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23rd World Book Fair 2008~ May 30 - Jun 8, Singapore

4th Nami Island International Book Festival~ ongoing until Jun 30, Korea

Asian Children’s Writers and Illustrators Conference~ Jun 5-7, Singapore

Antioch University First Annual Children’s Literature Conference~ Jun 7, Los Angeles, CA, USA

6th Annual Feria del Libro: A Family Book Fair~ Jun 7, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Storylines Festival of New Zealand Children’s Writers and Illustrators~ Jun 8-15, New Zealand

Montana New Zealand Book Award Finalists Announced~ Jun 10, New Zealand

35th Annual Children’s Literature Association Conference~ Jun 12-15, Normal, IL, USA

Book Expo Canada~ Jun 13-16, Toronto, ON, Canada

“Princess Shawl” book launch and reading by Shirley Lim~ Jun 14, Kuala Lumpur

Cape Town Book Fair~ Jun 14-17, South Africa

CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards Winners Announced ~Jun 26, United Kingdom

Sunthorn Phu Day (celebrated poet)~ Jun 26, Thailand

American Library Association Annual Conference and Exhibition~ Jun 26 - Jul 2, Anaheim, CA, USA

Canadian Multiculturalism Day~ Jun 27, Canada

Jakarta Book Fair~ Jun 28 - Jul 6, Jakarta, Indonesia

American Indian Youth Literature Awards Presentations~ Jun 30, Anaheim, CA, USA

Colleagues,

Did you know that one of ALSC’s listed organizations will hold an exciting conference in Atlanta, Georgia, from March 26 – 29, 2008?

The Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) Annual International Conference and Exhibition: Beyond Standards: Reaching Every Child’s Potential has much to offer librarians who serve youth.

With over 225 sessions, 30 exhibitors, and inspiring and knowledgeable keynote speakers, including literacy professor and researcher Richard Allington, librarians can learn a great deal alongside our ACEI colleagues who also serve the literacy needs of young people.

Check out the conference information found at:
http://www.acei.org/annualconfex.htm

I encourage you to consider networking and learning alongside other attendees at this event.

Yours in service to youth,

Judi Moreillon
ALSC Liaison with National Organizations Serving Youth Committee

The Association for Library Service to Children is now accepting proposals for innovative, creative programs that have broad appeal for the 2009 ALA Annual Conference to be held July 9 - 15, 2009 in Chicago, IL.

You can find the ALSC Program Proposal forms here.

If you have any questions you may send them to Doris Gebel at [email protected]

Doris Gebel
ALSC Program Coordinating Committee, chair

Greetings!

The Public Awareness Committee of the Association for Library Service to Children needs your input! We would like to expand our Kids! @ your library® Campaign, which kicked off in 2006 and currently focuses on children in grades K-4, their parents and caregivers. (See www.ala.org/kids for more information.)

In phase two of the campaign, we would like to add materials to the campaign tool kit for children in grades 5-8. We are seeking your input before we proceed with the development of materials for this age group. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey. Your feedback will help us in developing the most relevant and needed tools for promoting your library to kids in grades 5-8.

Access the survey here. Deadline for response is February 29.

Thank you in advance for taking time to share your opinions regarding the Kids! @ your library® Campaign!

Mary Fellows
ALSC Public Awareness Committee

The ALSC legislation committee is urgently requesting your aid in support of the SKILLS (Strengthening Kids Interest in Learning and Libraries) Act in the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. For more information and to take immediate action, please go to the ALA Legislative Action Center site: http://capwiz.com/ala/home/ . (It’s so easy — it’s harder not to take action.)
Also please consider hosting a “I Love My Library” or “I Love My Librarian” Valentine’s Day program, during which kids, teens, parents and teachers can make valentines for their Senators and Representatives that support legislation that impacts libraries.

This is the single most important piece of legislation concerning school libraries that will come before Congress this year. Reauthorization of this bill is critical to the future of school libraries, and you can make it happen!

Make this election year, the year of the library!

submitted by Brandy Morrill, ALSC Legislation Committee

I keep thinking about one session I attended at ALA Midwinter.  It was called “Tag You’re It: A revolution in patron-library interaction” and was sponsored by the Reference and User Services Association.  I keep reflecting on what an excellent tool tagging would be for juvenile readers’ advisory and reference.  I’ll try to explain briefly.

As it relates to libraries, tagging allows common folk (staff, patrons, students, etc.) to attach subject headings to materials in the online catalog.  These tags are supplemental to the Library of Congress headings – both would appear in the item record and both would be searchable.  Since tags are user generated, they will be in a language and format that is more accessible.  “Pigs” instead of “swine.”  “Trains” instead of “railroad locomotives.” See where this is going?  LibraryThing and Flickr are both good examples of tagging at work.

Kate Sheehan, currently with the Danbury (CT) Library, discussed how they pull tags from LibraryThing.com directly into their online catalog.  It quickly became obvious how much more useful all library catalogs would be with well-integrated tags.  Staff and patrons would find materials more quickly and some of those items with obscure subject headings would be more visible.

I’m not sure if this is a wave of the future or even a hot topic.  It may depend on library catalog vendors or generous freeware authors to create plug-ins that allow user-generated input, but I think the idea is exciting and would increase the convenience and effectiveness of our collections.

Bradley Debrick, Guest Contributor

by Becki Bishop, co-chair ALSC Great Web Sites Committee

The Great Web Sites for Kids Committee is responsible for maintaining the ALSC Great Web Sites for Kids web page. The committee participates in three periods of web site evaluation for newly suggested sites and updates/reevaluates any sites already listed.

Sites suggested for inclusion are evaluated according to their author/sponsor, purpose, design and stability, and content. The committee seeks quality sites for children ages birth to 14, as well as sites relevant to parents, caregivers, teachers, and others who work with children. The Great Web Sites web page is organized by subject matter.

In 2007, the committee evaluated over 400 sites in the three rounds of voting. Each round consists of a pre-vote, final vote, and annotation writing. In the pre-vote, sites recommended since the previous vote are divided among committee members. These sites are evaluated to determine if they should be presented in the final vote for all members to consider. The final vote consists of all members reviewing the sites forwarded from the pre-vote, as well as at least three sites suggested by each member of the committee (these are automatically included in the final vote). Web sites are added if they receive support from at least 80% of the committee. Then, the new sites are divided up among members so that annotations can be written, and the sites are added to the Great Web Sites page.

It is very important for this committee that all members try to keep on schedule as much as possible. It is difficult to catch up when work gets behind due to the volume of sites that are evaluated. It is very interesting to see the diversity of sites recommended, and you never know what gems may be uncovered in the mine we call the World Wide Web.

Today is my first full day in Philadelphia.  I’m not a seasoned traveler, but I managed to navigate my way through two major airports, the Philadelphia public transit system, and the underbelly of City Hall (there’s a train station there) to get to my hotel.  I was proud of myself.  I knew it was going to be a good weekend in a great city.

Then it all changed.  This morning, I picked up my meeting registration packet which included a handy carry-all bag, the meeting addendum, and some flyers for special events.  Oh yeah… and a lanyard for my name badge.

I can’t figure out the lanyard.  I don’t know how to attach it to my badge.  Unlike the lanyard I dutifully wear at work, this one is not a loop that goes over my head and holds my photo ID for all to see.  This one looks like a tow rope a toy truck would use to pull another toy truck out of the sand.  It’s about 24 inches long with clips at both ends.  I’ve tried six different ways to attach it; each method more unsuccessful than the last.  I have found myself looking at others’ badges not to see who they are, but to see how they’re using the lanyard.  I don’t mean to sound ungrateful and I appreciate “ISI Web of Knowledge in Booth 1204” for sponsoring the lanyards, but I don’t know how to use it.

Tomorrow is another day.  I hope I don’t run into an overly complex ink pen.

I am currently serving on the ALSC 2008 Institute Planning Committee. The Institute will be held in Salt Lake City in Sept. 2008.

We would like to have a panel of libraries who have had different, unique, great programs!

Please e-mail me if your library would be interested in sharing your great programs with others.

–Carla Morris

by Brenda F. Pruitt-Annisette

December is one of those times during the school year when the school library media specialist becomes the jack of all trades, the grinch who stole the holiday spirit, or the deer in the headlights. Here’s why.

The K-12 media specialist juggles cross curricular “fires” throughout the school year. In December it is a little more challenging for those of us who feel that our staff and students want us to be involved in every concert, play, reception, open house, etc., that takes place. Never knowing just how to say “no,” we over extend ourselves to the point that December is not too much fun.

For those veteran K-12 media specialists who have learned how to say “no,” we are then perceived as the Grinch who lacks the holiday spirit. We are more concerned with completing the introduction of the research strategies students will need in order to complete the science fair project looming large in January. So what if the bulletin board is full of books to read during fall foliage. Winter does not officially start until December 22, 2007! Until then, the autumn theme works!

Finally, for those new to school librarianship, the deer in the headlights syndrome is the theme of the month. Do not fret, we have all been there and worn that same holiday fare. With the amount of energy the students are exhibiting combined with the frantic urgency of the teachers to tie up all instructional loose ends for the semester, the month becomes a swirl of activity that is quite surreal. Yes, you are there, moving between the real and the surreal wondering, “Can it get anymore hectic than this?”

Oh, but yes it can! Wait until January when everyone returns, ready to delve into the next program, project, and curricular deadline.

The excitement never ends. It is so much fun!

ALSC Priority Group III (Awards & Scholarships) is all about People and Places - recognizing ALSC members and their valuable contributions to the profession, honoring literature rich programs, saluting authors/illustrators who bring literature alive for children and adults, and making educational opportunities to attend a conference or obtain a Master’s Degree from an ALA accredited school. Committees in this Priority Group are dependent upon YOU for their success! “So…get on your way!”

“You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!”

Would you like to spend a month in sunny Florida (not during hurricane season), surrounded by a most impressive collection of children literature? If so, you might want to consider applying for the Bechtel Fellowship to read and study at the Baldwin Library of the George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida. Just imagine what you will see, learn and share with the children in your community.

The Penguin Young Readers Group Award provides $1,000 for travel to and participation in ALA’s annual conference. Given to 4 children’s librarians who have not attended a conference before, the Penguin Award will have you “joining the high flyers who soar to new heights.”

If “you have brains in your head” and would like to pursue a Master’s Degree from an ALA accredited school consider applying for the Melcher and Bound to Stay Bound Scholarships. For those who already have the MLS and know a great para-professional/support staff member, you might want to print out the application and encourage them to apply!

“And will you succeed? Yes! You will indeed?”

Did you have an outstanding Summer Reading Program? The ALSC/Book Wholesalers Inc. Summer Reading Program Grant committee needs to know about your success if you are to be considered for this award. “You might be the best of the best and top all the rest.”

The ALSC/Tandem Library Books Literature Program Award is given to an individual who has developed and implemented an innovative and outstanding library program for children using literature to inspire and encourage reading. If there is one program in the past year that still gives you goosebumps, do apply for this award. It could “make you the winning-est winner of all.”

The (Maureen) Hayes Award funds a visit from an author and/or illustrator who will speak to children who have never before had the opportunity to hear a nationally known author or illustrator. “Oh, the magical things you can do” for children if you are the selected recipient of this award.

“People as brainy and footsy as you.”

Do you collaborate with organizations in your community such as area schools, universities, museums, performing arts centers, etc? If so, you might want to apply for the (May Hill) Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. The Arbuthnot committee selects an individual of distinction who prepares and presents a paper which shall be a significant contribution to the field of children’s literature, as well as a host institution for the lecture. Be “a reacher outward and upward” and meet with your partners to consider hosting the lecturer.

To recognize an individual who has made a significant contribution to children’s services and ALSC is the role of the Distinguished Service Award committee. We all have a least one librarian who has guided and mentored us, encouraged us to join ALSC, and is passionate about service to children. Is there one person who always attends every conference and has served on a gazillion ALSC/ALA committees while promoting library service to children in their community/ region/state. Please, nominate this person for the DSA. “There is fun to be done!”

“Everyone is just waiting.”

Visit the ALSC website to find the deadlines for applying for these awards and scholarships. “Just go right along…Today is your day….Your mountain is waiting…so, get on your way.”

Molly S. Kinney
Consultant for Priority Group III
With appreciation to Dr. Seuss for his insightful words, even when used out of context.

Seuss, Dr., Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, Random House, 1990.

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