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Want to learn more about how to be an advocate for library issues?  The ALA Washington Office is offering its first “Speaking Up!” webinar on Thursday March 6th at 4:00pm eastern.  Although the training will be generalized for the various advocacy issues, we all know that we need to speak up for children and their library needs. If you want to improve your advocacy skills, this may be a great opportunity for you.

You can learn more and register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/442300631. This is a free training opportunity. Webinars don’t require that you travel any further than your computer so they are a great way to get staff development in small doses. Generally all you need is a computer that can access the Internet and a phone that can dial a toll free (or occassionally a toll) number.

American Library Association President Loriene Roy seeks nominations of librarians who use gaming technology for learning, literacy development and community development. Applications will be accepted through April 21. Self nominations are encouraged.

More information is available from this ALA press release.

The American Library Association’s Social Responsibility Round Table and The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Round Table are co-sponsoring the Rainbow List, an annual bibliography for young readers from birth through age 18. According to the official Rainbow List myspace presence, the Rainbow List will create a recommended list of books dealing with positive Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trangendered and Questioning issues and situations for children up to age 18. The 2008 list is the first list and took into consideration books published from 2005 through 2007. Future bibliographies will cover 18 months of publication, from July of the previous year through December of the current review year with selection completed at the ALA Midwinter Conference.

The committee writes in its introduction to the list:

an examination of over 200 books reveals that glbtq books are heavily
weighted toward upper grade levels and that many glbtq characters in
fiction take a peripheral position. Other concerns are public
censorship and the lack of ready accessibility to these books. The
members of the Rainbow Project encourage the publication of more books
with characters validating same-gender lifestyles and cataloging with
subject headings that describe these glbtq characters in children’s
and young adult fiction.

Here are the selected Beginning Readers:

Considine, Kaitlyn. Emma and Meesha My Boy: A Two Mom Story. Il.
Binny Hobbs. 2005. unp. Two Moms Books.

Gonzalez, Rigoberto. Antonio’s Card/La Tarjeta de Antonio. Il.
Cecilia Concepcion Alvarez. 2005. 32p. Children’s Book Press.

Jopling, Heather. Monicka’s Papa Is Tall. Il. Allyson Demoe. 2006.
unp. Nickname.

Jopling, Heather. Ryan’s Mom Is Tall. Il. Allyson Demoe. 2006.
unp. Nickname Press.

Lindenbaum, Pija. Mini Mia and Her Darling Uncle. Trans. Elisabeth
Kallick Dyssegaard. 2007. unp. R&S Books.

Richardson, Justin and Peter Parnell. And Tango Makes Three. Il.
Henry Cole. 2005. unp. Simon & Schuster.

Here are the Middle/Early Young Adult titles:

Fiction

Burch, Christian. The Manny Files. 2006. 296p. Atheneum.

Hartinger, Brent. The Order of the Poison Oak. 2005. 211p.
HarperTeen.

Howe, James. Totally Joe. 2005. 189p. Atheneum/Ginee Seo Books.

Larochelle, David. Absolutely, Positively Not. 2005. 219p. Arthur
A. Levine Books.

Limb, Sue. Girl Nearly 16, Absolute Torture. 2005. 216p.
Delacorte..

Peters, Julie Anne. Between Mom and Jo. 2006. 232p. Little,
Brown/Megan Tingley Books.

Selvadurai, Shyam. Swimming in the Monsoon Sea. 2005. 280p.
Tundra.

Non-Fiction

Marcus, Eric. What If Someone I know Is Gay: Answers to Questions
about What It Means to be Gay and Lesbian 2007. 183p. Simon Pulse.

Miller, Calvin Craig. No easy answers: Bayard Rustin and the civil
rights movement. [Portraits of Black Americans Series]. 2005. 160p.
Morgan Reynolds.

When I Knew. Ed. Robert Trachtenberg. Il. Tom Bachtell. 2005.
120p. Regan Books.

The complete 2008 Rainbow List is available here.

Educators and librarians have until April 15, 2008, to apply online for Picturing America, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), in cooperation with the American Library Association. Picturing America is part of the NEH’s We the People initiative.

If your application is selected, you receive a set of 20 laminated posters (images on both sides) and a teacher resource guide. The application guidelines list the image/poster information and the award information, including “Schools and libraries are required to keep as many of the posters as possible on continual exhibit in classrooms or public locations in the school or public library during the September 2008 through May 2009 grant term.”

Questions about Picturing America may be directed to:

American Library Association
Public Programs Office
50 East Huron
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 280-5045
(800) 545-2433, extension 5045
www.ala.org/publicprograms
[email protected]

National Endowment for the Humanities
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Room 511
Washington, DC 20506
(202) 606-8337
www.neh.gov
[email protected]

Tasha Saecker of Menasha (WI) Library posted the 2008 American Indian Youth Literature Award, given by The American Indiana Library Associaiton (AILA), on her Kids Lit Blog.

For more information about the award criteria, please visit the AILA site, click on Activities and select AILA Native American Youth Services Literature Awards.

Please excuse the lack of formatting. I will correct the post; I just want to get the information on the blog right now. Thanks to my good friends, Mary and Becky for calling me. For Laura Schulte-Cooper for posting to ALSC-L and to Teri Lesesne of YALSA for posting to YALSA blog during the announcements. I hope that many of you were able to learn of the awards in real time via the webcast.

John Newbery Medal

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick)

Newbery Honor Books

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic/Scholastic Press)
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion)
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam/GP Putnam’s Sons)

Randolph Caldecott Medal

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)

Caldecott Honor Books

Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine (Scholastic/Scholastic Press)
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter)
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtin by Peter Sís (Farrar/Frances Foster)
Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems (Hyperion)

2009 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecturer

Walter Dean Myers

Mildred L. Batchelder Award

VIZ Media, publisher of Brave Story, by Miyuki Miyabe, translated from the Japanese by Alexander O. Smith

Batchelder Honor Books

Milkweed Editions, publisher of The Cat: Or, How I Lost Eternity, by Jutta Richter, illustrated by Rotraut Susanne Berner, and translated from the German by Anna Brailovsky
Phaidon Press, publisher of Nicholas and the Gang, written by René Goscinny, illustrated by Jacques Sempé, and translated from the French by Anthea Bell

Pura Belpré Author Award

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Sean Qualls (Holt)

Belpré Author Honor Books

Frida: ¡Viva la vida! Long Live Life! by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand (Marshall Cavendish)
Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale, retold by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Michael Austin (Peachtree)
Los Gatos Black on Halloween, written by Marisa Montes, illustrated by Yuyi Morales (Holt)

Pura Belpré Illustrator Award

Los Gatos Black on Halloween, illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Marisa Montes (Holt)

Belpré Illustrator Honor Books

My Name Is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez/Me llamo Gabito: la vida de Gabriel García Márquez, illustrated by Raúl Colón, written by Monica Brown (Luna Rising)
My Colors, My World/Mis colores, mi mundo, written and illustrated by Maya Christina Gonzalez (Children’s Book Press)

Andrew Carnegie Medal

Kevin Lafferty, producer, John Davis, executive producer, and Amy Palmer Robertson and Danielle Sterling, co-producers, of Jump In: Freestyle Edition

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award

There Is a Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems (Hyperion)

Geisel Honor Books

First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter)
Hello, Bumblebee Bat, written by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne (Charlesbridge)
Jazz Baby, written by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (Harcourt)
Vulture View, written by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins (Holt)

Odyssey Award

Jazz, Live Oak Media

Odyssey Honor Audiobooks

Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy, Listen & Live Audio
Dooby Dooby Moo, Weston Woods/Scholastic
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Listening Library
Skulduggery Pleasant, HarperCollins Audio
Treasure Island, Listening Library

Sibert Medal

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtin by Peter Sís (Farrar/Frances Foster)

Sibert Honor Books

Lightship by Brian Floca (Simon & Schuster/Richard Jackson)
Nic Bishop Spiders by Nic Bishop (Scholastic/Scholastic Nonfiction)

YALSA ALEX Awards:

AMERICAN SHAOLIN
BAD MONKEYS
ESSEX COUNTY VOLUME 1
GENGHISTHE
GOD OF ANIMALS
A LONG WAY GONE
MISTER PIP
THE NAME OF THE WIND
THE NIGHT BIRDS
THE SPELLMAN FILES

SCHNEIDER FAMILY AWARD
KAMI AND THE YAKS (young children)
REACHING FOR SUN (middle grade book)
HURT GO HAPPY (teen book)

CORETTA SCOTT KING
CORETTA SCOTT KING STEPTOE: SUNDEE T FRAZIER for Brendan Buckey’s Universe and Everything in It

Two Coretta Scott King author honors:
NOVEMBER BLUES BY SHARON DRAPER
TWELVE ROUNDS TO GLORY BY CHARLES SMITH

Coretta Scott King AUTHOR WINNER: ELIJAH OF BUXTON BY CHRISTOPHER PAUL CURTIS

Coretta Scott King ILLUSTRATOR HONOR:
THE SECRET OLIVIA TOLD ME
JAZZ ON A SATURDAY NIGHT

Coretta Scott King ILLUSTRATOR: ASHLEY BRYAN FOR LET IT SHINE

YALSA EDWARDS: ORSON SCOTT CARD for Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow

YALSA PRINTZ HONOR:
DREAMQUAKE
ONE WHOLE AND PERFECT DAY
REPOSSESSED
YOUR OWN SYLVIA

YALSA PRINTZ WINNER: THE WHITE DARKNESS

Linda Braun, YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) blog manager, shares with ALSC Blog her recent podcast (YALSA Podcast #30) in which she speaks to Teen Librarian Sarah Couri and Children’s Librarian Rebecca Schosha, both with the Donnell Library Center of the New York Public Library, about their new monthly program that gives adults the opportunity to discuss books for youth.

Download the podcast.

Many thanks to Linda, Sarah and Rebecca!

Note: The ALSC Blog will begin a series of monthly podcasts in 2008. Please email your topic suggestions to [email protected]

There’s only one month until the American Library Association names the winner of the first Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production. This new award, a joint effort of the Association for Library Service to Children & the Young Adult Library Services Association, will recognize the single best audiobook created for listeners ages birth through age eighteen, along with possible honor titles. The award, on the same tier as the Printz, Newbery, and Caldecott awards, establishes audiobooks as a true literary genre. Find out more here.

Do you have time for a Mock Odyssey in the next month? Poll your patrons to see which 2007 audiobook titles they think deserve the Odyssey Award. Or share your choices here with the other ALSC Blog readers. Then log on to the ALA website Monday, January 14th, from 8-9 a.m. (EST) to watch the award press conference and see the announcement live.

The 2008 Odyssey Committee has evaluated 379 audiobooks which total just short of 2000 hours of listening – an amount of time equal to 50 weeks of full-time employment! We are still under the headphones, entering the final stages of listening to the very best in children’s and young adult audiobooks. Be sure to watch for the final selection, and lend your ears to the sound of great literature!

Mary Burkey
Chair, 2008 Odyssey Award Committee

A few days ago, Library Link of the Day sent a link for “Children’s book outrages parents,” a November 30, 2007, article, from The Morning Call, a Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, newspaper. The book to cause the outrage: King & King (2002, Tricycle Press) by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland.

If you aren’t already familiar with your library’s material selection process and its materials complaint process, that should be high on your to-do list. The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom offers Dealing with Challenges to Books and Other Library Materials, a very helpful resource whether you are dealing with a complaint or do not want to be overly surprised when/if a complaint arrives at your library.

My initial reaction to the article was, well, a little, shall we say, holier-than-thou. Good grief, I thought, it’s a library, it’s supposed to have materials for everyone. How hard is that to realize? Read the books yourself before you present them to your children. And then, I was reminded about one of my first jobs. The summer after I graduated from high school, I worked as a ride attendant at Cedar Point, an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. You probably have been to an amusement park. Remember the yellow lines? The areas where you aren’t supposed to stand while a roller coaster train or ride car is in motion or out of the station? Many people forget. Many times a day, ride attendants have to remind people about the yellow line. In fact, sometimes it is easy, as a ride attendant, to forget that the person in front of you hasn’t heard about the yellow line or is so caught up in their own world that they have forgotten about where they are standing and the others around them.

I moved past my initial reaction to the article and a question came to mind. One that I want to share with you. When someone signs up for a library card, or even whenever they check out any children’s materials, should the library personnel and policy make more of an effort to offer a recommendation that a caregiver first review the material before sharing it with a child? Not to say that there is anything wrong with certain materials, but as a reminder that our libraries offer books that share many ideas, that represent all types of families. To help those people who forget where they are and that there others around them. Please share your thoughts.