In the winners’ circle “Teen Librarian Toolbox” blogger and YA librarian Heather Booth at the Thomas Ford Memorial Library is the 2015 recipient of the Illinois Library Association’s (ILA) Young Adult Librarian of the Year Award. The award, presented by ILA and the Young Adult Services Forum, recognizes a local librarian who is making an outstanding contribution in young adult library services in her or his community through library programs and services that promote a love of literature and instill positive feelings about libraries. Booth was honored for active teen advocacy and programs, including Coding Club and Career Conversations. She blogs at Robot Test Kitchen, of which she is a founding member, and has coauthored two books on teen services, including The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services (ALA Editions, 2014). The Young Adult Librarian of the Year Award will be presented at the Awards Gala held on October 23, during the 2015 Illinois Library Conference in Peoria. Banned Books Week For the fourth year in a row, the Chinook Bookshop and the Colorado Springs Independent have teamed up to sponsor the Banned Books Week Essay Contest for local teens. Junior high school students were asked to write about "What 'Freedom to Read' means to me" and high school students addressed "What do you think about banning books in a high school library?" The essays were screened and judged by a panel including: the Chinook staff; Kathy Glassman; president of CSEA (Civil Service Employee Association); Susan Rottman, local author and teacher; and Independent editor Kathryn Eastburn. The winners were: Junior High School First Place: Brandon Redlinger, Grade 8, Eagleview Middle School Second Place: Grady Castle, Grade 8, Eagleview Middle School High School First Place: Kendall Anderson, Grade 11, Manitou Springs High School Second Place: Annabell Woods, Grade 11, Manitou Springs High School Honorable Mention: Phillip D. Dressen, Grade 12, Centennial High School, Pueblo; Regina Caputo, Grade 11, Centennial High School, Pueblo  

Author Leslye Walton

2015 PEN Center USA Literary Awards recipients were announced on September 10. Based in Los Angeles, PEN Center USA annually honors poetry, nonfiction, fiction, screenwriting, and journalism by writers from the West, while also celebrating the work of creative writers who foster free speech. The awards will be presented in a gala ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on November 16. For the second year, Aisha Tyler will serve as host. Authors of children’s and young adult literature were among those honored: Graphic Literature Innovator Award: G. Willow Wilson Young Adult/Children’s Award: Leslye Walton for The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender (Candlewick, 2014)   Romancing the Dark in the City of Light giveaway According to the Centers for Disease Control, suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people aged 15-24, and the second leading cause for those between the ages of 18 and 22. As professionals who interact daily with teens, it’s important to ask questions and steer our patrons toward help, if necessary. Debut YA author Ann Jacobus volunteers weekly at a suicide prevention hotline in San Francisco. This experience influenced her new novel, Romancing the Dark in the City of Light (St Martin’s, Oct 2015), the story of a teen girl flirting with death. Visit Jacobus’s website for suicide prevention information and a list of YA novels dealing with the topic. Three lucky winners will receive a copy of Romancing the Dark in the City of Light for their collections. (To enter, go to this link.) Entries must be received by midnight (PDT) on October 1, 2015. Winners will be selected in a random drawing and notified via email. One entry per person, please; prizes will only be shipped to U.S. addresses. Rosen’s “It’s Your Cause” video challenge on teen health and wellness Young adults from ages 13 to 19 are invited to join a video challenge sponsored by Rosen Publishing. Teen health and wellness topics—from depression to dating to green living—are the focus of this video contest. Participants must create a video public service announcement (PSA) and submit it by December 1. Three winners will be chosen at random from all eligible videos received during the entry period. Winners will receive a $25 gift card for Barnes and Noble or Chapters.ca. All participants will receive a certificate of achievement from Rosen Publishing. See the video challenge page for the official contest rules and guidelines. YALSA offers virtual Badges for Learning The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is expanding its professional development offerings with its Badges for Learning virtual badge program. According to a recent press release, librarians, library workers, and library students with an interest in young adult library services can complete learning-based tasks and develop skills tied directly to the seven competency areas covered in YALSA’s Competencies for Serving Youth in Libraries. Participants will develop projects in one of seven areas to demonstrate proficiency in that area. Once proficiency is proven, participants will earn digital badges that can be displayed in virtual spaces, such as social media websites or online resumes. The program is free, completely virtual, and asynchronous. New grant for Autism-focused library programming The new “Autism Welcome Here: Library Programs, Services and More” grant is sponsored by Libraries and Autism and funded by Barbara Klipper, librarian and author of Programming for Children and Teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ALA, 2014). The grant honors Libraries and Autism cofounder Meg Kolaya and her work promoting inclusion and connecting the autism and library communities. Each year, a total of $5,000 will be awarded. Depending on the applications received, one grant for the full amount or multiple grants for smaller amounts totaling $5,000 may be given. Any library in the United States can apply, and the proposal can fund programs and/or services for any age group. Applications will be accepted until December 1, 2015. See the grant page for more information and access to the online application form “Serving Latino Teens”: A YALSA podcast with Ady Huertas YALSA’s Cultural Competencies Task Force interviewed Ady Huertas, manager of the Pauline Foster Teen Center at San Diego Central Library. Huertas has worked with teens for over a decade on a range of projects from providing instruments and lessons for a library rock band to offering free summer lunches to organizing a thriving teen council. She currently leads and contributes to several projects serving Latino teens, such as the REFORMA Children in Crisis Task Force, and the California State Library/Southern California Library Cooperative STeP (Skills for Teen Parents) Project. This podcast presents an overview of how best to reach out and serve Latino teens and offers advice to librarians new to serving Latino young adults and their families.