September 2008 Calendar / News / MARK YOUR CALENDAR Upcoming Events for Children's Librarians

BAYA Workshop on Teen Readers Advisory:
Many library employees, whether you are the children's librarian, adult reference staff, or do everything at a small branch, are asked for book recommendations by teens. Dr. Joni Bodart of San Jose State's library school will head up a workshop on Readers Advisory for teens. This is not for Young Adult librarians only, but for any staff member who serves teens. The workshop will be held on Thurs., October 23, 2008, 9:30am-12:30 at the San Leandro Public Library, 300 Estudillo Ave. Go to www.baya.org to preregister for $20; registration at the door will be $25.

Performers' Showcase:
Mark your calendars for the next ACL Performers' Showcase. It is scheduled for Sat., Feb. 7, 2009 at the Fremont Main Library: www.bayviews.org/showcase.html

Lenore Blegvad Dies:
Children's author Lenore Blegvad died on September 5 in London. She was 82. The author of 12 children's books, nearly all of which were illustrated by her husband of 60 years, Erik Blegvad, who has illustrated more than 100 books for children, and who survives her. Lenore Blegvad wrote and illustrated Once Upon a Time and Grandma (1993), and among the titles that she wrote and her husband illustrated are Anna Banana and Me (1985), A Sound of Leaves (1996), First Friends (2000) and Kitty and Mr. Kipling: Neighbors in Vermont (2005).

Author Jeannette Eyerly Dies at 100
Jeannette Eyerly, one of the first writers for young adults to deal with themes like unwanted pregnancy, alcoholism and drugs, died on Aug. 18 at her home in Des Moines. She was 100. In books like A Girl Like Me and He's My Baby, Now, Eyerly moved beyond the pretty-in-pink world of dates and sock hops to focus on more serious problems confronting young girls. In addition to facing the usual troubles with school and boyfriends, her heroines dealt with their parents' failing marriages, or with peer pressure to take drugs or shoplift. "In a humane and compassionate way she broached subjects that were not being written about or discussed," said Starr LaTronica, the youth-services manager for the Four County Library System in Vestal, N.Y. "She blazed the way." In 1962 she published More Than a Summer Love, a romance with a message: Do not marry too soon. It was followed a year later by Drop-Out, whose intent, she later wrote, was to dissuade teenagers from leaving school, not by lecturing them but by engaging them in a good story. She wrote 17 novels over the next 25 years, nearly all with young women as protagonists. Often, to develop her material, she interviewed girls being cared for by social service agencies. Some of her best-known novels, and their themes, were The Girl Inside (coping with death), Bonnie Jo, Go Home (abortion), Someone to Love Me (unwed parenthood) and Angel Baker, Thief (shoplifting). "She was the Gossip Girls writer of 30 years ago," said Roger Sutton, the editor in chief of Horn Book Publications. "This is what teenage girls were reading, despite what their teachers said." [From the New York Times obituary].

Save the Date for Beatrix Potter
The Arne Nixon Center will host a Beatrix Potter conference, co-sponsored by the Beatrix Potter Society, on April 18-19, 2009, at the Fresno State campus, featuring expert speakers on Beatrix Potter, a musical play based on The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, and the Arne Nixon Center's annual Secret Garden Party.

Speakers and events will include:

BayNews needs you! BayNews welcomes any articles, news, ideas on storytime or programs, etc. Just send any articles as a Word attachment via email, to Penny Peck at baynews@bayviews.org. Thanks!

Submitted by : Penny Peck, San Leandro Public Library

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