ALA 2009 Fabulous Films for Young Adults

From the YALSA at ALA wiki: "Find out about exciting film programming possibilities for teens, including film series, filmmaking workshops, film festivals, and Youtube video contests. Participate in a discussion of the importance of teen films collections at your library and watch scenes from selected films on the 2009 Coming of Age Around the World Fabulous Films for Young Adults list."

Notes appear to be unavailable, but the list can be found on YALSA's site here.

My notes:
It's OK to buy mediocre films.
Teens have the right to see what they want on the shelves.
*Pages can tell you what's hot. Students, too. Teen patrons.
Best Adult Films for Young Adults does not exist, find reviewers you trust to be teen-friendly. If not, watch movies yourself.

Appeal categories:
Identity--coming of age (Juno, Devil's Playground), cliques (Breakfast Club), different cultures/times (Whale Rider).
Hero (Bend it Like Beckham), antihero, "Live Action Hero Plus" (wish fulfillment, see also anime, martial arts)
"Films of Strong Emotion" -- humor, satirical/antiauthority (Ferris Beuller), social embarrassment (Superbad, Love*Com)----all about being glad you're not the one being laughed at. Michael Cera does this in every film. Can identify with people getting involved in romance and the embarrassment that comes.
Horror -- extreme fright leading to relief, cathartic. Twilight is an entirely new animal.
Documentaries/docudramas -- Also good (Devil's Playground)
Classics -- Help them improve "cultural literacy."
Films Made from Books -- Can illuminate, fix mental illustrations of words no longer in common usage. Each can improve the other experience.
Plays -- better to watch than read them. Shakespeare Adaptations (10 Things I Hate About You)
Music & Performance -- a natural.
WEED WHAT DOES NOT MOVE.
FOR SUGGESTIONS: Box for suggestions ("Tell us your 5 favorite films") drawing for Blockbuster certificate.
Sample Programs:
10 Things I Hate About You -- English class reviews film, art class does posters.
Teen Read Week -- Show anime/read manga.
Teen Anime Review Board
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Local Colleges Give Talks -- English class reviews films
It's OK to buy mediocre films. Teens have the right to see what they want on the shelves. *Pages can tell you what's hot. Students, too. Teen patrons. Best Adult Films for Young Adults does not exist, find reviewers you trust to be teen-friendly. If not, watch movies yourself.

Sarah Sagigi -- Waltham, MA
Do a program on movies made from books: 10 Things I Hate About You (act out The Taming of the Shrew), Princess Diaries, etc.
Get Screenplay, get in touch with writer or director to get fascinating quotes on the adaptation process.
Book discussion is separate.
Movie Discussion is separate.
Get fliers to the schools.

Tina Zuback -- Carnegie Library
Quick Flicks contest, teens produce 1-3 minute films, put on website. Staff votes. Release party, can vote there.
See also Princeton Film Festival, can be college aged 14-24.
*Plan, set groundrules, date (per student calendar), determine range of topics, suitable content for age(s)/community, a student intern can help with running it.

ALA 2009 Alice Down the Youtube

Sun, July 12 1:30 PM.
See this excellent presentation's outline here. Be sure to follow the links. The subtitle is "Ethical Training in the Online Wonderland" and this session explored (in a very commonsensical manner) ethics and copyright in a quickly-shifting online world.
Presenters also recommended:
Teachingcopyright.org.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Also Stanford Fair Use Center.

Awful Library Books

At one of my first jobs, we had a "wall of shame," books we couldn't believe the library ever bought, ideas we couldn't believe were ever appropriate, with covers designed just to scare away potential borrowers; I believe one featured a hideously-drawn kid looking up to similarly-disfugured gramps asking the titular question: "What's it Like Being Old?"

This absolutely hilarious site works as tribute to the fun(ny) side of weeding. Also, reveals the human side of our biz, as in "who would make such a terrible mistake and allow this book to be published," as in "who would select this for a library?" ("As in what journal would positively review this?") ......All adding up to the big as in "aw, they're only human."

Maybe those were different times? Mustn't be historically advantagist, I suppose.