Reading Spaces

Sex & The Library: Progressive Librarian: London Chapter Event

Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 2:30. Visual Arts Centre 100.

YALSA's new research agenda

The YALSA Research Committee has put forward 4 priority areas for research:

Priority Area 1: Impact of Libraries on Young Adults

Priority Area 2: Young Adult Reading and Resources

Priority Area 3: Information Seeking Behaviors and Needs of Young Adults

Priority Area 4: Informal and Formal Learning Environments and Young Adults

For full details see: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/research/researchagenda.cfm

LITA | Writing Award Guidelines

"The Library and Information Technology Association (LITA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is pleased to offer an award for the best unpublished manuscript submitted by a student or students enrolled in an ALA-accredited graduate program.  Sponsored by LITA and Ex Libris, the award consists of $1,000, publication in LITA’s refereed journal, Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL), and a certificate.  The deadline for submission of the manuscript is February 28, 2012."

For more information on this prize for student penned manuscripts on any aspect of libraries and information technology, see the guidelines at: http://www.lita.org/ala/mgrps/divs/lita/involve/committees/exlibris/guidelines.cfm

Some good news about libraries

In light of all of the depressing and infuriating news of library closures, cutbacks and other gutting tactics, here is some good news from New York Public Library.

Patrick Ness wins Carnegie Medal for Monsters of Men

The Chaos Walking series by expat American YA author, Patrick Ness, is among my favourites. I don't have time right now to give all the reasons why I highly recommend it, and I'm still mulling over the conclusion, but I'm happy to see the books receive this kind of recognition. The writing is at times, truly, breath-taking. He can certainly turn a very nice phrase. The Carnegie medal is awarded by a committee of librarians, and Ness gives a quote-worthy defense of libraries in his acceptance speech. To read more about the Carnegie, library cuts and Patrick Ness see this article in the Bookseller, this BBC article, or this Guardian article.

YAAN: prototypical social media for ya librarians

I just came across this article by Cindy Welch, an LIS prof at the University of Tennessee. Welch illustrates how the Young Adult Alternative Newsletter (YAAN) provided a forum for youth advocates in North America in the 70s to share ideas, but importantly, it also provided a place for support, professional identity and political expression. We hear the voices of early advocates like Mary K. Chelton, Joni Bodart, Larry Amey (editor of a Canadian newsletter, Young Adult Hotline) among others. The histories of young adult library services are few and far between, so it was a pleasure to find this one. The host site for this article, In the Library with the Lead Pipe, is pretty interesting too and worth a closer look.

ReachOut Reads

I just read about Reach Out Reads over at Boing Boing where Cory Doctorow tells readers that it is a YALSA endorsed project that recommends YA fiction to help young adults who are experiencing "hard personal problems and mental health issues". May is Mental Health Month (Mental Health Week in Canada is 1-7 May 2011) and many public libraries make displays to support it -- this is in another way to do that without the hard work of selecting suitable books yourself. Also, Reach Out Reads supports live chats with a number of authors over the course of the month.

Children's Services Benchmarks and Statistical Report 2009, Ontario Public Library Association

For Immediate Release

Increased focus on children’s programs and resources in Ontario’s public Libraries

TORONTO, March 16, 2011 --- The Ontario Public Library Association (OPLA), has published its’ Children’s Services Benchmarks and Statistical Report. The previous report on children’s services in public libraries was released in 2004. A comparison of survey results reveals an increased emphasis on children’s services in public libraries. For example:

-       Increased spending on children’s materials

-       Increased access to technology and electronic resources for children

-       Improved development of safety policies for children such as internet access and use and unattended children.

“The OPLA Child and Youth Services Committee conducts the survey every few years so that libraries can compare their services against other, similar library systems. The goal is to provide data that will help Ontario’s public libraries plan the best services possible for our young customers and their families,” comments Alicia Subnaik-Kilgour, committee chair.

The survey also looked at which agencies public libraries work with in deploying children’s services into the local community.  After schools, libraries serving populations fewer than 100,000 are more likely to partner with Ontario Early Years Centres, preschools, daycares, and colleges. In communities greater than 100,000, public libraries partner more often with preschools, daycares, social service agencies and health units.

Public libraries that participated have continued access to the online survey tool created by Counting Opinions. The tool enables one library to generate unique reports and compare its’ services against a similar library.

Electronic copies of the Children’s Services Benchmarks and Statistical Report are freely available from OPLA’s web site at:

www.accessola.com/opla/

 

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The Ontario Public Library Association (OPLA) is a division of the Ontario Library Association, and provides advocacy, networking, and professional development opportunities for more than 1,000 members who work in or with Ontario’s public libraries. The OPLA Child and Youth Services Committee promote excellence in library services for children and youth by developing programs and resources to support Ontario’s public libraries.

Contact: Alicia Subnaik-Kilgour, Chair, OPLA Child and Youth Services committee

askilgour@collingwoodpubliclibrary.ca

 

http://www.accessola.com/opla/bins/content_page.asp?cid=1071

Library Gaming Special Edition of Teen Librarian

take a look at this UK update on gaming in libraries in the context of youth services.

(by way of YA Library UK)

Leave the libraries alone. You don’t understand their value by Philip Pullman

Just in case you haven't seen this yet: Philip Pullman on Libraries and the Greedy Ghost of Market Fundamentalism:

Leave the libraries alone. You don’t understand their value. | Blog | False Economy.