Youth Source

We Can Change The World Eco-Challenge

Siemens and the Discovery Network are teaming up to sponsor the We Can Change The World challenge for middle schools students.  Student teams will identify an environmental problem and investigate potential solutions.  Teams must have at least two  students and an adult supervisor.  Check out the challenge rules and great prizes, which include an appearance on Planet Green, the 24 hour eco-lifestyle television network.

ALSC 2009 award winners announced

Association for Library Service to Children announced the 2009 award winners this morning.The complete list of winners is included in this press release 

The winner of the 2009 Newbery award is "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman, HarperCollins Children's Books

The winner of the 2009 Caldecott award is "The House in the Night," illustrated by Beth Krommes and written by Susan Marie Swanson, Houghton Mifflin Co.

A more detailed press release is now available.

Get involved with YALSA's discussion and interest groups

Members looking to deepen their involvement with the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), can join one of YALSA’s many discussion or interest groups. The groups allow members to discuss important topics in young adult services — including gaming, anime and attending library school, among others — both in person and virtually. Attendees at ALA's Midwinter Meeting can learn more about YALSA's Discussion and Interest Groups by attending the Discussion & Interest Group Open House 4-5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 25, in Room 203 at the Colorado Convention Center.

YALSA announces Great Ideas contest

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), seeks members' best ideas to help achieve the goals listed in YALSA's new strategic plan for its new Great Ideas contest. The contest is open to all individual YALSA members as well as all YALSA committees, juries, task forces, discussion groups, interest groups and advisory boards.

Entrants are asked to brainstorm and submit activities that will allow YALSA to achieve a specific goal or strategy in the plan. Entry forms can be downloaded at www.ala.org/yalsa and must be sent to [email protected] by May 1. Winners will be announced the week of July 13. There will be a first-place winner for an individual member and a first-place winner for a member group. Each winner will receive a box of books and YALSA swag, have their idea and photo published in an issue of Young Adult Library Services and get to see their idea implemented by YALSA.
The YALSA Strategic Plan can be viewed at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/aboutyalsab/StrategicPlan08_final.pdf.

 

Webcast, Twitter, Facebook, Second Life will highlight 2009 ALA Youth Media Awards

The results of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Youth Media Awards, which present the best of the best in children's and young adult literature and media, will be announced during the ALA's Midwinter Meeting on Monday, Jan. 26 at the Colorado Convention Center. You can obtain those results in a number of ways besides attending the ceremony:

New Online Resource Focuses on Children and Teens

A new Web-based resource has just been released that will help library advocates make the case for libraries in the lives of children and teens. "Add It Up: Libraries Make the Difference in Youth Development and Education" is available at www.ala.org/additup .

"A growing body of research and studies now proves what the library community already knows is true: libraries are indispensable in the lives of children and teens. The problem is that until now, it has been difficult to distill all that data into products that library advocates can easily use and funders can easily understand," says Keith Michael Fiels, Executive Director of the American Library Association (ALA). "This new online resource does just that. The goal is to help library advocates articulate the positive, transformational impact that public libraries and school library media programs have on children and teens."

Kids! Campaign Phase two to launch at ALA Annual Conference

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), will launch phase two of its Kids! @ your library public awareness campaign at the ALA Annual Conference in July.

Phase one of the campaign, launched in 2006, currently provides a free, online tool kit of promotion tips, downloadable art, sample press materials and other resources to help local libraries reach out to children in grades K-4, their parents and caregivers.

Phase two of the campaign will expand the tool kit to provide additional resources for marketing the library to kids in grades five through eight, including free downloadable and printer-ready art designed especially for the Kids! Campaign by award-winning children’s book illustrator and graphic designer David Diaz.

2009 Scott O'Dell Award

The winner of the 2009 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction is Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, published by Simon & Schuster.
Established in 1982 by Scott O'Dell, the annual $5000 Award is given for a distinguished work of historical fiction for young people.  The book must be published by a U.S. publisher, the setting must be South, Center, or North American and the author must be a U.S. Citizen.
The Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction site provides a complete listing of all winners.

Applications for YALSA's Teen Tech Week mini grants due Jan. 19

Members of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), can win $450 in cash and $50 in promotional products by applying for a 2009 Teen Tech Week mini grant by Jan. 19. Through funding from the Verizon Foundation, YALSA will grant up to 20 awards to members offering inventive activities, resources and programming for Teen Tech Week 2009, March 8–14.

Visit www.ala.org/teentechweek to read the official rules and download the application form. This contest is open only to YALSA members. Applicants for the TTW mini grants must submit the official application form to the YALSA office at yalsa@ala.org by Jan. 19. Winners will be notified the week of Feb. 9. In addition to $450 cash for the winners’ Teen Tech Week plans, they’ll receive a prize pack from ALA Graphics worth $50.

YALSA offers interactive presentations for Teen Tech Week

Librarians seeking inspiration for Teen Tech Week can find it in three new multimedia presentations created by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Teen Tech Week 2009 takes place March 8–14, with a theme of Press Play @ your library, encouraging teens to take advantage of the many technologies available to them, free of charge, at their libraries. Registration is available at www.ala.org/teentechweek through Feb. 8.