TeenDirect

Highlights included: meeting Art Spiegleman and Francoise Mouly for a preview of Toons, their new line of comic books for early readers; attending Kareem Adbul-Jabbar's outstanding presentation and the post-address reception for him; and assisting at the YALSA-sponsored signing of Holly Black's Ironside. I worked with her agent, who also happens to represent Shannon Hale, Cecil Castellucci, and Libba Bray. As you might suspect, only a very cool guy would represent such talented authors!

It pays to network with all librarians and to volunteer!

All the Best,

Barbara

Not Vanilla Libraries

Dramarama character Sayde describes teens as ice cream flavors. If libraries came in flavors, these libraries would definitely not be vanilla, not even mint chocolate chip! The following are some examples of fresh new "flavors" of library service:

Beatbooth, a recording studio where patrons can make their own recordings. Two public librarians in New Zealand created the booth in an under-utilized room for about $3000.

"Choose your own design" library cards at Berkeley Public Library. I like the tie-dye, but maybe you'll go for the flying boy. You can view the designs in a Berkeley PL promotional video on YouTube. This video is long, so it will take a few minutes to get to the card designs.

Memphis Public Library sponsors a Teen Tech Camp each summer. Last year the focus was on Web Casting. Visit the library website to learn more about this innovative program.

Byte into Technology

Get out your planner, PDA, or Blackberry and reserve time for these events!

On February 7, YASD and SCLS will host "Fun & Games in the library". The program will include demonstrations of several electronic games. Come and play with us!
On April 22 Young Adult Services and Adult Services will jointly sponsor "The Handheld Library". You will have the opportunity to learn about and actually try out some of the new mobile gadgets.
Back, by popular request: hands-on Web 2.0 training sessions in June. Courses offered this spring will include: Facebook, Flickr, and RSS Feeds. Watch your email for registration details. Again, these sessions will be held in the training room and will be limited to 8 participants per session.

Yummy Reads

I heard debut author Martin Wilson speak at the ALAN November workshop and found his presentation so interesting that I couldn't wait to read his book. What They Always Tell Us is the story of two brothers: Alex, a junior whom everyone avoids because of an "incident" in early September; and James, a senior who excels at school and tennis but cannot understand his brother and the ever-increasing gulf that separates them. With touching realism, Wilson paints Alex's struggle to find a place in a world that doesn't understand him. However, I found myself drawn to James, who learns what it means to be a brother. Wilson has created some memorable characters who will stay with me for a long time. For example, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Alice, James' so-called girlfriend is not just a throw-away character in the first chapter, but someone we come to understand. A great story about the power of sibling relationships!

Sam Stern, author of Cooking Up a Storm is back with real food real fast. This British teen is so cute and the photos of his friends eating his food are so inviting that you don't even need to cook to enjoy his book. However, for all the food network fans, this is one to check out. Tabs divide the book in sections by minutes of preparation time. Beginning with five minutes and going to thirty minutes, teens can venture into the world of creative cooking. Short, clever commentary and easy-to-follow directions paired with color photos of the food make the recipes appealing. Of course, I quickly paged to the Tex-Mex section and found a recipe for tortillas that is similar to my own. The chicken fajitas also come close. But the fried quesadillas, sorry that's so wrong!

I know that short story collections are a tough sell, but this selection is worth the extra effort. Authors such as Libba Bray, David Levithan, Up All Night cover

and Patricia McCormick are enough reason to give Up All Night a look. Three of my favorite titles are: "Orange Alert", the story of a girl who must face her mother's lecherous boyfriend; "Not Just for Breakfast Anymore" with a classic final sentence; and "Phase 2", which is a perfect little gem to booktalk on school visits. You could stay up all night reading these stories, but they're so good that you'll finish long before the sun comes up.

Please consult the SCLS Professional Collection for a complete listing of all titles available for examination.

What interesting young adult literature published in 2008 have you been reading? Join in the discussion on our brand new Teen Literature blog: SCLS Reads.

Here is your chance to get teens involved. Join the YALSA "I Love My Teen Services Librarian" Valentine campaign and help teens be a part of the advocacy process. Let's flood the offices of our elected officials (both national, state, and local) with Valentines in support of library services to teens.

The YALSA site offers several excellent suggestions. Please contact me if your teens decide to participate.

I Love My Teen Services Librarian