The American Library Association has affiliate relationships with state associations. Each state association includes a division or section or interest group geared toward library services to children. Many offer conferences and programs.

The Children & Young People’s Division (CYPD) of the Indiana Library Federation is having its conference September 21-22, in Fort Wayne, IN. Details are still in the works, but I have heard that E.B. Lewis may be one of the special guests. For more information, check out CYPD’s web page.

Are you involved with a state library association? Please feel free to share information about it with the readers of the ALSC Blog.

posted by Teresa Walls

from a press release

The Children’s Africana Book Awards were established in 1991 by the Outreach Council of the African Studies Association to encourage the publication and use of accurate, balanced children’s materials on Africa in U.S. schools and libraries. The jury of seven includes Outreach Council members, specialists in K-12 curriculum development and university-based scholars. Forty-seven titles were nominated by U.S. publishers and distributors for consideration this year. Reviews of nominated titles are published online at Africa Access Review, http://www.AfricaAccessReview.org.

Ifeoma Onyefulu is the winner of the Best Book for Young Children award for Ikenna goes to Nigeria (London, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 2007). The book focuses on Onyefulu’s son Ikenna and photographs his visit to his mother’s Nigerian homeland.

Honors for Young Children go to Kathleen Mariarty and Amin Amir for Wiil Waal (St. Paul, Minnesota Humanities Center/Somali Bilingual Book Project, 2007), a bilingual presentation of a folktale about a 19th century Somali sultan.

Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie are the winners of the Best Book for Older Readers award for Aya (Montreal, Drawn & Quarterly, 2007), a graphic novel that offers an insider’s view of teenage life in a lively Abidjan neighborhood.

Honor Book winners for Older Readers are Henry Aubin for Rise of the Golden Cobra (Toronto, Annick Press, 2007), a novel set in ancient Kush and Egypt, and Ishmael Beah for A Long Way Gone (New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007), a recent war story and autobiographical account of a child soldier in the civil war in Sierra Leone.

This year’s awards were announced on the International Day of the African Child — June 16 – in Washington D.C. The winners will receive their awards November 15th in Chicago during the annual meeting of the African Studies Association. Information on the all day events for K-12 teachers which will involve these authors and illustrators will be available in September. See www.AfricaAccessReview.org for updates.

Want to reminisce about Annual Conference?  Check out this American Libraries Focus video: “Annual 2008 Wrap-up”

 Enjoy!

YouTube Direktlink

An ALA Annual Conference Program presented by ALSC’s Children & Technology Committee.

Librarians of all kinds as well as others with interests in reaching out to kids through technology, gathered in the large room of the Marriott next to the Anaheim Convention center to listen to Warren Buckleitner discuss his creation of Mediatech at the Flemington (NJ) Public Library. Warren first introduced to the audience how Mediatech was born and how he acquired space and support for his dream of providing children a space that is “wholesome, safe, supervised, fun, [and a] highly social option in the after school hours.” Through slides and video clips, the audience followed Warren through the beginning stages of Mediatech. The presentation soon changed gears as Warren discussed the types of technology available in Mediatech: Xbox 360, Wii, computers, Play Station Portable (PSP) – among others - as well as the many games to choose from for the various consoles that can be checked out. Warren also did not shy away from some of the negative things you have to be practical about when running a technology center of this magnitude: theft will happen, so be prepared. Another somewhat negative aspect of gaming that Warren discussed was the existence of “addictive” games. These are games that have endless levels and not a whole lot of thinking happening on the part of the game player. These games suck a child into a mindless world where they “just need to make it to the next level!” He offered alternatives to promote to users such as Brain Age Smart Move by Nintendo or Scratch – a website that creates an alternative way to produce stories and animations, games and music (see Showcase of Success for an example of this in a library program).

The audience had many questions about the packaging and circulation of games, time limits placed on use of various equipment, age ranges for use, and many more. The session was informative and engaging. In addition to Warren’s great presentation the Children & Technology Committee also set up a “Showcase of Success” at the back of the room. The Showcase provided a look at some successful library programs that have used various types of technology in programming. A complete list of the programs with details is available on the Child Tech Wiki at: http://wikis.ala.org/alsc/index.php/ALSC_ChildTech_Wiki . To help audience members find this website and more information on Mediatech, the Committee also passed out Mini Moo Cards produced by Flickr that contained a photo of a child engaged with technology and the web address for the Wiki.

If you missed out on attending this great program, please visit the Child Tech Wiki for more details about Warren and Mediatech, as well as the complete Showcase of Success!

Bethany Lafferty; Children & Technology Committee member, 2006-2008

Here’s an update to the information I posted about the wonderful celebration of the first Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production during ALA Annual in Anaheim. At the end of the Booklist Books for Youth Forum, we all watched a video appearance by Jim Dale, narrator of the Harry Potter audiobooks. Dale shares some thoughts about recording Harry Potter, honors the Potter production team, and gives special thanks to the Odyssey Award committee: Jerene D. Battisti, Francisca Goldsmith, Natalie Hoyle, Sharon B. Grover, Teri S. Lesesne, Merri Lindgren, Connie C. Rockman, Sylvia Vardell, Sue-Ellen Beauregard. Here’s the link to that video – enjoy your visit to Dale’s living room that looks straight out of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!

http://kpvideo.info/LL/Jim_Dale.html

Mary Burkey, Chair 2008 Odyssey Award committee

posted by Jeanette Larson

I received a newsletter from the Federal Trade Commission through YALSA but much of the information would also pertain to younger children and tweens so I’m sharing it. The FTC has a new internet safety program and libraries can request bulk copies of flyers, bookmarks, and other resources that would be useful in parent education classes. The online resources include a video about online safety for parents and i-Safe videos for teachers to use with kids. The website is http://onguardonline.gov/index.html. (As an aside, to order bulk you are referred to the FTC site, www.ftc.gov/bulkorder, and there are some other freebies that the adult services folks might appreciate, including magnets that promote the “do not call” registry number.) Internet safety continues to be a concern for all of us and these resources can help libraries be at the forefront of promoting appropriate use of the technology. Click on!

posted by Teresa Walls

Recently I had a discussion with a friend who has a second-grader who attends a public school. She questioned all the special programs for homeschoolers, programs that are available at various places all through our county, library included. The proverbial straw was the special time during the afternoon in the summer in which no one else could swim at her local YMCA because the homeschoolers were using the pool then.

While I couldn’t speak for the YMCA, I could share my experience of attendance numbers and how too often programs are offered for the general public and no one comes, or sometimes, seemingly worse, one person attends. However, I can understand the perception that a group of people are being offered preferential treatment. In fact, an upcoming ALSC Blog podcast is about Time 2 Chime, a handchime choir of homeschooled children, at the Allen County (IN) Public Library. The handchimes are made available during other programs when other families could bring their children, and I’m certain if any public or parochial school group expressed an interest, the class would be scheduled for a program using the handchimes.

My own experience has been that the attendance numbers are often larger with the homeschool crowd, especially if you aren’t scheduling it at the same time the majority of them might be at the pool. I had offered an “Explore the World of …” series while I was working as a full-time children’s librarian. Program topics included architecture, Indiana history, polar regions, space, inventions & inventors, jazz, art & artists, and branches of the U.S government. The program was offered twice on a Thursday, a morning and afternoon session, and on a Saturday afternoon. Few attended these approximately two-hour programs offered on Saturdays.

Jazz was the one exception. Only two homeschooling families attended the school-day session (of course, one family in the morning and one in the afternoon), but for the Saturday program two fathers with children came specifically for the event. We listened to jazz and introduced specific jazz musicians, played along with various musical instruments, practiced improvisation and syncopation and rhythm and taking familiar songs and making them into something different rhythmically. It wasn’t a huge crowd, but more than I had experienced with the other Saturday “Explore the World of …” programs.

I doubt I changed my friend’s view about homeschoolers having more available to them. I know that is why a few of my friends have chosen to homeschool their children. However, when it comes to the public library and programming, how do you strike a balance?

Wow!  What an incredible experience this was.  I feel very lucky to have been able to attend ALA and work for ALSC.

First, I’d like to thank who I worked most closely with: Aimee, Angela, Diane, Jenny, Laura, Linda, Marsha, Allison and Naphtali (I hope I haven’t left anyone out).  Thanks for letting me be a part of the group—I had so much fun helping and learning a bit how these conferences work.  Your kindness, good humor, and experience are motivating.

One of the things I most enjoyed was talking to librarians while on the shuttle buses, waiting in lines, and at sessions/banquets.  People from all around the world holding library, teaching, and publishing jobs were an inspiration to me, and I loved sharing ideas and making connections. 

Another highlight for me was the ALSC preconference, especially Stephen Krashen’s lecture about the power of reading.  I have already told countless people about his exciting research, and I can’t wait to read his new book.  Laurie and Vaughn’s (from New Mexico) presentation on school visits for summer reading programs was also a major highlight.  Their enthusiasm is infectious, and as a future youth services librarian, I will strive to provide programs as they do!

All the sessions and programs I attended were exciting and beneficial for my professional and personal life.  The poetry blast was especially moving; I never realized how beautiful poetry is when presented by the author.

I was told the Newbery/Caldecott speeches were outstanding this year.  I can’t wait to watch Brian Selznick’s video again on the CD, and once again I feel fortunate to have been able to see and hear such exceptional authors and illustrators.  Yes, I really did have a blast holding the Newbery/Caldecott directional sign!  There’s nothing better than seeing everyone as they go to the banquet and chatting with librarians before it started.

The exhibits were fun, but I will definitely have to practice a little more self control at future conferences…free doesn’t always mean you have to take it!  Good thing for the post officeJ.

Finally, thank you to KT, for your constant encouragement and making sure I would be working with ALSC—I couldn’t have asked for a better division! As always, you are generous and humble, and I am honored to work for you at the CCBC and benefit from your experience and great knowledge of children’s literature.

I understand even more now why everyone says conferences are so important.  Given the opportunity, I will attend as many as I can. Getting the big picture and sharing ideas with others is one of the best ways to improve what we can do for children.  Thank you!

Take care,

Carling

posted by Jeanette Larson

Think ahead and consider applying for the $3,000 Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant, which will be awarded to a  library for the best public awareness campaign incorporating the 2009 National Library Week theme, “Worlds connect @ your library®.” This year’s application deadline is October 17, 2008 and  National Library Week is April 12-18, 2009. Visit http://ala.org/ala/pressreleases2008/june2008/2009NLWgrant.cfm for details and applications. While the campaign is obviously open for the entire library, this theme is a great one for youth services.

I love it when products intended for kids find a secondary niche with adults.  I noticed three such electronic products while browsing the exhibits at ALA Annual in Anaheim.  Be forewarned, I am going to name specifics products.  This is not an endorsement by me or the ALSC.

World Book Discover – Our favorite kid-friendly encyclopedia retooled for older users.  Imbedded dictionary, atlas, timelines, a very cool multi-language visual dictionary, and tips for conducting research.  Most different from their kids’ product: the Life Skills Center.  This section includes articles on insurance, money matters, health, employment, and social skills.

Brainfuse – Their HelpNow online homework program for Grades 3-12 also has a section called Skills Building for adults.  Here you will find a writing lab, knowledge tutorials, and realtime one-on-one skills refreshers for grownups.  Adults don’t have to have a specific question when they log in.  It’s just skills review & practice.

Tutor.com – This homework service has always had Grades 4-12, but is now offering to help Adult Learners (which is the name of this new service).  They have also added a writing lab that will be useful to all subscribers and are expanding their homework help down to include the primary grades K-3.

–Bradley Debrick, Guest Contributor