For immediate release | April 22, 2011

Reach teens and tweens with YALSA’s summer online course

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CHICAGO - School and teen services librarians find their roles evolving constantly, and many are now called to serve tweens and teens. What are the differences in need between these two age groups, and how do librarians successfully serve both? Find out how in Navigating the Divide between Teens and Tweens, a new online course offered in summer 2011 by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). The self-paced course takes place July 11 to Aug. 8 and costs $135 for YALSA members, $175 for 91´«Ã½ members and $195 for nonmembers.

Students in the course will:

  • Become familiar with local, state and national standards for service to tweens and teens;
  • Identify three areas for personal improvement based on standards observed;
  • Complete an environmental scan of their library;
  • Define two differences between tweens and teens;
  • Identify two methods to improve their library’s marketing to target tweens and teens;
  • Evaluate your current space in terms of local and national standards and identify two areas of improvement; and
  • Evaluate current collection development policies in terms of local and national standards and evaluate two areas of improvement.

This class will be co-taught by Beth Gallaway and Alissa Lauzon of the Haverhill (Mass.) Public Library. Discounts are available for groups of ten or more, and all YALSA e-courses are available for licensing; contact Eve Gaus at egaus@ala.org or 1 (800) 545-2433, ext. 5293, for more information.

For more information on YALSA’s online courses, please visit . Registration for the course will close on July 5.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos and audiobooks for teens. For more information about these awards or for additional lists of recommended reading, go to . For more information about YALSA, please contact us via e-mail, yalsa@ala.org, or by phone, at 1 (800) 545-2433, ext. 4390.

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