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I attended the first Bill Morris Seminar on Book Evaluation organized by ALSC during ALA midwinter in Philadelphia. Background information about the Seminar was provided by KT Horning in a previous post. As a relatively new member of ALSC, this was a career defining moment. I joined 25 other children’s librarians from across the country to learn about book evaluation and service on ALSC awards committees. Our facilitators were some of the most experienced children’s librarians in our association. Almost two months have passed since the seminar and I continue to think about and benefit from the experience. Here’s how:

Expanding my professional network - Being the only librarian in a K-8 school serving approximately 500 students, I quickly realized the benefit of using ALSC-L and other professional list servs to communicate with fellow librarians. The Seminar expanded my professional network to include other relatively new librarians as well as our expert facilitators. Spending an entire day discussing books and getting to know other participants and facilitators provided a depth of familiarity not easily possible on list servs alone. I am staying in touch with my seminar cohort through email, phone calls, and social networking tools like Good Reads. And of course I look forward to seeing them again in person at future ALA annual and midwinter meetings.

Getting to know ALSC - Some of our day was spent learning more about the inner workings of ALSC. Our association has a tremendous staff at the ALA offices and we were able to put faces with the names. We learned about the structure of the awards committees and how people come to serve on these committees - some through appointments by the ASLC president, others through elections by the membership. This combination of elected and appointed positions for the Caldecott and Newbery awards is a way to provide a balanced and informed representation on the committees. Participants also heard from a panel of members who had previously served on the ALSC awards committees. These first hand accounts helped me to better understand and appreciate the enormous amount of time and energy required of anyone serving on these committees - we need to thank people for their service! Emphasis was placed on the central role of the book award criteria in selecting each year’s winners. Amid all of the debates about this year’s winners, I feel more anchored - keeping my focus on the process and the criteria for these awards and not random opinions. For example, initially the announcement of The Invention of Hugo Cabret as the 2008 Caldecott winner seemed to go against the nature of the award. I referred to the criteria and it clearly lives up to the guide provided to the committee.

It’s about the Books (and the discussion): Preceding the seminar, participants read (and re-read) a list of books selected by the facilitators. A portion of our seminar day was spent considering ways to be good committee members and how to take part in group literature discussions. Using KT Horning’s From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children’s Books, participants broke up into smaller groups to discuss the readings. The training I received has helped me to look more comprehensively at books. It also gave me a renewed appreciation for the central role of talking with others (both inside and outside our profession) about books. Upon the advice of one facilitator, I have begun meeting with one of our school art teachers to look at picture books. These meetings have already given me a depth of understanding about artistic technique that I lacked before. Our seminar discussions were lively and invigorating. The varied perspectives of group members pointed out elements of the books that I had missed - together we formed a group appreciation and opinion of the books. This is the goal of any book award committee - consensus.

I never had an opportunity to meet Bill Morris, but now I understand the important role he played in ALSC. His enthusiasm for youth literature influenced many of the seminar facilitators. Future Morris seminars will continue his legacy of connecting librarians with one another and the great wealth of materials published for children. Be on the lookout for calls to participate in these seminars and seriously consider applying.

–posted by Ernie Cox

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free ;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.

–The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Samuel Coleridge)

What a year it’s been for the Great Interactive Software for Kids Committee.  The Samuel Coleridge poem above calls to mind the pioneering spirit of the committee members who served along with me 2007 to 2008.  Kirsten Freeman-Benson, Anna Healy, Angelique Kopa, Jane Ritter and Becky White could all be called brave mariners for the trials and tribulations we went through to get our committee work done. 

There were so many firsts this year I can hardly name them all.  We wrote articles and campaigned to be known to the outside world.  Thanks to the ALSC Board’s motion to approve last year, we had a ticket to sail, to “burst” into the sea of electronic media.  We went from evaluating PC-CD ROMs to evaluating multiple platforms like the Leap Frog Console, DS/Wii and Xbox360 and somehow we ended up on the virtual planet of Second Life discussing software in Cybrary City.  We reached heights we never thought were possible, all in a year’s time. 

I wish I could be on this committee forever…I have never felt so passionate about something I’ve worked on as GISK.  I cannot begin to articulate how much being the chair of this committee has stretched my mind, increased my opportunities for learning and ENLIGHTENED me.  It’s bittersweet that I must announce that I will be rotating off the committee as chair in March due to family obligations.  But I have faith and hope our work will continue to serve the ALSC membership and our audience of school libraries, public libraries, parents and their children, even without my presence. 

I congratulate Angelique Kopa, a worthy successor and the incoming chair to the committee–I wish her the very best and am confident that the committee’s fate is in capable hands.  My fellow committee members are knowledgeable and tenacious and I am so fortunate to have worked along side each and everyone one of them.  Thank you for your hard work.  I told you to ”be the miracle” and you were! 

There is still so much to do.  There are so many learning opportunities, so many worlds to explore, so little time and we’ve only scratched the surface.  I learned that there was such a thing as videogame literacy and that vendors actually listened to our argument that there was educational value in the games they produced, if you deeply believed and showed your sincerity.  It was sheer will from the six of us that shook the videogame industry into recognizing ALSC and recognizing the GISK committee.  And when it rained, it poured–we had over 85 submissions.  Now that we’ve broken out onto the waves, it should be smooth sailing from here on out. 

Technology continues to be profound and ever-changing and we emerge victorious only if we stay abreast with the new developments.  In the 11th hour, we allied ourselves with Dr. Scott Nicholson of Syracuse University’s School of Information Science and his Games and Gaming Member Initiative Group which unites all gaming groups within ALA.  I am confident that our committee will  continue to represent ALSC in the technological world in the best way possible and make the Board proud.  Thank you all, very much.  It’s been a pleasure…

Signing off as chair,

Ann Crewdson

I want to first thank ALSC for inviting me to join this blog; I am very honored and happy to know that they recognize Rayo children’s efforts to better serve our children by providing them with meaningful Latino and Spanish language literature. I am also glad to have made so many supportive friends in the library community. Each and every one of my chats with librarians across the country has provided me with a great deal of insight, and always, a sense of purpose. I look forward to chatting with you some more in person at conferences and elsewhere, and to receiving your comments and ideas on this blog. Also, a disclaimer: This is my first blog, ever, so please bear with me!  I chose to write my first blog now because it is my favorite season: award season! A time when authors and editors rejoice in the fruit of the labors, and when inevitably, we are met with some surprises! And this year was no exception, was it? The Caldecott given to a novel, and the Pura Belpré to a work of poetry! Will wonders never cease? Editors across the country are scratching their heads, wondering what this all means, if it signals a new trend, or if librarians are making a conscious effort to reward quality and novelty, which would not be altogether surprising; what are awards for, if not to reward excellence in craft, and originality? I am happy with this year’s award results.Publisher’s Weekly called THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET “a masterpiece,” and I, for one agree. The book is stunning; both visually and in terms of narrative. It does not underestimate young reader’s imaginations and reclaims a rightful place for books in this age of multimedia. THE POET SLAVE OF CUBA’s wonderful use of verse will hopefully revive a genre that continues to be problematic for teachers, librarians, and publishers. Poetry? Who would think poetry would garner this much interest today? Poets across the nation celebrate! Librarians will continue to support you, and that means that children across the country will have an opportunity to recite your beautiful words!  On a more personal note, I was thrilled to learn that Monica Brown’s latest book also received a prize; the Pura Belpré Honor for illustration. Raúl Colón’s images once again graced the pages of a children’s book to help make yet another lucky author’s words come alive. The personal nature of this award, for me, has to do with the fact that I too have now had the chance to work with the wonderfully talented Ms. Brown. Rayo will publish her first book with HarperCollins Children’s Books in winter of 2009: PELÉ, KING OF SOCCER/PELÉ, EL REY DEL FÚTBOL, a biography of the soccer great, to add to Monica’s stunningly beautiful collection of picture book biographies, thanks to the dynamic and colorful illustrations of Rudy Gutiérrez. Keep an eye out for that one, my fellow bloggers, I promise it won’t disappoint!  I have also been very fortunate this past year to work with other amazingly talented award-winning authors and illustrators, such as Pat Mora, Rafael López, and Joe Cepeda. I want you to know about what Rayo has coming up, and I want you to tell your fellow librarians, and your friends, because for me, managing Rayo is truly a labor of love. I remember arriving in the US when I was 12 years old and rushing to learn English as quickly as I could so that I could get my hands on some of the wonderful literature written in that language. But I also never stopped reading in Spanish. Today, I feel extremely fortunate to be bilingual, and bicultural, and my mission at Rayo, as I see it, is to pass on this wonderful gift to a new generation of bilingual and bicultural Latino children. Please join us, and join me! The next generation deserves nothing less than the best! And again, please don’t hesitate to send me your comments and ideas; tell me about the wonderful authors and illustrators I should know about. What you like, and what you don’t like. What you see working in your libraries, and what most definitely does not. I am all ears. ‘Til next time ALSC!  

Download the podcast.

There are four different sections in this roughly 10 minute audio file.

1. Sing At Your Library, a great part of the Kids! @ Your Library Campaign. At Your Library by Bill Harley © 2005 Round River Records, used with permission www.billharley.com
2. Listen to a brief intro to the rest of the podcast. Special thanks to ALSC member Elizabeth Bird. She is a children’s librarian at New York Public Library’s Donnell’s Central Children’s Room and in her spare time, she writes A Fuse #8 Production for School Library Journal and A Fuse #8 Production - Podcast Edition. She kindly shared her audio files from 2008 ALA Midwinter with us.
3. Aaah along with the people present at the Hyperion Book Preview Event.
4. Be prepared to adjust your sound for these snippets from the 2008 Media Awards Presentation.

Episode 1

Sing, Aaah, Jump, and Scream Along

I promise that this is the final post on the Notable CBC of 2008.

Some quick answers to FAQ’s:

Q: How many books did you receive?
A: I think someone counted to about 1,780 or so.

Q: How long did you have to read all these books?
A: We started really reading intensely about March since that’s when the boxes of finished books arrived. Since we cannot discuss a book unless everyone has access to the finished book (meaning, not galleys, F&G’s or ARCs,) most of us stopped reading galleys really quickly.  So, we basically had about 9 months to read.

Q: Did you read ALL those books personally?
A: No, silly.  That is just not humanly possible.  That is why we have a Committee — so that many different kinds of books are being looked at and then nominated for the other Committee members to consider.  I am so grateful for my colleagues who read lots of nonfiction and picture books so I have an inkling what to look at in those fields that I don’t usually work with.  The colleagues are not just the committee members — my co-workers, friends on goodreads.com, and reviewers are all really helpful resources here.

Q: But when a book got nominated, you had to read it?
A: Indeed.  So, I’d say maybe I read between 400 - 500 books last year.

Q: What is the reading and nominating “schedule” like?
A: We basically read for one month, nominated books that we’d enjoyed and thought noteworthy, and then read everyone’s nominated titles for another month, and then voted to select those we would DISCUSS face-to-face at the Conferences.  So, before Annual, we had one round of nominations and voting.  And between Annual and Midwinter, we had another four rounds (8 months) of nominations and voting.

Q: You mean, if a book did not get “voted” for those rounds, it doesn’t even get discussed?
A: Indeed.

Q: How many votes got a book “on the table” for discussion?
A: It’s a simple majority rule: 6 or more YES votes got a book onto the discussion Table.

Q: How many books did you have to have on the list?
A: It’s not specified.  It depends on many factors: how strongly we feel about including the books that only receive five votes at our final balloting; how many books we have to put on our list automatically (all ALSC award winners and honored titles); how many votes the Chair decided to “give” us, etc.

Q: How many votes did you get this year?
A: We each had to vote for 60 titles.  It’s lower than the previous couple of years, partly because there were a lot of overlapping with the award winners.

Q: How many books did you have on your final list?
A: We have 74 titles — 21 of them are from the ALSC Awards pool and 53 of them were “voted in.”  Many of the 21 automatic titles would have gone on our list if we had to vote for them. They were all strong and strongly supported titles.

Q: Were there surprises?
A: Oh, yes.  We all changed our minds during the process of our discussions.  There were books that I thought were shoot-in’s that didn’t make it, and there were books that really grew on me after listening to others’ opinions.  It’s a highly interesting and energizing process.  I recommend this for anyone seeking to hone their public book discussion skills and wishing to look at books closely and not minding being told to look at a book very differently from time to time.

There is so much more that I can say about being on this incredible Committee, but I’ll keep it brief again. To me, there are always two related but also separate facets that make serving on Media Evaluation Committees so valuable. One is of course the “work” and the stated “goal” of the Committee, compiling a list of titles that will reach libraries and children nationwide (be they Audio Books, Websites, or Books). Through these recommended lists, we are promoting great works and even guiding the industry to a certain extend.

The second facet is the tremendous growth that one gains by serving on these Committees. Days after our concluding meeting and heart-felt goodbyes, the 2008 Notable Children’s Books Committee members have been filling each other’s email inboxes with messages, gushing over how grateful we are to each other’s insights and professionalism, and how much we have all learned and matured, professionally. I personally have learned how to better listen and participate in a group discussion. I definitely got a better sense as to when to speak up and when to keep silent. I learned to be more in tune with the group and see from others’ view points. I also learned to not be afraid to raise concerns as long as I can phrase my concerns in ways that will not offend my colleagues and to back up my comments with specific examples from the materials at hand. (Maybe I didn’t quite learn how not to be afraid, being a very vocal critic all along, but I did learn to phrase my concerns carefully, especially in a public arena such as this!) To listen carefully to my skilled colleagues as they describe parts of a book with such precision and eloquence was probably the most joyful part of the whole “arduous” task.

I said that I’d be brief, so I’m stopping here. There might be more posts coming about this experience, as I get ready for another year of Notables.

I’m floating on clouds… two days after our last Notable Children’s Books Committee meeting and the final balloting and compiling of the 2008 Notable Children’s Books List. This has been my first year serving on this amazing Committee and I just want to say how grateful I am to be able to discuss in-depth about so many really strong books and learn so much from my insightful, knowledgeable, thoughtful, and diligent colleagues. The final list can be found on the ALSC website here. I really would like to hear from those working with children day in and day out how you all think of this list. Do you think it’s balanced? Do you feel that this list can be of use in helping your collection development? Do you think children will enjoy these books? Are there titles that you really wish to be on the list but didn’t make it? Specific comments will be great.

The process is so intense and exhausting (exhilarating, of course) and we are all so eager to make a solid list. I believe that I can speak for everyone on the Committee that we also are always willing to learn from our fellow librarians and educators through your thoughtful suggestions.

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

ALSC is pleased to announce that Henrietta Smith has been selected as the winner of the 2008 Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Smith is professor emerita from the University of South Florida. Over her long and storied career, she has been a teacher, mentor, and inspiration to many children’s librarians and ALSC members and she is a nationally recognized expert in the field of multicultural children’s literature. She has served on numerous ALSC committees, including Newbery and Caldecott, and has long been active on the Coretta Scott King Award Task Force. She has edited two editions of The Coretta Scott King Awards Book: From Vision to Reality, published by ALA Publications. Congratulations, Henrietta!

– KT Horning

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 just arrived in Philadelphia for the 2008 ALA Midwinter Conference. While I’m here, I’ll be keeping you up to date on what’s going on with the ALSC Board, and any other ALSC news that I think might be of interest to members.

I haven’t seen any other ALSC members around yet — first sightings are always fun, so I’ll keep you posted. I’m here earlier than most people to attend the ALSC Executive Committee meeting tomorrow afternoon. For those of you not familiar with ALSC governance, our Executive Committee is made up of the President (Jane Marino); Vice President/President-Elect (Pat Scales); immediate Past President (yours truly, KT Horning); Councilor (Linda Perkins); Fiscal Officer (Sue Ziegler); and Executive Director (Diane Foote). We always meet for a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon at the beginning of conference.

Throughout the year, the Executive Committee deals with the day-to-day things that come up that need attention and, sometimes, a quick decision, but that don’t require consideration from the full Board. At our meeting tomorrow, we’ll touch base on some of the issues or concerns that have come up since we last met, and we’ll decide what needs to be referred to the full Board at one of their three Midwinter meetings. The E. C. meeting helps us to clarify what these issues are and what sort of questions we need to raise for Board discussion. This helps to streamline the Board meetings a bit.

If you’re going to be attending the Midwinter Conference, I encourage you to sit in on at least part of one of our Board meetings. We’ll be meeting on Saturday, Jan 12, 2:00-5:30; Monday, Jan 14, 2:00-5:30; and Tuesday, Jan 15, 2:00-5:30. The first two meetings will take place in the Convention Center, Room 303A and the third meeting right next door in Room 303B. Members might be particularly interested in the Board discussion at the beginning of Session 1 (Sat 2:00 pm) when we’ll be discussing how ALSC can respond to competition from other divisions, and in the discussion at the beginning of Session 2 (Mon, 2:00 pm) when we’ll have a report from the Awards Eligibility Task Force. Both of these discussions are slated to for last an hour.

If you can’t get to the meetings, you can read about some of the highlights right here on the ALSC blog.

KT Horning, ALSC Past President

As you may know, ALA’s youth media award winners will be announced at a press conference on Monday morning, January 14 at ALA’s Midwinter Meeting. You can learn about the winners in person, via Web Cast, or directly from your cell phone via text message. Here is where you can go to find out more:

1) The announcement and instructions for the text Message Service around the YMA Award Winners is at http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2008/january2008/ymatext08.htm

2) The wiki page is also ready, showing off all three ways to learn about the winners:  In Person, by Web Cast, and Directly to Your Cell Phone via Text Message at

http://wikis.ala.org/midwinter2008/index.php/When_and_Where

The American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting will be held January 11 through 16, 2008, in Philadelphia, PA. Here are a few online places you may use to help you plan your meeting schedule.

• For fully registered attendees, the ALA Midwinter Event planner is available.
• A list of ALSC meeting locations is available on the ALSC web site.
• The ALA 2008 Midwinter Meeting Home Page offers the Meetings and Sessions web page which includes a spreadsheet (that you have to download) of the full Daily Schedule.
• There is also an Official Wiki of the 2008 ALA Midwinter Meeting.

If you are attending, please consider reporting about the events, programs, and meetings for those who cannot be there in person. No previous blogging experience is necessary — just ALSC membership and the willingness to post reports within one week after Midwinter. If you are interested, please contact Teresa Walls at [email protected].