Teen Tech Week is March 4th-10th

School and public libraries can promote Teen Tech Week™ (March 4-10) with online resources offered by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).  

Teen Tech Week is a national initiative sponsored by YALSA and is aimed at teens, their parents, educators and other concerned adults. The purpose of the initiative is to ensure that teens are competent and ethical users of technologies, especially those that are offered through libraries such as DVDs, databases, audiobooks, and videogames. Teens need to know that the library is a trusted resource for accessing information and that librarians are the experts who can help them develop the skills they need to use electronic resources effectively and efficiently.

YALSA has created a number of publicity resources for you to use to promote your library's Teen Tech Week involvement. The toolkit includes templates for: press releases; public service announcement scripts; sample letters to the editor (one from teens, one from parents; and a proclamation. The standard Teen Tech Week Get Connected logo is also available for download.

Free Download Teen Tech Week PSAs featuring Tom Kenny, the voice of Spongebob Squarepants are also available. The six PSAs were provided by Galaxy Press. Download all six PSAs (zip file containing six mp3 files). 

The 2012 Teen Tech Week theme of “Geek Out @ your library” fosters teen creativity and positions the library as a physical and virtual place for safe exploration of the many types of technology available at libraries, including DVDs, music, gaming, video production, online homework help, social networking, tech workshops, audiobooks and more.

Teen Tech Week partners are ALA Graphics, Audio Publishers Association, AudioGO, Figment.com, Hackasaurus, Peachtree Publishers, and Tutor.com.

For more information on Teen Tech Week, please visit www.ala.org/teentechweek.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos, and audio books for teens. For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading, viewing and listening, go to www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists.

If I Could Travel in Time, I'd Visit....

Doodle 4 Google, a contest where students (open to all K-12 students in U.S. schools (including homeschoolers)  in the United States use their artistic talents to think big and redesign Google’s homepage logo for millions to see. 


This year ask students are asked to exercise their creative imaginations around the theme, "If I could travel in time, I'd visit…" One lucky student artist will see their artwork appear on the Google homepage and take home some cool prizes--and as a special bonus, the winning artwork will appear on a limited edition of Crayola's iconic 64 box!


What are the prizes for winners?

• The winning doodler’s artwork will be featured on the U.S. Google homepage for one day on May 18th, 2012.
• The National Winner will also get a $30,000 college scholarship to be used at the school of his or her choice, a trip to New York City for an event on May 17, 2012, a Chromebook, a Wacom digital design tablet, and a t-shirt printed with his or her doodle on it. We'll also award the winner's school a $50,000 grant towards the establishment of a computer lab or technology programming.
• Each of the other 4 National Finalists will win a $5,000 educational grant to be used at the school of their choice, a trip to New York City for an event on May 17, 2012, a Wacom digital design tablet and a t-shirt printed with their doodle on it.
• Each of the other 50 State Winners will win a trip to New York City for an event on May 17, 2012, a t-shirt printed with their doodle on it, and their doodle -- along with those of the National Finalists and Winner -- will be featured in a special exhibit at the New York Public Library.
• Each of the other 200 State Finalists will receive a certificate and see their artwork featured on the Doodle 4 Google contest website.

How to enter?  http://www.google.com/doodle4google/info.html