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cover image: Federico Manuel Peralta Ramos Having spent the last 5 months in Brazil as a outsider peering in, I’ve tried to pull back the curtain to discover what is essentially Brazilian about artistic modes of production. It eludes me. The constant state of flux it impossible to pause and properly articulate. Much like the boom of the Brazilian economy, the art fervor here can be hard to grasp. From this touristic snapshot view, it appears that the infamous notion of antropofagia, or cannibalism – Brazil’s successful incorporation and reinvention of external influences (a notion popularized by the Tropicália movement in the late 1960s) – has been corroded from the inside out

Summer Course Registration Ends Tuesday Registration ends July 6 – that’s Tuesday – for YALSA’s summer online course, Power Up with Print! Instructor Jamie Watson will show participants how to boost the library’s circulation through the development of teen-centered programs, material evaluation and selection, booktalks and more, as well as discuss the latest trends in YA lit. Course registration now open at www.ala.org/yalsa/onlinecourses. Courses cost $135 for YALSA members, $175 for ALA members, and $195 for nonmembers and will take place July 12 to August 9.

Congrats to YALSA’s Newest Spectrum Scholar! Congratulations are in order for Hoan-Vu Do, YALSA’s 2010-2011 Spectrum Scholar. Do will attend San Jose State University’s School of Library and Information Science.

WrestleMania Reading Challenge Registration You only have 30 days to register for the 2010-2011 Challenge! Remember, the Challenge has changed this year to take place during just one week, making it simpler for you and your teens and tweens to particpate. Registering automatically enters you into a drawing for one of five sets of books from Penguin — and it gives teens and tweens at your library the chance to win tickets to WrestleMania and $2,000 for your library. Register today at www.ala.org/wrestlemania.

Register for our July webinar! Registration is open for YALSA’s July webinar! Our July 15 webinar (Risky Business, hosted by Linda Braun) offers participants insights into effectively taking risks to manage and improve services to teens at your library. This in-depth, one-hour webinar will be held at 2 p.m. Eastern. Registration costs $39 for individual YALSA members, $49 for all other individuals. A group rate of $195 is available. Learn more (and find out details on our August and September webinars) at www.ala.org/yalsa/webinars.

After the jump, see how to win $250 from YALSA for your Great Idea,  how you can get a free copy of Excellence in Library Services to Young Adults, 4th edition; how to win books  simply by registering for Teen Read Week (it’s free!); who’s speaking at the Bill Morris Memorial Author Luncheon at the YA Lit Symposium, and how you can be a 2011 Emerging Leader!

Win $250 from YALSA for Your Great Idea We’ve extended the application for YALSA’s Great Ideas contest to July 15, 2010! YALSA needs your Great Ideas – and you could win $250 in cash! We’re looking for creative help from you to help YALSA achieve its goals. Download an application at the Great Ideas webapage and send your questions to Sarajo Wentling at [email protected].

Free Book Offer! For a limited time only at the

In case you haven’t heard, the YALSA Committee: Partnerships Advocating for Teens is transitioning to an Interest Group in 2010.  If you don’t have time or $$ to commit to conferences and traditional committee work, but still want to get involved with YALSA, consider joining an Interest Group!

Now… on to the pep talk!

Information Today, Inc. has published a great book on partnerships entitled, Library Partnerships: Making Connections Between School and Public Libraries.  I asked the author, Tasha Squires, some questions about her book.

Amy: Tell us a bit about your background and what prompted you to write the book.

Tasha: Over the years I spent working as a teen librarian for Fountaindale Public Library District in Bolingbrook and Romeoville, IL, I spent a tremendous amount of time interacting with the schools, especially the middle schools, and became close with many of the teachers and the two school librarians. It became clear early on in my tenure; the school librarians were woefully understaffed and underfunded. There were four middle schools in the district the public library served, yet only two school librarians who split their time between the four schools. Each school ended up with close to 1,000 students. As you can imagine this was a daunting job, trying to serve all the students and teachers. I began doing booktalks for a few teachers and it quickly became a huge part of my job.

Working so closely with the librarians and the teachers, and seeing the students as they came into the public library, I realized we had so many more resources at our fingertips than the schools. It became important for me to see where our public library could reach out and assist the school libraries, which were struggling. We worked together to promote programs, share print resources and give teachers and students an expanded resource base.  Still even with things we did, I realized later, looking back, there were many missed opportunities for strengthening our bond. It was thinking of the things that could have been done, but weren’t that let me to contemplate the broader picture for collaboration between school and public libraries and hence the book.

Amy: It would seem that school and public library connections/partnerships could mean different things for different schools and organizations? What are some of the things that define those partnerships?

Tasha: Each library has its own needs, whether that library is based in a school or public setting. Yet, first and foremost, libraries are libraries, and we have the same basic purposes, regardless of where they are located. The beautiful thing about school and public libraries is we share the same clientele, the same community and often the same resources. This just makes for opportunities, rather than creating limits. So while at first glance libraries might seem very different, at the core, common ground is abundant. Obviously, one school library might need more print resources while another is starving for technology. A public library might be serving a vast population that covers five school districts, or perhaps a huge geographic area. It is important before beginning any partnership that each entity knows what they want to gain from the relationship before seeking one.

Amy: I had a librar