Read & Vote: 2014 Top Ten Teen Nominees

Are you an adolescent type person who's an avid reader? You may be interested in the following...

YALSA, the Young Adult Library Association, a division of the American Library Association (ALA) is a group of very cool, enthusiastic librarians who love working with teens. YALSA librarians strive to involve/consult with young people as much as possible when planning programs, etc.

YALSA recently announced nominations for the annual
Teens' Top Ten.


Teens' Top Ten is list determined by teenagers who nominate contenders and vote on books to be included. The young people who chose the 25 nominations are members of  16 teen book groups in school and public libraries around the United States. Students ages 12 through 18 are invited to read at least 10 of the 25 nominated books, then vote online for their favorites between August 15 through October 19, which is the last day of Teen Read Week.

For an annotated list of the 2014 nominations, click here.

Past winners have included:

• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Questions about the Teens' Top Ten and how to participate?
Click here.


25 titles that were published between Jan. 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2013

Pictures From The Past: WWI Soldiers Reading

The 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War will soon be upon us. Newly digitized images of the day-to-day lives of WWI servicemen has been made available by the American Library Association's Archives, housed at the University of Illinois. Some of the images document the ALA War Service Campaign:

"Within a few weeks of America’s entrance into World War I, the American Library Association undertook an enormous campaign to send books and other reading materials to American forces at home and abroad.

The ALA collected $5 million in donations, amassed a collection of ten million books and magazines, and set up thirty-six camp libraries with the help of the Carnegie Corporation.  “A book for every man” was the initial aim."

                                                                                                           - Angela Jordan, Archivist

The following images from the Library War Service slide collection the are reprinted here with permission from the American Library Association Archive:

For access to more historic images from this collection, as well as access to image resources from other institutions, visit the Middle/Upper School Library's online research guide to databases and digital resources.

Lemony Snicket Honors Noble Librarians

At the upcoming American Library Association's annual summer conference, Daniel Handler himself will present the first ever

Lemony Snicket Prize

for Noble Librarians

                Faced With Adversity.

This award is described by Handler/ Lemony Snicket as follows:

      “It is of the opinion of Lemony Snicket, author, reader, and alleged malcontent, that librarians have suffered enough. 

      Therefore he is establishing an annual prize honoring a librarian who has faced adversity with integrity and dignity intact. . . . 

      It is Mr. Snicket’s hope, and the ALA’s, that the Snicket Prize will remind readers everywhere of the joyous importance of librarians and the trouble that is all too frequently unleashed upon them.”

For more info about this fabulous new prize, see this ALA Press Release.