What's Happening in Library Land?

There are always so many events happening in the land of libraries (and New York City!) that it can be easy to miss something you would like to attend.  Here are a few things happening in the upcoming weeks and months.

This Friday, March 1, NEA will be celebrating Read Across America, which is an occasion to motivate and celebrate readers.  If you don't just want to celebrate reading in America, consider participating in LitWorld's World Read Aloud Day on March 6 or better yet, do both!

The next Children's Literary Salon at the New York Public Library will be this coming Saturday, March 2nd, at 2:00pm.  This one is focusing on diversity and the state of the children's book.

For those of you looking for some professional development, ALA Editions is running a four week eCourse titled, Ebooks: What Librarians Need to Know Now and in the Future.  Booklist is hosting a webinar on Promoting Literacy Using 21st Century Tools on March 5, and if you are interested but can't make the times, register anyway because you can access the video archive afterwards.

Speaking of professional development, there are several upcoming conferences  to be aware of. 

• April 24-26: AISL Annual in Baltimore
• April 26-27: CiSSL will be running a research symposium titled Digital Youth, Inquiry, and the Future of the School Library in New Brunswick, NJ.
• June 13-14: AISL will also be hosting their first Summer Institute in St. Louis
• June 27-July 2: ALA Annual this year in Chicago

If you know of any additional events, add them in the comments!

Winter Meeting - February 25

Just a reminder that our winter meeting will be this coming Monday, February 25th. Details below:

Who:
All members of HVLA are invited.  RSVP here.

Where:
Ethical Culture School
33 Central Park West
NY, NY 10023

Social to follow at PJ Clarke's (44 West 63rd Street) -- Please join us!

When:
February 25th
3:30-4:00 Social Gathering
4:00-4:30 Business Meeting
4:30-5:30 Choose from one of two options

• Library Learning Commons: Susan Harris, Harvey School Librarian will give a presentation on the shift from traditional school library to a learning commons model.  She will discuss why her school is considering the change and where they are in the planning process.  Sarah Couri will then present on her experience working in an information commons.  Q&A to follow.
• Ditching Dewey: Tali Kaplan, Ethical Culture Fieldston Librarian will present on how she reclassified her library's collection and "ditched Dewey."  By examining alternatives to Dewey, this workshop will look at customary practices, review the research, and examine differences between Metis and other cataloging systems.  Participants will have an opportunity to classify books and discuss their choices.

We look forward to seeing you there!

March Book Club

Date/Time:
Tuesday, March 12, 5:30

Location:
Elizabeth Irwin High School - meet in the library
40 Charlton Street
(between 6th Ave and Varick)

What We're Reading:
Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool
Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

The Oscars of Books (at least for youth librarians...)

Do you ever try to tell one of your non-librarian friends about the youth media awards?  While you get all excited about the winners and start gabbing about this award and that one like it's the Academy Awards, your friend naively asks, "there's that many awards for kid's books?"  Sadly, not everyone knows the awesomeness of the Youth Media Awards.

Well if you haven't had a chance yet to obsess over the winners and honors, check out the various divisions of ALA that sponsor each award.  The YALSA book awards include the Alex, Edwards, Morris, Nonfiction, Odyssey, Printz, while the ALSC covers the awards for the Newbery, Caldecott, Arbuthnot Lecture, Batchelder, Pura Belpre, Carnegie, Geisel, Odyssey, and Laura Ingalls Wilder.  For a comprehensive look, check out the alphabetical list of all ALA awards.

If your favorite book didn't make the cut, it may not be because members of the committee didn't also love it.  Although we all have our favorites, committee members are charged with following the criteria for their award.  Also the voting process can be complicated, as we learned during the mock Printz this year.  For more about the Newbery process, check out Monica Edinger's post on Nerdy Book Club, Top Ten Things You May Not Know About the Newbery Award.  Feel free to send some love to your favorite that did or didn't win big in the comments (I still love you Ask the Passengers!)

In addition to the awards announced at ALA, the best of the year is recognized in a variety of lists, such as the Great Graphic Novels for Teens, Best Fiction for Young Adults, Amazing Audiobooks, Fabulous Films for Young Adults, Popular Paperbacks, Quick Picks, Reader's Choice and Teens' Top Ten.  

Want a fast way to access all these lists when you are out and about?  Check out the Teen Book Finder App on the App Store.

A big thank you must go out to all the committee members that work so hard all year so we librarians (and kids too!) can reap the benefits of your efforts.