NEWS AND NOTES

National Book Award Nominees:
The nominees for the 2009 National Book Awards were announced on Oct. 14th.
The nominees in the category for Young People's Literature are:

As librarians, we know that books do not exist in a vacuum; they have to actually be read by someone. It can't be just anyone; for librarians to buy it, a book has to appeal to at least some of the particular people who might come into our library. The crucial issues for us are budget and space. For every book we purchase, there is another one, or fifty, we do not. For most of us, for every new book we bring in to our library, we will have to take out one old book.

One of the reasons we participate in ACL is because we feel strongly that we need to see a book, open it, and read it ourselves in order to get a real sense of how this book will fit in our own library. Our members read School Library Journal, Book List, Kirkus, VOYA and Horn Book. Yet we come to a meeting once a month to hear more. Why? Because when we sit in a room with other librarians and the books they show us, we have a more direct experience with the books.

How many new books can you read a month? How many new books can you open up, glance through, imagine in the hands of your patrons? We know we can't get through them all; we need help. We want help from someone who knows our patrons. We want help from someone who has heard our opinions before, and considers them - in the same way we each consider the opinions of our myriad patrons.

We need a local angle. The Bay Area is not the same as other areas; we have a unique demographic, climate, political outlook. It is not uniform, but there is a consciousness here that is noticeable. Our liberal families seem to be on the forefront of progressive thought; our conservative families seem to be more tolerant, more diverse, and more conscious. We are as un-homogenous as a place can be.

However, even if the Bay Area were not so unique, all reviewers are! To interpret a reviewer's opinion and relate it to our own, we need to know who is writing the review, whose point of view the opinion reflects. And, more importantly, we want to be able to ask questions, talk back, press the reviewer on points that matter to us. So subscribing to national review sources is not enough for us. We want to be engaged.

Therefore, our reviews are not like others. Our reviews can be frank, particular, rigorously demanding on issues of our choosing, while embracing unconventional presentations that appeal to the readers we know. Sometimes our reviews are humorous or chatty. Sometimes we include details that others would find extraneous - but we have a point: We are sharing specific information among close colleagues that will allow us to make purchasing decisions right here and now.

Out of respect for ourselves (if no one else) we should aim for brevity, for pith. Out of respect for our patrons - our users and our source of funding - we should aim for relevance.

When we share our opinions and evaluations with others, we engage in a multi-layered process: We suggest a judgment about the item being reviewed, as we drop hints about our own values. When we hear and read reviews, we consider the book and the reviewer. We build up understandings over time, about other libraries, other patrons, other librarians, other reviewers.

As an Editor, I encourage everyone to ponder why you value reading ACL reviews. And write your review with that in mind.

Letters to the Editor:

Dear Lucy and Elizabeth,
Thank you so much for calling me with information about the ACL Dorothy Helfeld scholarship fund. I'm so glad you are honoring Dorothy; she is most deserving! I knew her from 1967-1974 when I worked as Secretary at the St. Paul Housing Authority where her husband, Edward, was the Exec. Director. Dorothy and I reconnected in 2004 and we wrote to each other and spoke on the phone until her death in 2008. She was truly a wonderful human being and I'm so grateful to have known her. Her interest in, and compassion for others was unsurpassable, and she never sought credit for herself. I always found her so humble, so modest, and so kind and generous. She is my hero, and I am honored to contribute toward her scholarship fund. Thank you for your very important work to continue your passion to educate our children. Dorothy would be very pleased.
Sincerely,
Ella Thayer,
Minneapolis

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

"Laura," from the PUBYAC Listserv, posted this useful list of books with alliterative texts. Here is a compilation of book suggestions that are sound heavy and good for alliteration, articulation, and/or phonemic awareness. There are also a couple of useful websites.