iYouth Blog

iYouth Pizza Party/Book Swap Lowdown

Hi everyone-

A big “thank you” goes out to all who made it to the first iYouth shindig of the year in MGH 420 last Wednesday! We realize there was a bit of a mix-up regarding the meeting time/place, and we hope that didn’t add any undue confusion to your already overflowing fall quarter schedules.

Good grief. It’s October already…

Once the pizza arrived (and arrive it did!), the group settled in and the officers introduced themselves. Co-President Janelle Hagen gave the quietly munching group a brief history of iYouth, outlining our mission and some of the cool things our club has done in the past. Our guests told us a bit about themselves (an amiable and diverse bunch, indeed!), after which the conversation moved to some events iYouth has in store for the upcoming year.

Eliza Dresang, Cleary Professor for Children and Youth Services here at the iSchool, was on hand to remind us that she’ll be teaching Multicultural Resources for Youth this winter. For anyone interested in working in a library setting that caters to an ethnically diverse population, this class is a wise choice.

Our annual Scrabble Tournament is taking place October 20th at 5:30 in MGH 420, so please mark your c-a-l-e-n-d-a-r-s (that’s 12 points, without any bonuses!). Evidently, our very own Co-Treasurer Chloe Horning is the one to beat this year, so please, everyone bring your xylophones. There is an entry fee of $5, which will go directly to Page Ahead, a statewide non-profit that distributes books to low-income children. So, really, how could you miss this?

A sign up sheet was on hand for the Puget Sound Council Book Review, and we doff our collective hats to those who put their names down. Not only is this a  great way to become more familiar with the wide variety of young adult and children’s literature out there, these reviews are super fun to write and go a long way in helping teachers, parents and children make more informed reading choices. Kudos!

Books were swapped, the entire 4th floor of Mary Gates was filled with delicious pizza, and the year got off to a rousing yet subdued (is that possible?) start.  All in all, the gathering was a great success, but we know there are more of you out there just waiting to get involved! We’ll keep you posted on future events, including iYouth Conference 2011 news (Sherman Alexie has confirmed for this year! Hooray!), so keep checking back.

Cheers, everyone!