How I Survived Conferencing with Teens and You Can Too
The other day I talked about how ALA 2013 was going to be a commuter conference for me, and mentioned that I would be bringing teens along for the first time. All of this contributed to an e..x..h..a..u..s..t..i..n..g weekend, but honestly, I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity and would do it again in a heartbeat. What’s the tradeoff that makes it so worth it? Let this picture tell you the thousand words of why:
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She met Ellen Hopkins! |
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The mic and crowd were intimidating, but the teens shone. |
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Frank Beddor, author of Looking Glass Wars |
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Teens from several library groups connected and immediately bonded over books. |
How do you work to connect teens with authors and the larger book world? Have you hosted authors that work easily with libraries? Taken teens to author signings? Escorted them to conferences and events?
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Filed under: ALA Annual 2013, Ellen Hopkins, Teen Involvement, YALSA, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults

About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
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