Resources shared by Program Coordinator, Adele Walsh, at the School Library Association of Victoria conference. Her visit to the US to observe young adult programming was supported by the Melbourne City of Literature. Any questions can be directed here.

Adele’s Big Four

1. Reading Matters conference - early bird closes 30 November - information here
2. LoveOzYA website and free downloadable posters
3. The Centre for Youth Literature’s enewsletter
4. 2017 Inky Awards dates:
5. Longlist- 23 February at Perth Writers Festival
6. Judge call out - 23 February to 22 March at insideadog.com.au (will be relaunched in 2017)
7. Shortlist - 15 August
8. Winner announcement - 3 October.

Free downloadable Inky Awards resources for schools and libraries.

Texas Library Association Conference

• Teen Street Team presentation by Trish Clark and Rachel Hoyt - useful in diversifying book club offer or developing one.
• Faith and Spirituality presentation by Ally Watkins and Karen Jensen - inclusive, own voices approach to ensuring faith is represented positively in your collection.
• Little Mavericks Graphic Novel List - sanctioned graphic novels list for Prep to 5.
• 10 Ways to Transform Your Library

All conference powerpoints can be found via this directory.

Program ideas:

• HungerFest (8 hour Hunger Games party)
• Hola! Bonjour! Hello! A Foreign Language Study group
• Exam Peer Study Groups
• Teen Job Skills fairs

RT Booklovers Convention

Program ideas:

• Cinema Craptastique - live commentary over truly awful movie
• Social media book fair
• New Adult - more information on this podcast (NSFW)
• Teen Day Party

Free and cheap tools online:

• graphic design - Pic Monkey, Canva and Stencil
• live blogging - Periscope and Snapchat
• Organisational helpers - open live writers for writing online content, Evernote, Desk, Blogos, Kompozer and Pxlr
• Free images and good image deals via Shuttlestock subscription, Flickr (change settings to Creative Commons), Deposit Photo, Getty Images (blogger program) and PhotoPin. Also, Death to Stock Photos and Gratisography.

The Future of YA recommendations for big blockbusters:

• The Problem with Forever by Jennifer Armentrout
• Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell
• The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia
• The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee

Email management tips

• action require email stays in the inbox, everything else should be filed or deleted
• filing: keep to 5-10 folders and no sub-folders
• use colour coding and flagging
• be responsive - respond to every email by end of the day (whether expectation setting or full response)
• 2 minute rules - if it can be done in 2 minutes, do it! If you focus, get all two mminte emails completed in under 15 mins.
• Set aside 15 mins at the end of the day to clean up your inbox and reset for the morning

People and organisations to get familiar with:

• American Library Association – Young Adult Library Services Assoc.
• We Need Diverse Books
• Disability in Kid Lit
• Diversity in YA
• Karen Jensen – Teen Librarian Toolbox
• Teri Lesesne – Professor Nana
• Library advocacy – Stephen Abrams (Canada)
• ALA Youth Media Awards – winners and honorees announced in January.
• Safe Schools materials on supporting sexuality diversity, intersex and gender diversity in schools.

Events mentioned:

• YALLWest
• Texas Library Association Conference (19-22 March 2017 in San Antoine - US$275*)
• RT Booklovers Convention (2-7 May in Atlanta - librarian ticket US$395)

Authors mentioned:

• Kwame Alexander - Crossover and Booked verse novels and Surf’s Up PB
• Matt de la Pena
• Jason Reynolds
• Veronica Roth
• Victoria Aveyard
• AS King
• Siobhan Vivian’s The Last Boy and Girl in the World
• Drag Queen by Jeffrey Self
• Tru and Nell by G. Neri - fictionalised MG novel regarding Truman Capote and Harper Lee
• George by Alex Gino
• More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

The Hunger Games Exhibition

• Darling Harbour from 20 December to 4 February 2017

Adele’s Powerpoint can be accessed here.

* I was able to negotiate an international rate.