SYNC Audio Program

Looking to put some high quality audios in the hands of your teens this summer?  Check out SYNC!  This is a partnership between AudioFile Magazine, young adult authors, and audio providers including Listening Library, HarperAudio, Recorded Books and many more (powered by OverDrive).

Each week throughout the summer - beginning May 30th - the following audios will be available for download.  These are free and they are yours to keep.  A librarian/educator’s tool kit is available HERE.  I’ve not done it before, simply because I didn’t know about it, but I’ve signed up for it this summer. So far, I haven’t gotten inundated with emails and no annoying advertisements.  Hopefully that continues, because this looks really promising!  Does anyone else have experience with this program?

SYNC Titles Summer 2013

May 30 – June 5, 2013 Of Poseidon by Anna Banks, read by Rebecca Gibel (AudioGO) The Tempest by William Shakespeare, read by a Full Cast (AudioGO)

June 6 – June 12, 2013 The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood, read by Katherine Kellgren (HarperAudio) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, read by Wanda McCaddon (Tantor Audio)

June 13 – June 19, 2013 The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, read by Will Patton (Scholastic Audiobooks) Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, read by Robert Ramirez (Recorded Books)

June 20 – June 26, 2013 Once by Morris Gleitzman, read by Morris Gleitzman (Bolinda Audio) Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr., read by Dion Graham (christianaudio)

June 27 – July 3, 2013 Rotters by Daniel Kraus, read by Kirby Heyborne (Listening Library) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, read by Jim Weiss (Listening Library)

July 4 – July 10, 2013 Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford, read by Nick Podehl (Brilliance Audio) She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith, read by a Full Cast (L.A. Theatre Works)

July 11 – July 17, 2013 The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann, read by Peter Altschuler (HarperAudio) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, read by Simon Vance (Tantor Audio)

July 18 – July 24, 2013 Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, read by Erin Moon (Recorded Books) Hamlet by William Shakespeare, read by a Full Cast (L.A. Theatre Works)

July 25 – July 31, 2013 The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen, read by Charlie McWade (Scholastic Audiobooks) The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, read by Steve West (Blackstone Audio)

Aug 1 – Aug 7, 2013 Death Cloud by Andrew Lane, read by Dan Weyman (Macmillan Audio) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, read by Ralph Cosham (Blackstone Audio)

Aug 8 – Aug 14, 2013 Enchanted by Alethea Kontis, read by Katherine Kellgren (Brilliance Audio) Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, read by Miriam Margolyes (Bolinda Audio)

Aug 15 – Aug 21, 2013 Sold by Patricia McCormick, read by Justine Eyre (Tantor Audio) Let Me Stand Alone by Rachel Corrie, read by Tavia Gilbert (Blackstone Audio)

 

Could It Be You?

Do you know a young adult librarian doing something innovative, creative, or just extra fabulous?  Or maybe you’re the one doing those fearless things?

The deadline to nominate someone (including yourself) for ILA’s Young Adult Librarian of the Year is May 15th.   Please visit this link to find out more information, and please consider nominating someone today.

 

“Have Book Will Travel” for Teens

With summer fast approaching, I’m sure everyone has been scouring the web, brainstorming with colleagues and studying the iREAD Resource Guide for inspiration.

We have come up with some fun ideas related to our summer theme that teens (hopefully) won’t find completely lame. Here are just a few things we have planned:

• Upcycled Map & Atlas Crafts - You’d be amazed how many staff members have old maps lying around at home.  There’s no better time to use them!
• Silent Library Challenge with an International Twist  - This link has some great ideas to spark some challenges of your own if you decide to go this route with your teens.

Image created by Terri Murphy for iRead 2013

• Henna Artist & Program – Henna is always a hit, and it fits in beautifully with this summer’s theme.
• International Game Night – table tennis, Mancala, Go, Chinese Checkers, and more.

We are also taking our book clubs “on the town,” and meeting at different places in the community.  We are continuing the summer theme with the titles that we’ve chosen as well.  My older teens will be reading John Green’s Paper Towns which is a roadtrip novel,  Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone which is set loosely in modern day Prague and Patricia McCormick’s Never Fall Down which set in the very real, war torn country of Cambodia.

How about your library?  What fabulously inventive programs do you have planned for “Have Book, Will Travel?”  I’m sure a few people might still be looking for ideas to round out their programming schedules.

 

Loosen that Programming Belt: Intergenerational Programs

When you are a teen librarian, you (hopefully) often accept accolades from adults about the awesomeness of your programs. Teen programs in libraries, whether given by the librarian or by an outside presenter, are often built around creativity. We focus on topics and ideas that are often pop culture and would fall into the new and current category because we’re giving teens what they want. But, what happens when teens aren’t the only people who want in on the fun? What happens when you have adults who ask, “Can I sign up, too?”

As an Adult and Teen Programming Librarian, this is awesome for me. I get to blend together the two sides of my job in a fairly fantastic way. I realize that this may not be as easy for everyone, as it involves coordination between people…departments…budgets. But, while the work may be a challenge, the reward is pretty great, too.

At our library, we’ve begun opening up programs classically marketed just to teens to both teens and adults. No matter what the topic may be: crafts, fitness classes or movies, we’ve got interest in the topics coming at us from all ages. At first, my immediate reaction was of the, “No way, no how,” feeling. How was I going to have our teens and adults in the same group without losing the exclusivity and freedom that being in a library could potentially provide my teens? Our area is one that has a very miniscule amount of teen participation. There are a few strikes against us: we live in a village that puts high value on sports and school-related activities, the library is in the downtown vicinity, so teens who are coming to the library have to actually be on their way here already…we don’t get much walk-in traffic. What I saw at first was the potential to have an attendance increase. What about older teens who might not come to something they feel is too young for their age group? I decided to give it a try.

The program that I first said yes to marketing to both teens and adults was a craft program. It was during the winter, and I was teaching about finger knitting and finger crochet. The idea wasn’t major in anyway; it was something cheap (we’d gotten a MASSIVE donation of yarn), and it was something I could teach myself to do (thank you Pinterest and YouTube)! As registration was going on, it became clear that there were going to be just about as many teens as there were adults.
We had so many interesting pairings in that room. I had a 19 year old guy chatting with a grandmotherly patron about the crocheting she was teaching her grandchildren. I had teens from one of our high schools helping the adults in the room! I was just so impressed to see that there were little pockets of conversation everywhere I turned.
Now, as I do what we now call the Just Wing It Craft Hour every month, I see more and more moms signing up just to get a night away. I see teens signing up as well. But, my personal favorite is that I often see mothers and daughters or mothers and sons coming in to do our craft for the evening because we’ve given them more than a program that teens can be “dropped off” to. Rather, we’ve given them something that they can do together. I get repeat faces of all kinds—teens are now coming and doing the craft alongside a family member. Even when mom or dad can’t come, an aunt or cousin is dragged in.

I realize now that it wasn’t so much about keeping adults and teens separate. We do that with our age specific programming already. What we’re doing now is building a new kind of community.

 

Me, Myself, and Audiobooks

Sherman Alexie author and narrator.

I admit it; I’ve never been a fan of audiobooks. I think it all started about fifteen years ago when I listened to my first audiobook for teens. It was awful.  As a newish librarian, I wanted to refresh my memory on a teen book that I had read a few years earlier so I thought I would try listening to the story rather than reading it. What a mistake. The reader was practically emotionless making what had previously been an edge of your seat kind of story, pretty boring. I ended up giving up on the audio and instead rereading the book. Over the years co-workers also told me how fantastic audiobooks were during their commutes to work and occasionally I would try one, but more often than not, the experience just wasn’t that great, I would find my mind wandering and soon the story had moved on without me.

Then, last August, with a short solo road trip looming on the horizon, it was recommended to me that I take The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie along for the ride. From the very beginning, Alexie enthralled me with his tale of a boy living on the Res while trying to experience life at a white man’s school. By employing his pacing and cadence as a Native American speaker Alexie enthralled me. I listened to the story every moment I was on the road and even sat in my garage to finish listening to it when I returned home.

Encouraged by this experience, I decided to give teen audiobooks another chance. Next up was The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  While I didn’t really like the story (gasp!), the performance by Kate Rudd was amazing. Through her reading, you could practically feel the strength it takes the main character to draw each breath. In fact, Rudd gives all of the characters life and personality making this production definitely worthy of ALA’s Odyssey Award for audiobooks.

My most recent encounter with teen audiobooks was unique from the past two. It was The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. This time, the story was read by two actors, a man and a woman, to reflect the alternating storytelling of the brother and sister in the book.  While each reader was very skilled and enjoyable to listen to, it was a little weird sometimes because both of them would voice some of the same characters due to the alternating point of view. The other thing that I encountered while listening to this book could have happened with any book. After listening to the story for over 14 hours, I popped the twelfth CD in only to have the story fade in and out and at times completely disappear. I actually wasn’t able to finish listening to the story and had to read the last ten pages of the book instead.

Now, after having these positive teen audiobook experiences, I have another admission. I’m a cautious audiobook convert. While I don’t think I’ll ever be one of those people that always has an audiobook in the car, I will definitely be open to recommendations.

 

Pinterest…at Work?

Image: http://about.pinterest.com/basics/

While many of us know that Pinterest can be a fun distraction, we’ve also been finding more and more ways to use it in a professional manner at work.  Think about all of the people you know who are doing inspiring, creative programs both at your library and and beyond.  Many of those people are sharing their programs – from the planning, to booklists, to supplies, and even more – online.  Hidden among the mouthwatering recipes (and, yes, pictures of Ryan Gosling) are some wonderfully useful pins.  It’s wonderful to be part of such a collaborative and sharing library community.

Check out some of the boards that have inspired programs at my library lately:

Teen Programming in Libraries (a collaborative board)

National Craft Month 2013/Teen Summer Reading Program Jump Start

Fargo Library’s Book Crafts

STEM Programs

The above links are just a place to get started.  If you are looking for something – no matter how seemingly strange – odds are that you’ll find something to inspire a library program of your own.

Alternatively, another way to use Pinterest at work is to create public boards for your community to see what’s going on at the library.  Author visits? Programming pictures?  Booklists?  Yes, yes, and yes.  Here are some additional ways my library is using Pinterest to connect with our community:

Warren-Newport Public Library’s Pinterest Page

Have you used Pinterest to inspire programming at your library?  If so, we’d love to hear about your favorite boards.

 

New Adult Fiction: New Genre Necessary?

New Adult Fiction has been in the news lately because of its continuing growth in popularity.  How much do you know about it?  How does it mix in with (or exclude itself from) YA Lit?          

Image Credit: http://blog.theglennorlando.com/files/2011/09/Reading.jpg

 In 2009, when New Adult Fiction made its first mark on the literary scene, it was part of a publishing contest run by St. Martin’s Press.  This publishing house felt as though a genre that appealed to the eighteen to thirty year old was a great marketing tool. This age group could benefit from titles that revolved around adults trying to find their place in the world with a backdrop that reflected this stage of life.  Characters in New Adult works have had, in general, more life experience than your YA protagonist, and that provides a great deal of story depth. According to an interview conducted via blog post by Georgia McBride, St. Martin’s Press admits that it wasn’t trying to revolutionize genres.  “…why New Adult? For many reasons–publishing is a business like (and unlike) any other, and it constantly changes and evolves–I would argue it NEEDS to change and evolve–in order to survive,”.

Recognizing this genre is an example of what libraries do all the time–keep our eyes peeled for the sake of the patron and evolve as their needs do. My library divides by genre to an extent, but does it need a section devoted to just New Adult titles?  Seemingly, the main purpose of genre division is to create ease in book location through browseable areas. Think back a bit to the library of your childhood.  Did you always feel like your library had a shelf you could walk to and choose any book knowing that it was right for you? For those of us in our thirties (like myself), there wasn’t much YA fiction out there when we needed it—I went from The Babysitter’s Club to Sweet Valley High to Adult fiction because those were my only choices. There WAS no YA fiction section fifteen years or so ago in most libraries, but now we’ve got authors who are heralded for their work with that age group. Why not create another area that would appeal to a set of patrons? Topically, the plots in New Adult are similar those of some Young Adult titles.  What’s different, though, are the settings and ages through which the topics are explored.

But then I stop living in the 80s and 90s and remember that times have changed. The topics that were covered in the Sweet Valley High series are now a far cry from some (most) of the plots and characters in Young Adult literature today.  As the world changed, so did the topics that challenged the young adult.  In order to stay relevant and reflective of the audience, authors’ plot lines followed the maturing trend.  Call me crazy, but I don’t think Elizabeth and Jessica’s beach days would hold much of a candle to the kids in an Alabama prep school who experience love, sex and the death of a friend so fully and painfully.  (I love John Green, sorry not sorry!) This doesn’t convince me that an entire new genre is necessary for my library.  I’m going to keep on getting the right reader to the right book the old fashioned way–conversation and connection over literature of all kinds.

New Adult fiction is another topical evolution in the library’s world.  This librarian doesn’t think that it needs its own section just yet, but a working knowledge of titles would be a tool to keep handy for sure.  It will be refreshing to see the newer adults who come up to our area of the library feel less ashamed when they take a book out of the Teen section.  There are so many great choices there!  Because our Teen section shares the same service desk with our Adults, I very unabashedly recommend my YA choices out into the Adult patron population.  (Check out our Wordless Display sometime. I pick a topic and then toss ANYTHING up there that I can!)  If anyone asks me for an audio recommendation, I almost always recommend either Bray’s Beauty Queens (thought the print was funny?  LISTEN to those Miss Teen Dreamer accents!) or Williams’s The Chosen One (favorite reading of a novel, hands down, ever). When patrons come back and talk to me about them, as they almost always do, they’re shocked to learn that these are Teen audio.

But, shocked in a good way.

Need some help choosing a good New Adult fiction title? Check out fellow SLYK blogger Rebekah’s list of teen titles that would be good New Adult choices.

Anything But Ordinary by Lara Avery
The Diviners by Libba Bray
Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
Bunheads by Sophie Flack
Where She Went by Gayle Foreman
The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour
Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta
Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
An Off Year by Claire Zulkey