Just thought I’d introduce myself to you.  I’m Lisa Houde, Youth Services Librarian at the Rye Public Library.  My position includes serving not only young adults, but all kids through the 12^th grade.  I’ve recently inherited the job of YALS President as I served last year as Vice President.  I’m honored to serve in this position as I believe strongly in advocating for YA librarians who in turn advocate for the young adults in our community.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your membership in YALS, and to express my hopes that you might be able to attend one of our meetings.  The next meeting will be held at the Exeter Public Library on Thursday, January 28^th.  We meet informally at 9:30 for refreshments, and the meeting itself begins at 10:00 and normally runs until around noon.  These are dynamic meetings in which members offer fantastic ideas that you can bring back to your library!  Attending the meetings, for me, has been so helpful in giving me the perspective of other YA librarians and the challenges they face.  Join the meeting and have fun at the same time!  If you have any suggestions about meeting times or would like to offer topics for discussion, please don’t hesitate to let me know!

One more thing, please encourage your high school-aged patrons to submit nominations for The Flume Award.  The committee will be meeting in April to discuss nominated titles and select the final thirteen; in the mean time, we use the wiki to encourage discussion of titles from January through March.  Expect an email from Ann Hoey in January giving you information about how you can participate in wiki discussions.  The Flume selection committee needs you!  We could sure use more people to join our committee, and again, these are fun and exciting discussions.  Help us out!  If you aren’t able to attend the meetings, consider being a reader!
Thanks for your time, and I hope to be seeing you soon!

Lisa Houde

Posted by Ann H. at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was asked by YALSA to post so here it goes. It's kind of long...

YALSA is coming to Boston! In addition to our special events at ALA Midwinter Meeting (see them all at http://bit.ly/yalsamw2010), we have two pre-Midwinter events on Friday, Jan. 15 that you can attend without registering for Midwinter.

Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition: Join YALSA from 9-4:30 p.m on Jan. 15 to learn how you can take advantage of free online tools and social networking options to enhance and expand the services for teens, discover strategies to gain funding for technology initiatives and buy-in from administrators, and hear speakers like Stacy Aldrich (futurist & acting California State Librarian), Cory Doctorow (BoingBoing.net, Little Brother), Laura Pearle, Wendy Stephens, and Buffy Hamilton. Lunch included! Libraries 3.0 costs $195 for YALSA members, $235 for ALA members, and $285 for nonmembers. Full details on this event, and all of YALSA’s plans for Midwinter, are available online at http://bit.ly/yalsamw2010.

Games, Gadgets & Gurus: Join us from 8-10 p.m. on Jan. 15! Spend a fun evening networking with colleagues and learning new skills to take back to your library! Come play games - both board and video; demo gadgets like e-readers, mobile phones, digital audio recorders, video cameras and the latest software; and take advantage of the opportunity chat one-on-one with a tech guru. Other participants include Galaxy Press, PBS' Digital Nation, and Tutor.com. Mingle with colleagues! Enjoy some refreshments! Play with neat tech toys! And go home with great swag! Tickets cost $40; full details online at http://bit.ly/yalsamw2010.

Sign up for both and save! Tickets for both cost $215 for YALSA members, students and retirees; $255 for ALA members; $300 for nonmembers.

If you have already registered and would like to add this special event to your registration, you have two options: (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 Annual registration and add events in the “Your Events” section (screen 6). Then simply check out and pay for the events you have added.

To register only for the "Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition" Midwinter Institute, and/or Games, Gadgets & Gurus, please fill out the form at http://bit.ly/mwregform (skip Section I) and either mail or fax it to 800-521-6017 or mail it to: ALA Registration and Housing Headquarters
568 Atrium Dr.
Vernon Hills, IL 60061

Questions? Contact us at yalsa@ala.org or 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4390. Hope to see you in Boston!

Stephanie (Stevie) Kuenn
Communications Specialist
Young Adult Library Services Association
skuenn@ala.org
v: 312.280.2128
f: 312.280-5276

--

Check out YALSA's new book, Cool Teen Programs for under $100, edited by Jenine Lillian
http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2757

Posted by Steve B. at 11:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Librarians are invited to visit the Children's Book Review, which will take place the week of November 16 at the Weeks Memorial Library in Lancaster.  The Review will be open at 3:00 pm on Monday, November 16 and will be available during library hours every day that week during library hours until noon on Saturday, November 21.  Librarians may come and preview more than 300 new titles in children's and teen fiction and nonfiction.  They can also select several new books that will be sent to them via van following the Review.  The books that will be available at the Review can be found on the Children's Book Review page of NHU-PAC.  (On the opening page of NHU-PAC, click on the Librarian's Tools tab.  Then, select the Children's Book Review link on the purple bar.  You will then come to a page that offers links to the list of books in the November Review.)

For the Weeks Memorial Library address and operating hours, please visit http://www.lancasternh.org/town_services/lancaster_nh_library.htm  If you have any questions about the Review, please contact Ann Hoey at Ann.Hoey@dcr.nh.gov.

Posted by Ann H. at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For those of you working with teens here's your chance to be handsomely rewarded. I know many of you are producing some great teen programs and you deserve to be recognized. If the award below doesn't pertain to you, be sure to browse the YALSA grant website ( http://www.ala.org/yalsa/awards&grants) to see if something else is better suited to your situation.

From YALSA:

Win $500 and an additional $500 for your library with the MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens

Here’s your chance to win $500 for your pocket and another $500 for your library!  YALSA members are eligible to apply for this award recognizing an outstanding reading or literature program for young adults.  If you have created an exceptional reading or literature program in the 12 months before December 1^st consider applying for the MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens.  The MAE Award is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust.  The winner receives $500 and additional $500 for their library. 

Application forms can be downloaded at http://www.ala.org/yalsa/awards&grants and must be emailed to Nichole Gilbert at ngilbert@ala.org by December 1. 

Not a member of YALSA?  It’s not too late to join.   Please note that it may take up to 2 months for new memberships to be fully processed.  New members should send an electronic copy of their membership application with the grant application.

For questions, contact Alexandra Tyle-Annen at atyle@homerlibrary.org.

Reward yourself for bringing young adults and books together and encouraging the development of life-long reading habits.  Apply today! 

Posted by Jenn J. at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This comes from ALA's blog District Dispatch which provides news for librarians and friends of libraries from the ALA Washington Office.

Best Buy Children’s Foundation: Community Grants Program
The Best Buy Children’s Foundation strengthens communities through the support of national, regional, and local grantmaking programs. The Foundation’s Community Grants Program, led by employee committees in each of the company’s eight territories across the United States, provides support to local nonprofit organizations that work to build social, academic, leadership, and/or life skills in early adolescents (primarily ages 13-18). Grant amounts average $5,000 to $7,000, and do not exceed $10,000. Eligible organizations must be located within 50 miles of a Best Buy store or distribution center. Requests may be submitted between May 15 and June 15, 2009. Visit the Foundation’s website to learn more about the program.

If any NH libraries or library friends groups apply for the grant and are selected, please let me know!

Posted by Steve B. at 05:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Don't forget the deadline for submitting nominations for The Flume: NH Teen Reader's Choice 2010 award is approaching quickly. Talk to your teens and find out what they think the best book published between 2006-2008 is. The committee will be accepting nominations through December 31, 2008.

For those of you unfamiliar with this award it was created in 2005 in response to a New Hampshire teens' request to have a book award geared towards high school students. This award is a state-wide venture led by a collaborative effort from school and public librarians. Each year teens nominate titles, published within the last two years, they think deserve to be recognized. Librarians then narrow the group of titles to a list of 13. Teens then vote for the winning title from the list of 13.

Nominations can be made online or printed and placed around your library.

Thank you!

The Flume Committee

Posted by Jenn J. at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many of you may have received your NHLA renewal membership form, or an invitation to join NHLA as a new member this week. You may not be aware that this fall YALS became an official section of NHLA and as a result is now on your membership application. This section supports those serving young adults in NH libraries, including librarians, library assistants, and administration.  

We meet four times a year to support and promote library services for young adults throughout the state of New Hampshire. The foundation of YALS meetings is the free exchange of ideas with an optimistic and can-do attitude. Even if you are not able to attend the quarterly network meetings there are many ways you can be involved and/or benefit from this membership. Service to young adults is one of the fastest growing areas in libraries today. For many small libraries that don’t have a dedicated young adult librarian this is a great way to gain knowledge and ideas about how to best serve this population for little or no money.

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to email me at: jenn.jasinski@nashualibrary.org

If you would like more information about this section please visit our website:
http://www.nashualibrary.org/YALS/index.htm

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to meeting you.

Jenn Jasinski
YALS President, New Hampshire Library Association

Posted by Jenn J. at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Flume Award Committee met recently and discussed the Flume 2009 nominations.  We culled the list and now we need folks to read the remaining titles and share their thoughts about the books and whether they think they would be worthy finalists.  We aim to provide a range of reading levels as well as a variety of genres for teens in grades 9-12  We are interested in whether you think the book is well-written, whether it will appeal to this age group, how the book compares to other titles nominated, etc.  In April, the committee will select the final 13 titles based on everyone's input.

To facilitate on-line sharing in the next few months, Sara Zoe Patterson has created a wiki for discussion of the titles.  It's easy to use, and we hope people will add their thoughts as they read nominated books. (You do not need to sign in or join the wiki.)  On the homepage of the wiki, you will find the list of nominated titles.  Just click on one of the titles, and when you get to the next page, click "Edit this page."  Then in the page that comes up, type your comments and please add your name and date.  After you have finished, click "Save."  All of these instructions can also be found on the wiki homepage.  Visit http://flume.wikispaces.com/ and begin discussing the Flume titles today!

Posted by Ann H. at 01:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Steve B. at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The winner of the 2007 Flume Award winner has been announced, and it is Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.  Twilight garnered 129 votes out of the total 531 votes cast.  The other titles earned the following votes:

The Truth about Forever  -- 82
Velocity -- 53
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment -- 41
A Great and Terrible Beauty-- 38
Haunted -- 37
Tithe -- 35
The Burn Journals -- 29
Powder Monkey -- 24
Looking for Alaska -- 23
I am the Messenger -- 19
The Geography Club -- 15
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp -- 8

Thank you to all of you who promoted the Flume Award titles and accepted and submitted votes from students.  Check the Flume Award website in a couple of weeks for the new 2008 list!  http://www.nashualibrary.org/YALS/Flume.htm

Posted by Steve B. at 02:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)