F INDING O UT A BOUT YA L ITERATURE : Information Sources Presentation for LIS 9364/Young Adult Materials Presented by: Cecilia VespaSept 24, 2009

O BJECTIVES Identify sources, “go to spots” for information on YA literature Identify YA print resources important to RA in public libraries (group activity) Outcome: Construct a “toolkit” for information on YA literature that can be applied as a young adult librarian in the public library setting

S OURCES OF YA L ITERATURE Professional Organizations Librarians and Public Libraries PublishersPatronsReviews Electronic Resources Print Resources

P ROFESSIONAL O RGANIZATIONS YALSA  Magazine (YALS)  Lists: Best books for young adults, Quick picks for reluctant readers, Popular paperbacks and Teen’s top ten  Blog  Wiki- Conference presentations at ALA OLA/OPLA division/Child and Youth’s Services Committee Education Institute Listserv-youth- OLA members onlyyouth- Conference- Best Bets, CANSCAIP workshop, RA in a day, Forest of Reading

P ROFESSIONAL O RGANIZATIONS CON ’ T Canadian Library Association/Canadian Public Library division/Canadian Library Services for Youth listserv? IFLA-IFLA- Standing committee on Children’s and Youths services

L IBRARIANS AND P UBLIC LIBRARIES Librarians knowledgeable in the field- books, blogs and RSS feeds, articles, conference proceedings, them Librarians who are winners of YA awards - look for them and look at their library’s website- what are they reading? What are they doing? Network- join reading committees and YA book oriented listservs Public libraries - BooklistsBooklists

P UBLISHERS First group identified key publishers in the field of YA from readings Subscribe to RSS feeds and newsletters Get to know your publisher reps and talk to them at conferences, Dewy divas and dudesDewy Notable professional publishers and series

P ATRONS TAB (Teen Advisory Board) committee Other organizational contacts- student pages, school library contacts, YA book club groups, Example: GLBT community When helping YA patrons in the library

R EVIEWS Teen reviews Teen reads Smart Girl ALAN-ALAN- Assembly for Literature for adolescents and the ALAN Review

E LECTRONIC R ESOURCES

E LECTRONIC RESOURCES CONT

P RINT RESOURCES Some Ready Reference resources -Continunum Encylcopedia of YA Lit -Children’s and YA Literature Handbook -Bibliographies Resources may have a mixture of Children’s/YA or YA/Adult RA tools exercise.....but first

C ONCLUSION... THE BEST SOURCE IS..... “Of course, the greatest resource for teen readers is a librarian who really cares that teens find the books they want and enjoy.” Teen genreflecting, p. 13

N OW ON TO THE EXERCISE..... Using the 10 important things to look for in an RA resource from the required readings  Get into groups of 4  Evaluate one RA tool  Pick one person from the group to write info on board  Pick one person to speak about title and your findings  Answer the question: What do you think of this resource for YA lit? Would it be helpful to you? Does it give you enough information on the book title?