YALSA to host Teens & Technology Institute and Video Gaming Night at Midwinter
Contact: Nichole Gilbert
312-280-4387
ngilbert@ala.org
For Immediate Release
December 6, 2005
YALSA to host Teens & Technology Institute and Video Gaming Night at Midwinter
CHICAGO - The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest growing division of the American Library Association (ALA), is hosting an Institute on Teens and Technology as well as a Video Gaming Night on Friday, January 20, at ALA's Midwinter Meeting in San Antonio, January 20–26, 2006.
The Institute, which will be held from 9 a.m.–5 p.m., w ill look at how teen literacies such as reading, writing, and communicating are expanding and changing via technologies like chat rooms, IM, blogs, text messaging, wikis and more. Participants will explore how teen gamers are reading, writing, and seeking out information using technology; the link between gamers and graphic novel readers and how technology helps bridge the two interests; the ethical issues related to teen use of these technologies in the library and on their own; and how library workers can incorporate these technologies in their services and programs to effectively reach the teens in their community.
The Video Gaming Night, which will follow the Institute from 7–9 p.m., will allow participants to explore the world of video games via hands-on experiences and demonstrations with all types of devices including gaming consoles and handhelds. Demonstrators will be available to offer assistance and answer questions.
Registration for these events is available on line until December 9 at
www.ala.org/midwinter. Particpants can register for both of the events and save, or register, for each event separately.
Rosen, Game Crazy and Diamond/Alliance Games are sponsors of the event.
As an extension to the Institute, YALSA also will be offering a four-week Online Course from February 6–March 6, 2006, called “New Technologies & New Literacies for Teens.” Institute attendees will receive a discount on course tuition fees. Registration for the online course will be available on the YALSA web site at
www.ala.org/yalsa.
For more information about YALSA, please contact us via e mail,
yalsa@ala.org; or by phone at 1-800-545-2433 ext. 4390.
