Voting Opens August 15

Sponsored by YALSA—Young Adult Library Services Association—the Teens' Top Ten is a "teen’s choice" list, wherein teens nominate their favorite books of the previous year.  Nominators are members of teen book groups in fifteen school and public libraries in the U.S.  Nominations are posted during National Library Week, with teens across the country voting on their favorite titles.  

So the 2018 nominations are in, the next step is for young readers ages 12-18 to vote online between August 15 and Teen Read Week (Oct 7-13, 2018)  Book winners will be announced after Teen Read Week.  Find all the 2018 nominees on YALSA's website; among the 25 titles seen as teen favorites:  

• Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray
• The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy
• Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
• Remember Me Always by Renee Collins
• Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Especially cool is that YALSA will be giving away 50 sets of the nominated books through its 2018 Teens’ Top Ten Book Giveaway, generously funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. This application closes tomorrow May 1st.  Find the 25 teen favorites by clicking the button below.

Consider making this part of your summer programming for teens by encouraging them to read the nominees and come back August 15 to vote for their favorites.

YALSA--Teens Top 10

Through AEA Purchasing

Twice each year in May and December, AEA Purchasing offers discounted statewide buys on paper.  The discounted price is available to K-12 schools public and private, and also extended to colleges, city-county-state governments, and public libraries.  AEA Purchasing is a service of Iowa’s Area Education Agencies: “Our goal is to combine the purchasing power of Iowa schools to offer aggressive pricing on materials, goods and services through a competitive bid process.”

If your public library or city government would like to take advantage of the paper purchase this spring, orders are due by May 25. There is a wide variety of paper weights, colors, and sizes available, an economical solution for public printers, staff uses, programming supplies.  Check first with your city hall and with your local school district to see if all local orders could be combined and shipped to one location.  More details plus the order form--click below. 

In addition to paper, there are many other products discounted through AEA negotiations and public libraries are eligible for many of them.  So if your library is in the market for computers, software, data projectors, office supplies, shop AEA Purchasing http://www.aeapurchasing.org/

Paper Purchase Order Form

June 25-27 in Ames

Registration is open for the 2018 Reading Conference, jointly sponsored by the Iowa Reading Association and the Iowa Association of School Librarians.  The conference theme is “Literary Landmarks” and the event takes place June 25-27 on the ISU Campus in Ames.  This year represents the first joint reading conference between these two sponsors.

The first day of the conference features author Barry Lyga, who will lead an afternoon workshop in addition to delivering that evening’s keynote speech.  The evening also includes a books signing and an Iowa Authors’ Meet & Greet.  This is a ticketed event, more information found on the registration page. 

The conference features many authors and researchers, among them Chris Grabenstein, Julia Cook, Dean Jacobs, Heather Gudenkauf, Mike Lockett, Jill Kuzma, and more.  Registration, along with a detailed schedule and ISU directions, can be found on the Iowa Reading Association website. Forward the  completed registration form to: Iowa Reading Association, P.O. Box 16, Ossian, Iowa, 52161 along with your check payable to the Iowa Reading Association. 

Online registration is also available via Eventbrite Online Registration.  A transaction fee will be assessed for online registrations. 

Reading Conference Registration

This Week ...

Director Roundtables begin in various locations across the state this week, as do on-site PLOW classes.  These events continue through the month of May. Complete with c.e. credits, these are great opportunities to meet up with colleagues face-to-face for conversation and learning. 

Find all dates and locations for spring Director Roundtables and PLOW classes—all beginning in May—in the C.E. Catalog. 

C.E. Catalog