THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE YOUNG ADULT LIBRARY SERVICES ASSOCIATION five ye ng ar ti s a o r f b y e a l l e s c young adult c e s l l e a b y r 5 f a t o in rs librarylibrary services services g five yea VOLUME 6 | NUMBER 4 SUMMER 2008 ISSN 1541-4302 $12.50 INSIDE: YALSA IS NASHVILLE BOUND! ReaCHinG OUT TO TEENS IN NEED THROUGH GreaT STORIES ENGAGING THE YALSA COMMUNITY YA Q&A AND MUCH MORE! ISSUE! TEEN READ WEEk™ 0-316-05795-9/ 978-0-316-05795-0 Little, Brown and Company Hachette Book Group USA THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE YOUNG ADULT LIBRARY SERVICES ASSOCIATION young adult library services VOLUME 6 | NUMBER 4 SUMMER 2008 ISSN 1541-4302 YALSA Perspective 27 Books Films with Bite Teen Read Week Movie Night 6 YALSA Is Nashville Bound! By Stephani Fry By Stephanie Squicciarini 29 Tasty Treats for Books with Bite 8 Reaching Out to Teens in Need By Megan Fink through Great Stories By Victoria Vogel 32 Attractive Displays for Teen Spaces By Erminia Mina Gallo 10 Engaging the YALSA Community YALSA to Survey Members Literature Surveys and Research By Sarah Cornish Debraski 35 Urban Teenagers, Health Information, Student Perspective and Public Library Web Sites By Sandra Hughes-Hassell, Dana Hanson-Baldauf, 12 YA Q&A and Jennifer E. Burke Expert Advice on Tough Teen Services Questions Plus: School Library Perspective 2 From the Editor 14 Celebrating Teen Tech Week™ RoseMary Honnold with an Author Visit 4 From the President By Elizabeth Kahn Paula Brehm-Heeger Teen Perspective 42 Guidelines for Authors 16 The Alluring Darkness 42 Index to Advertisers Finding Belonging in Fangs and Wands 43 Professional Resources By Chase M. Will 45 The YALSA Update Best Practices 49 YA Lit Symposium 19 Write Here, Write Now Preliminary Program Holding a Creative Writing Workshop Series at Your Library 53 Index, Volume 6 By Heather Prichard Hot Spot: Books with Bite @ your library® About This Cover 24 Marketing Teen Read Week™ Books with Bite @ your library is the official Books with Bite @ your library theme for Teen Read Week. Teen Read Week By Sarah Campbell and Lindsey C. Dunn is a national literacy initiative of YALSA to encourage young adults to read just for the fun of it. Teen Read Week is October 12–18. Design by Distillery Design Studio. © 2008 American Library Association. Available at www.alastore.ala.org or by calling 1-800-746-7252. YALSA Editorial Advisory Committee (performing referee duties and providing advisory input for the journal) Mary Ann Nichols, chair, Fairlawn, Ohio; Julie Thomas Bartel, Sandy, Utah; from the Sarah English, Omaha, Neb.; Francisca Goldsmith, Halifax, N.S.; Angela S. Leeper, Wake Forest, N.C.; Nicole M. Mills, Palatine, Ill. YALSA Publications Committee Erminia Mina Gallo, chair, Seven Hills, Ohio; Heather Booth, Westmont, Ill.; Cindy Mediavilla, Culver City, Calif.; Elizabeth Shuping, Florence, S.C.; Emily Editor Valente, New York. Editor RoseMary Honnold RoseMary Honnold YALSA Executive Director Beth Yoke n recent years, a local woman has protested the content of the YALSA Division Coordinator books in the young adult room of our library. She wrote letters Stephanie Kuenn I to the editor of our local paper, posted endlessly on the online Circulation newspaper forums, held protest rallies in front of the library, called Young Adult Library Services (ISSN 1541-4302) is published four times a year the local radio station’s talk show, and attended library board meet- by the American Library Association (ALA), 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. It is the official publication of the Young Adult Library Services Asso- ings. She went on to protest similarly at other libraries in the state. ciation (YALSA), a division of ALA. Subscription price: members of YALSA, While I would agree with any parent who guided their child or $25 per year, included in membership dues; nonmembers, $50 per year in the U.S.; $60 in Canada, Mexico, and other countries. Back issues within one year teen to what they consider appropriate reading material and would of current issue, $15 each. Periodicals class postage paid at Chicago, Illinois be happy to help them find those books, her position was that no and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Young Adult Library Services, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Members: teen should read the books she found inappropriate. Among others, Address changes and inquiries should be sent to Membership Department, these books included any book with lesbian, gay, bisexual, or trans- Changes to Young Adult Library Services, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Nonmember subscribers: Subscriptions, orders, changes of address, gender characters; books about witchcraft or New Age religions and inquiries should be sent to Changes to Young Adult Library Services, (such as Conversations with God for Teens); and any references to sex Subscriptions, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; 1-800-545-2433, press 5; in fiction or nonfiction that didn’t include marriage as a prerequi- fax: (312) 944-2641; [email protected]. site. She believed teens should not be exposed to these topics until Statement of Purpose they were adults. Young Adult Library Services is the official journal of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library As strongly as I feel about teens’ right to read what they need Association. YALS primarily serves as a vehicle for continuing education for and want to read, I found myself second-guessing my selections for librarians serving young adults, ages twelve through eighteen. It will include articles of current interest to the profession, act as a showcase for best prac- a while. My director was feeling the same way, and, even though tices, provide news from related fields, publish recent research related to YA she trusted my judgment, she would ask me questions now and librarianship, and will spotlight significant events of the organization and offer in-depth reviews of professional literature. YALS will also serve as the then when she was hammered with accusatory e-mails from our official record of the organization. protester. Forming the answers to support and defend the books on Production our shelves helped me find my footing again. The only real change I ALA Production Services—Troy D. Linker, Karen Sheets, Chris Keech, and made was to be sure to select more titles with for parents and teens Tim Clifford. with more conservative reading tastes. The end result was a posi- Advertising Bill Spilman, Innovative Media Solutions; 1-877-878-3260; fax (309) tive one because our collection is more complete and reflects more 483-2371; e-mail [email protected]. YALS accepts advertis- aspects of our community. ing for goods or services of interest to the library profession and librarians in A few months ago I read this quote, attributed to Josh West- service to youth in particular. It encourages advertising that informs readers and provides clear communication between vendor and buyer. YALS adheres brook, on a YALSA discussion list: “Teens are living stories every to ethical and commonly accepted advertising practices and reserves the right day that we wouldn’t let them read.” While I don’t know the context to reject any advertisement not suited to the above purposes or not consistent with the aims and policies of ALA. Acceptance of advertising in YALS does of his statement, this quote resonates with my views on what we not imply official endorsement by ALA of the products or services advertised. see in realistic teen lit today. As many of you have in your teen au- Manuscripts diences, I work with teens who have been molested, have a parent Manuscripts and letters pertaining to editorial content should be sent to in jail, have been removed from their homes and put in foster care YALSA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; e-mail: yalseditor@gmail .com. Manuscripts will be sent out for review according to YALS’s established or group homes, have experienced drugs, alcohol, gang violence, referee procedures. Visit www.ala.org/yalsa for further information. self-mutilation, risky sex, bullying, and so on. These teen readers— Indexing, Abstracting, and Microfilm and I wish more of them were readers—can find hope, direction, Young Adult Library Services is indexed in Library Literature, Library & healing, understanding, and peace in reading about characters Information Science Abstracts, and Current Index to Journals in Education. Microfilm copies of Journal of Youth Services in Libraries and its predecessor, much like themselves. It can be a challenge to connect teens engag- Top of the News, are available from ProQuest/Bell & Howell, 300 N. Zeeb ing in risky behaviors to books, but books with characters they can Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106. relate to is a step in the right direction. I also have teens who have The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of experienced none of these things firsthand—and hopefully won’t. American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. ∞ But reading about characters who have had these experiences may © 2008 American Library Association help readers develop empathy for their classmates and friends who All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be photocopied for the noncommercial purpose of scien- have—and may lead them to better help a friend. The books with tific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the riskier characters allow teens to safely experiment and experience Copyright Revision Act of 1976. For other photocopying, reprinting, or trans- lating, address requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions.