The Youth Services Book Review Group:
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM -- NMRLS, Danvers
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
The Youth Services Book Review Group meets once a month, from 10:00 to 12:00, at the NMRLS office in Danvers. Books from publishers are available to reviewers in advance of their publication date. Reviews are shared each session in round-robin fashion. New reviewers are always welcome! Just come and the books will fall into your hands! (No registration required).
Every month, a small but growing number of Youth Services librarians from both public and school libraries gather together in the Conference Room at NMRLS and share reviews of new books. The books are sent to NMRLS from approximately 20 publishers.
Reviewers select the books they wish to review; these books are then kept by the reviewer! Current book reviews are blogged to http://ysbookreview.wordpress.com/. A new feature using LibraryThing enables reviewers to see the latest arrivals in Susan Babb's office at NMRLS! This collection is at http://www.librarything.com/catalog/NMRLSYSBookRev.
The schedule may be found at http://www.nmrls.org/youth/book.shtml
Summer Reading Program Updates
2006 what's buzzin' at your library Wrap Up
"Because of the bug theme, many children started reading non-fiction about insects that they never had any interest in before."
"I had a parent, with a child on the verge of reading on her own, say that the program and incentives were instrumental in helping their child make that leap."
"My child makes an effort to read during the summer because of the Summer Reading Program"
Numbers for the Northeast were down just a bit from last year. Total Participants for 2006 came to 32,160. Last year the figure was 33,933.
The Statewide total was 137,333. This figure may go up as some numbers are still coming in!
There were many stories included in the evaluation. A couple stood out:
"The theme was very popular from fans of the Pretty (butterflies) to fans of the Gross (EWick, slimy worms!). It was a theme which worked well for visual impact and had many components that you could find realia for in gardening supplies, science, etc really enjoyed by many. Releasing live ladybugs at Pajama Story Time and watching them fly away was a memorable sight for many families. Patrons loved the hands on aspect to much of the summer: working on weaving, grabbing butterfly nets and catching insects in the yard, then using books to identify them. The theme allowed books to come to life."
"This was the first year in a long time that we had a big kick-off event. We had sign-ups, temporary tattoos, balloon "bugs" and ice cream - pretty low-key, but lots of fun. We expected around 100 patrons and got nearly 400! It was a huge hit with both kids and their parents and it was run almost entirely by teen volunteers. We had kids talking about it for weeks. And our trustees requested that we have balloon animals at our library's anniversary party in the fall. We also received a lot of positive feedback about the clock reading logs. More than one family mentioned that they successfully taught clock skills while keeping track of their summer reading. Those are a definite must for us again next year. We had record numbers across the board this year, with nearly 1,800 people at our summer events. It was an awesome summer!"
Generally, librarians were pleased with all of the components. But there are always a few snags!
- The Clipart CDs were a problem for many. They weren't exactly user intuitive! Next year, the clip art will be available online, accessible with a password. I hope this helps alleviate some of the problems!
- The Manual will also be online in 2007 and will be the full product. This past year, only an abridged print manual was available.
- Folks were pleased on the whole with Janway products and service. We hope that continues this year and are glad to mention that there will be some different items!
- Reading logs were perhaps the most controversial! Going from a nice booklet feel to one sheet and a heavy sheet at that proved very frustrating for many. We did get some good feedback but more negative on the whole. Next year, we are set to go with the same format as last year: one page logs but the paper weight should be lighter and thus easier to put through a copier machine.
- Coupons in the Northeast have not changed for a few years. NMRLS offers 6 coupons to the region and then to the State. Folks in the northern corridor commented that there were not many choices for them. I am open to suggestions! Now is a good time to get suggestions! Please email me susan@nmrls.org with names, contact information, addresses, and web sites!
- Communication (statewide/regional) can be repetitive and massive at times! Again, I am open to suggest as to how to make this work on both ends. I don't like overwhelming you, but there is information that needs to get out there!
- The Regional blog is located at http://nmrlssummerreading.blogspot.com/. Ideas, happenings, photos, and contributions are all there! It seems to be quite the busy little blog! But if you have ideas for improving it, let me know!
Thanks to everyone who took the time to complete the evaluation and share comments and suggestions. It was a busy summer! Catch the Beat is just around the corner!
2007 Catch the beat at your Library:
Orders have been sent to JanWay! Coming soon will be the Online Manual! At first glance, there are plenty of ideas for programs, crafts, and books to use! There's also an in depth Teen component! I think we are looking to have this available to you in the new year. A password will be sent to all librarians who have ordered materials.
Mark Your Calendars for the Second Annual Program Power Breakfast!
April 27, 2007 at the Peabody Institute Library, Danvers
We are already making plans for this second annual event! If you want to know what a Program Power Breakfast is, please visit last year's at http://www.nmrls.org/youth/PPBreakfast.shtml.
We are looking for folks interested in participating at this event. Participants will be making a short presentation as well as bring materials to display about their program. If interested, please contact Susan Babb at susan@nmrls.org.
Upcoming Library Celebrations
Mark your calendars:
In just 7 weeks YALSA will announce the winners of its 2007 Alex, Edwards and Printz awards as well as the final choices for our six 2007 selected lists. The awards announcement takes place at ALA's Youth Media Awards Press Conference at 8 AM (Pacific time) on Jan 22nd in Seattle at ALA's Midwinter Meeting. To learn more about our six lists and three awards go to www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists.
If you can't make it to the Midwinter Meeting to hear the announcements, log on to www.ala.org for a live webcast of the press conference. YALSA will also post the winners and new selected lists on the YALSA web site on Jan. 22nd.
Get Your Teens Excited:
Use your Teen Advisory Group (TAG) to help you with any of the following:
1. Create a display of prior Alex, Edwards or Alex winners.
2. Join the discussion with other librarians and educators on yalsa- bk about what titles are likely winners. To subscribe to yalsa-bk (it's free), go to www.ala.org/yalsa and click on "Electronic Resources."
3. Hold a mock Printz election and let your teens vote for which book they think will win in '07.
4. Begin planning a poster or bookmark contest. Once the winners are announced, have your teens design a poster or bookmark for the Alex, Edwards or Printz winners.
5. Use your library's blog or MySpace to discuss titles you think may win an award. Encourage your teens to share their opinions.
Make a shopping list:
1. Stock up on awards seals for your Edwards & Printz books. They're available for purchase from the ALA online store at: www.alastore.ala.org (ALA members get a 10% discount).
2. Keep your eye on the ALA Store's web site. Posters and bookmarks featuring the 2007 award winning titles will be sold there. Preorders will be available in February and the goal is to have products ready for purchase by March.
Read up:
1. In the fall issue of YALSA's journal, Young Adult Library Services, you can read the awards speeches from the 2006 Printz winner and honorees and from the 2006 Edwards winner.
2. YALSA's web site lists the titles that have been nominated for the different selected lists at www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists.
Teen Tech Week: March 4-10, 2007. Please join YALSA in celebrating our first ever Teen Tech Week March 4-10, 2007. The purpose of this new initiative is to encourage teens to use libraries' non-print resources for education and recreation, and to help teens recognize that librarians are qualified, trusted professionals in the field of information technology.
Here's what you can do to join the celebration:
1. Register for Teen Tech Week at http://www.ala.org/teentechweek. Those of you who register will receive incentives from our Promotional Partners Rosen Publishing and Tutor.com.
2. Visit the Teen Tech Week wiki at http://teentechweek.wikispaces.com to find and share ideas for celebrating the event.
3. Plan on attending the Teen Tech Week Kick-Off from 10:30 to 12:30 January 21st at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. Meet our partners and sponsors and get ideas from our TTW Taskforce on how to celebrate in your library.
4. Keep an eye out on the TTW web site for Teen Tech Week podcasts.
5. Stock up on your Teen Tech Week swag at http://www.alastore.ala.org
Thank you for working to ensure that the teens in your communities have access to a variety of electronic resources and are competent users of information in all formats. YALSA would like to thank E-Vanced Solutions for making the online registration possible.
Upcoming Youth Services Workshops
Mark Your Calendars for these January 2007 Youth Services Workshop Events!
- Anime/Manga with Robin Brenner
January 5, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Beverly Public Library
- Making the Connection: MSLA/NMRLS Library Teacher Series - Marketing
January 16, 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Gloucester High School
- The Privacy Rights of Children: A Roundtable
January 22, 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Tewksbury Public Library
