this time is open only to residents of Canada (excluding Quebec). Canadian librarians can sign up using an online form through Aug. 31.

Go Back to School with YALSA Relive your school days and sign up for YALSA’s top-notch professional development! We’re offering three classes for the fall session (including two brand-new courses). Join us for 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. Registration ends Oct. 2.

After the jump, find out about how to propose a session or win a travel stipend for the YA Lit Symposium in 2010, encourage your patrons to nominate you for the 2009 I Love My Librarian Award, sign up for Teen Read Week, and more.

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