ALA 2013 - A Little Late

I had my first experience with an American Library Association Annual Conference earlier this summer. It was a long day, but wonderful.

Ky, a good friend of mine from college, also came with to the conference. She came down from Wisconsin the night before and we took the train into the city early the next morning. We walked to the conference shuttle, made it to McCormick Place, and got checked in to the conference.

We quickly checked out the lay of the land (& wow, the place was huge!) and started to get in line for author signings. While in line to get my book signed by Sarah Dessen, I was able to get a creeper shot of Mo Willems from across the aisle.

 While I was in line for Ms. Dessen I was standing in front of the AudioGo booth. I chatted with the representative and came away with a free audiobook, and a title that the library had passed by because it was too expensive, to boot!

I finally purchased my book and had it signed. Sarah Dessen was very nice, and while I was taking a picture, she and her assistant both said they loved my phone case ("Keep Calm & Carry On" - fitting for many of us!).

While I was in line for Sarah, Ky stood in line and got our books signed by Marie Lu. 

Diary of a Wimpy Librarian? I hope not!

We wandered around for the rest of the day, I attended a session about video editing and using YouTube for libraries, which was interesting, and I hope to eventually incorporate some of the ideas I learned there into my library work. We accumulated bags full of galleys, Ky got her book signed by Veronica Roth (I was so jealous! Darn having to attend sessions!), and I talked to an OCLC representative about some issues I had been having with creating the ILL account using their new software.

 

We also saw the Penguin Book Truck, which had lots of great deals, but I had to abstain because my back was already breaking from the mountain of galleys in my tote-bags.

This is the view of the conference floor from the cafe. Ky stayed up here and people watched for a while while I was attending one of my sessions. It was massive! 

After a very long morning and afternoon we caught the bus outside the conference center and headed back to the train station. We were delayed because a street on the way to the hotel was blocked off due to something being filmed. We weren't sure if it was for a movie (we were hoping for Divergent!) or TV, but we got to see a car take off down the street and be filmed by a jeep with a camera rig on top, so that was cool, and worth the extra time on the bus! 

The Chicago Art Institute Lions were celebrating a Blackhawks Stanley Cup win in style!

The bus only took us as far as the Weston Hotel so we had to hoof it several blocks back to the train station. I'm sure we were quite a site with all of our tote-bags.

Yay Maggie! I needed some Gansey time!

I spent some time on the train ride home reading this galley, that I was very excited to have randomly handed to me as soon as I hit the conference floor. I had been waiting for this book for months (and it was worth the wait!).

We finally made it back to the train station, and were starving, so we stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. It was the perfect end to a very long, but satisfying, day.

The hungry teacher and librarian devoured these in a matter of minutes. And they were delicious.

My first ALA Conference was only one day, but I really enjoyed it, and hope I get to attend another the future. Maybe someday I'll be one of the librarians leading a session.

Sleep... Or Lack Thereof

It is 1:30 in the morning as I write this. I should be sleeping, but thank goodness I don't have to work until noon tomorrow. Things are keeping my mind too busy to let me drift off.

Our Summer Reading Program concluded last Friday, with the final party taking place on Saturday evening at the local YMCA. We rented out the entire facility, which was then closed to the general public, and filled the space with library families for 3 hours. They could swim, play in the gym, climb around in the playhouse, play air hockey or pool, or use the climbing wall, bounce house, or inflatable obstacle course we had rented for the event.

We only had 1 major complaint, so I think it went pretty well. I sat behind the welcome desk with the teen librarian to take tickets and give directions, and you would not believe how many people thought I worked for the YMCA and were asking me membership questions. They were astonished to discover that I was not, in fact, a YMCA employee, but a librarian. Apparently my disguise consisting of jeans and a Pride & Prejudice t-shirt was effective (Affective? It's late; my grammar skills have declined.). 

With programming on hiatus for the rest of the summer so that we can plan everything for the rest of the year, I have been taking time to do some software training for the other main aspect of my job: Interlibrary Loan. Over the past 2 days I have spent a solid 4 hours participating in OCLC WorldShare instruction webinars. They have made me the crankiest staff member afterwards, but they will be highly useful once the old ILL module is disabled and retired at the end of the year.

4 more work days and then it is time for this librarian's 5 day vacation. And house move, but I'm trying not to think about that. I do look forward to being able to unpack and no longer be living out of boxes.

Time for attempt 3 at falling asleep.

Yikes.

Remember that time I started my full-time job and promptly stopped blogging?

I do.

It was sad.

I'm hoping I can get back to it on a more regular basis sometime soon.

Although, Summer Reading Club starts tomorrow... so I might be doomed.

We shall see. Because I certainly do miss blogging.

Teen Reads that are Much Better than 50 Shades

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/09/teen-reads-better-fifty-shades/57045/

More on this later.

100 Best YA

The world has voted, and the results are in!

NPR's list of 100 Best Young Adult Novels:
http://www.npr.org/2012/08/07/157795366/your-favorites-100-best-ever-teen-novels

I know I saw quite a few of my favorites on the list!

What do you think? Are there any that they missed?

So, hey, I graduated!

As of May 20, 2012 I became a "real" librarian, MLIS degree and everything.

It's been an interesting transition.

Being out of school is such a new experience for me. I have been in school for the past 20 years of my life, with never more than a 3 month break between 9 month hauls of school has trained me and given me a different outlook on life. It is strange to think that I will never have to write another paper or attend another lecture unless I really really want to (which, to be honest, I usually really wanted to attend lectures while I was in school anyway. It's the nerd in me. I couldn't help myself.)

I have been having a bit of trouble adjusting to life without school. I constantly feel like there are things that I am supposed to be doing, when in reality I no longer have homework to stress over. I can, in fact, watch a movie or a couple episodes of a TV show and not feel terribly guilty about it, but I still have that nagging thought in the back of my mind that there is homework to be done and I am procrastinating.

I guess I still have homework and assignments, but it's a new variety called job applications and resume updating. They never end, and currently the job prospects aren't all that good. No one wants a fresh faced, newly minted librarian, they want someone with professional experience. There also aren't many full time positions available for youth services librarians, but I'm not giving up hope yet!

I've had a few interviews and I'm anxiously awaitng responses.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Rating YA Books

An article was published recently by U.S. News (and can be found here) that discusses the idea of rating YA books for content.

"Coyne thinks a ratings system on book jackets would help parents decide what's appropriate for their kids to read. It's a subject many are afraid to touch, with the talk of censorship or restricting books conjuring up images of book burnings and infringing on First Amendment Rights."

Content ratings, like age ratings, do nothing but take power away from the child. Children all grow and mature at different rates. What one 12 year old child is ready for may be completely inappropriate for another child the same age. By knowing your child, and having their interests and maturity and reading levels in mind, parents can help their children choose appropriate materials.

Kids and young adults will read what they are ready for. Does that mean that they are going to read books with profanity? Yes. Young adults use profanity. It's a fact of life. Teens swear and children talk about bodily functions. How they speak and what they talk about is reflected in their literature. Are these things going to stunt them for life? Probably not.

Maybe I'm biased because I grew up in a house where I was allowed to read whatever I wanted. I was never kept from reading something. If I wasn't ready for it, I would put it down and choose something else. And I think I grew up to be a rather well-adjusted individual.

Beth Yoke, YALSA's executive director, said it best, "Books can be a safe way for young people to explore edgier, sensitive, or complicated topics, and they provide parents the opportunity to help their teens grow and understand these kinds of sensitive issues."

By allowing children to choose, you open up the door for conversations about tough topics and issues that might not be discussed otherwise. And by talking with your children, you can let them know what is OK to read, and what topics should be avoided, at least for now. Just because the books aren't being read doesn't mean that their subject matter isn't happening in the real world. I would much rather have a child explore a topic by reading about it, especially the grittier aspects of life, instead of experiencing them firsthand. Allowing children access to books on tough subjects empowers them, opens their eyes to things that happen in the world, prepares them for the future, and shows that you trust and respect them.

There's a world of great books out there. Rating them would create a barrier to access and keep kids from learning about tough topics in a safe way.

Read and decide for yourself. This is only my opinion.