Central Massachusetts Year of the Teen

Booklist’s 2009 top 10 romance fiction for youth

Maureen — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:40:27 +0000

Booklist has just announced their top 10 list of new romance fiction for youth. From their website:

“Although there aren’t any blushing beach reads on this year’s list of the best romances reviewed in Booklist during the past 12 months, these titles do explore a wide range of the ever-curious and urgent tuggings of the heart, with a mix of genres, including fantasy and even a biography, from boy-meets-girl to boy-meets-boy.”

The full, annotated list with suggested grade levels and links to full reviews can be found in Booklist Online.

New national poll on teens and social networking

Maureen — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:22:23 +0000

Common Sense Media has just release the results of a new national poll on how teens use social networking, and how parents perceive their teens’ online behavior. The disparity is surprising. You can read the full poll results, a summary, or just check out a chart on the Common Sense Media website.

ALA Youth Media Awards webcast

Maureen — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:14:45 +0000

ALA will be webcasting the Youth Media Awards, including the Printz, live on January 26 at 7:45 am Mountain time. Space is limited, so get there early! I will be attending the press conference in Denver, and will be posting the results as they are announced to the Youth Services Notes blog.

Find out more about the webcast on the ALA website.

Lori Drew case and cyberbullying

Maureen — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:02:01 +0000

There is a great posting by social networking expert danah boyd regarding cyberbullying as it relates to the Lori Drew case. She says, “Lori Drew abused her power as a knowledgeable adult by leveraging her adult knowledge of psychology to humiliate and torment a teen girl. Put another way, Lori Drew engaged in psychological and emotional child abuse. Child abuse includes the psychological or emotional mistreatment of a child. Unfortunately, most legal statutes focus on sexual and physical abuse and neglect because emotional abuse is very hard to substantiate and prosecute. But realistically, she should’ve been tried with child abuse, not a computer crime.” What do you think?

The article is definitely worth a look – the comments are insightful too! Find it at: http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2008/11/30/reflections_on.html

Twilight has ended — what’s next?

Maureen — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:21:24 +0000

If you have teens in your library who LOVED Twilight, and need something new to read, check out the new YALSA Popular Paperbacks list called “Dead, Dying and the Undead“. From their website: “Death can be an adventure, but not everyone lives to tell about it. Join us in exploring the often mysterious world of death and those who experience it.”

MA teens recognized in School Library Journal

Maureen — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:48:54 +0000

Teens who “starred” in a video about what they would miss if library funds got cut due to Question 1 this November were recognized in School Library Journal for their efforts. Check out the article from SLJ’s “Extra Helping” newsletter!

Massachusetts teens speak out about Question 1 and libraries

Maureen — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:49:22 +0000

YA Collection Management workshop in Brewster

Maureen — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:08:23 +0000

In conjunction with their “Serving Tweens & Teens” LSTA grant (awarded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners), the Brewster Ladies’ Library is hosting a Collection Development workshop for librarians who work with teens and young adults on Monday, November 10 at 1:00 p.m.

Professor Amy Pattee from the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science will lead a discussion addressing the challenges of creating and maintaining Young Adult Collections. She will talk about the necessity for YA collections and the function they serve for younger and older teens, the use of adult titles in YA collections, how to deal with controversial titles in your collections, and other trends in teen books.

Some of you may have had the opportunity to hear Amy speak recently at the NELA conference. For those of you who missed her presentation, this is a wonderful chance to find out what’s new in YA Collection Management.

There is no charge for this workshop. Registration is not required, but an e-mail RSVP would be appreciated! Please contact Kathleen Mahoney at Brewster Ladies Library if you plan to attend, have any questions or need directions!

Facebook it!

Maureen — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:09:19 +0000

A teen columnist for the Dallas Morning News says about Facebook, “None of the themes from the Brat Pack movies of the ’80s has changed – only the medium. ” Read more of her editorial on their website.

Prudential awards for middle and high school students

Maureen — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:16:20 +0000

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards honor young people in middle level and high school grades for outstanding volunteer service to their communities. Created in 1995 by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), the awards constitute the United States’ largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteering. Over the past 13 years, the program has honored more than 80,000 young volunteers at the local, state, and national level.

Wouldn’t it be great if a teen could be recognized for the great work he or she is doing in one of our libraries? Please share this information with your teens! You’ll find an overview and links to the online application at http://www.prudential.com/spirit. Prizes range from a certificate all the way to $5,000! Good luck!!