YALSA's T Audiobook Picks for Teens

Recently on YALSA's Hub blog, they published a great list of audiobooks produced over the past two years that are great for teens. Each title includes an annotation and information about the readers, length, recommended ages and ISBN.

Stop here to access the list!

Tips on Evaluating Audiobooks

Image by Brigitte Werner from Pixabay 

Recently Teen Services Underground published a post with great tips on evaluating audiobooks. 

Agent Jessica Hilbun Schwartz writes: "I know a lot of us librarians are audiobook fans, and while we are experts in what makes a good story, it can be hard to say what exactly makes an audiobook good? Most of us have no problem evaluating books in print, but few have had training in critiquing an audiobook. We can often easily spot a bad one, but pinpointing what exactly the problem is harder to do! I myself was pretty clueless about this when I was first asked to serve on YALSA’s Amazing Audiobooks Blogging Team back in 2018. I really got thrown into the deep end there. Since serving on that committee, and now that I am serving my second year on ALSC’s Notable Children’s Recordings Committee, I feel like I have a much better grasp on things."

Stop here to read her key criteria to keep in mind. [I'm All Ears: Evaluating Audiobooks. Jessica Hilbun Schwartz. Teen Services Underground blog. October 14, 2022.]

Free Audiobooks for Teens!

In a recent ALSC blog post from Abby Johnson, she alerts us to a great deal from SYNC for your teens.. 

Abby writes: "Do you know about SYNC? Each summer, AudioFile Magazine partners with over a dozen publishers and with Overdrive Education to offer free audiobooks to listeners. Starting this week, SYNC is back for 2022! Each week, they make two free audiobooks available for download."

To read more about this program and how you can get involved, stop here. [Free Audiobooks with SYNC. Abby Johnson. ALSC blog. May 7, 2022]

Free Audiobooks for Teens All Summer Long Beginning April 28

ICYMI: Sync Audiobooks starts April 28 and runs through August 17. Every week, teens will have access to download (for permanent access) two audiobooks. Learn more on the home page and the FAQ page. Get publicity materials in the toolkit.

Sync—Free Audiobooks for Teens

Have you heard of Sync Audiobooks? Every spring and summer, your teens can access free audiobooks. Every week, the program offers two titles available for free, permanent download. This year, the program begins the week of April 28, 2022. 

Titles are accessible in Sora, the student reading app from OverDrive. View more information here, and don't forget to look at their publicity toolkit and their FAQ page.

Throw-it Thursday: Creating New Collections (Yes, That Means It’s Time to Weed!)

Ashley Borman, Technical Services Librarian at the Clintonville (WI) Public Library is back with her monthly column and has some great advice on making sure your collections are updated.

What do you do when you want to start a new collection but lack a defined space to do it in? Weed! Of course. What did you think I was going to say? This is Throw-It Thursday, after all! This type of weeding can get a little tricky because you are trying to condense a collection into a smaller space to make room for something new and different, while trying to maintain the quality of the collection/s you already have. There is no wrong way to do this-it is all subjective and each library is different, so don’t feel guilty about paring down a popular collection to make room for another popular collection.

Our children’s audio collection is one area we ran into this problem with last year. We started ordering some new items from Playaway-Launchpads and Wonderbooks. If you haven’t seen or heard of these yet, they are great products that have been really popular at my library. Launchpads are tablets that come pre-loaded with educational games/stories. Wonderbooks are physical copies of books that have the audio built in to an attached device so your kids can read along with the audio. These are great because they are one physical item (no worrying about misplacing one piece or the other, and they run on a rechargeable battery) and they have an additional learning mode that teaches them literacy skills.

Our children's audio collection after weeding and making room for our new collections.

But! We only have so much shelf space in our children’s audio area, so we had to do some re-arranging and condensing to make a shelf for them. Our children’s kits (read-a-longs with a CD) are in the blue bags. These were originally on two rows of shelving. We condensed them into one and pushed them closer together, but they are still easily browsable. We were able to keep most of them, though we did get rid of a few based on circ’s and condition. We shifted things around and ended up with those on the bottom row of one section and were able to put a shelf above them for the Wonderbooks. Playaways and more Wonderbooks are currently displayed on the top of the shelving unit. The children’s audio CDs are in some browsing bins on the last section of the shelving unit (not pictured because we talked about those in the recent past).

The audiobooks were heavily weeded based on circ’s because the shelves were packed full. Now we have them on two sections of shelving that have some breathing room to add fresh new titles to the collection again! To do this and make a little room, we had to be vigorous in our weeding. Our children’s librarian used a list of titles that hadn’t circ’ed in three years or longer (we used to do five years in this collection) as her starting point. There were a few items we kept because teachers tend to need them on a rotating basis, but for the most part, we threw a lot of items in the discard pile. Don’t be afraid to make big changes in your collections. After all, we have to keep up with changing technology and ideas, so that our patrons can continue to enjoy our services for years to come!

New WI Availability of Harry Potter eBooks/Audio

Image by sipa from Pixabay

Sara Gold,  WiLS Community Liaison and Service Specialist writes:

"Pottermore has extended an offer to the WI Digital Library, making the audio and ebook versions of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone available for unlimited checkouts with no waiting until April 30th. The titles are available through a title search and will be curated into the Always Available collection by the end of today (4/1/20)." 

Audiobooks--and Podcasts!--Aren't Cheating!

I know, I know...preaching to the choir... 😉



Click HERE to read the article posted on rewire.org that not only dispels the "cheating" myth, but also shares some of the benefits/advantages to listening to audiobooks and podcasts for folks exhibiting all levels of reading prowess! 

**Psst!  You can always store the information away to bust out if you find yourself needing to defend the validity of either medium.**

10 YA Audiobooks Available on Spotify!

This is not a drill.  Repeat.  THIS IS NOT A DRILL!

Are you a Spotify user looking for another source for audiobooks?  You're in luck!

The good folks at Epic Reads recently shared the following LIST in their blog.

So far, there are only 10 YA-specific titles, but hopefully Spotify will add more soon.

Plus, the popular streaming service has an ever-growing collection of spoken word options, ranging from classic literature to poetry to vintage radio dramas to myths and fables from around the world.  It's definitely worth a gander.

Happy listening!

2019 Audie Awards

The 2019 Audie Award Winners have been announced!  On Monday, the Audio Publisher's Association held the Audies Gala in New York, where they honored audiobooks from all different genres and age ranges.

The big winner this year was Tomi Adeyemi, whose Children of Blood and Bone won the coveted title of audiobook of the year.  Other winners included, Sunny by Jason Reynolds for middle grade, Sadie by Courtney Summers in the YA category, and The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange for author/s narration.

Check out the whole Audie Award Winners list HERE.

SYNC Audiobooks for Teens Begins April 25

Mark your calendars for 14 weeks of free audiobooks for teens (or anyone who wants to listen) for SYNC 2019. PR materials are available in a toolkit on the site. They will likely post 2019 materials towards mid-February.

In short, two paired audiobooks are released for download each week. The books are free to keep for personal use. More information is available on the SYNC site.

Also for consideration is AudioFile Magazine's 2019 Audiobook Challenge. It's comprised of twelve different challenges that listeners can pick and choose from to give extra range to their audiobook listening.

Listen Up! YALSA's 2018 Audiobooks for YA

Looking to boost your young adult audiobook selection?  Maybe it needs a bit of a refresher for the new year?

Check out YALSA's list of 2018 Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults!

Advocating for Audiobooks in Your Summer Reading Program & All Year Round

My experience in libraries suggests that summer is one of the highest circ'ing months for audiobooks in multiple formats. Since June is Audiobook Month, it's also the perfect time to highlight this collection and to connect it to your summer reading program. So the audiobooks go on display.

Then I overhear things like "Why does listening count for summer reading?" or "But audiobooks aren't real books." Questions and statements like these come up around audiobooks all the time. They offer a perfect opportunity to advocate for the many benefits that listening to books provide whether you do it face-to-face or by adding an infographic like this one to your display on "How Audio Promotes Literacy" put out by audiopub.org.

Audiopub.org also offers other resources for librarians and educators on the topics of sound learning and transmedia literacy.

I'll be using some of the booklists from the transmedia literacy page to assist with updating the read-along collection at my library, as well as choosing audiobooks for display this month and all year long.

WAPL Session Recap: Sound Learning: Read-Alongs Enhancing Literacy Development

Post by: Dana Johnson, Youth Services Librarian, La Crosse Public Library

As a self-identifying audiobook enthusiast, I jumped at the chance to attend Sharon Grover and Jamie Swenson’s presentation on Sound Learning: Read-Alongs Enhancing Literacy Development. Sharon and Jamie kicked off this presentation by addressing how audiobooks support literacy development. Some parents and caregivers may feel that listening to an audio book is “cheating” and should not count as reading time.  In response to this, Sharon and Jamie introduced the Audio Publishers Association’s Sound Learning  website, which is an excellent resource in advocating for the benefits of audiobooks. In particular, library staff should familiarize themselves with this infographic to put those worried parents minds at ease. I printed and hung a copy next to my audio book section! 

The presentation then turned to using audiobooks with picture books together in a read—along experience. Here are some of the many benefits:

• Picture book read-alongs give children time to follow the text and read the illustrations
• Audiobooks can serve as a great tool for engaging distracted children in storytimes
• The music and sound effects in these audiobooks create an emotional experience that reinforces the tone of the text and story.
• Read-alongs promote phonological awareness
• Audiobooks help caregivers bridge any language or skill gaps by reinforcing correct pronunciation and removing pressure from parents who may be uncomfortable reading aloud.

My favorite takeaway from the session was that audiobooks can be a tool used to promote diversity in our library. We know from the We Need Diverse Books campaign, that children need to see themselves authentically reflected in the stories they read. Sharon and Jamie took this a step further. They advocate that we also need to make sure the voices our children hear are also diverse. I love storytime, but as a White, Midwestern, native English-speaker, I cannot do justice to a Yuyi Morales book. The children in my storytimes hear my voice and voices with similar cadence and dialect often in their schools and library. By using diverse audiobook read-alongs, like Imani’s Moon by JaNay Brown-Wood or Jaquline Woodson’s This is the Rope, children will get to hear diverse dialects, voices, and tones narrating these stories in authentic ways. 

I highly recommend looking at Sharon and Jamie’s slides and exploring the Sound Learning website.

Check out other WAPL youth program reports from the April 27-28 conference (links will be highlighted when published):

• This is a Not a Hit Zone: Promoting Healthy Kids and Safer Communities at Your Library - Dawn Wacek, Dana Johnson
• It's Not Just the Facts, Ma'am!": Creating and Marketing a Dynamic Youth NF Collection - Marge Loch-Wouters
• Flip the Children's Space: A Face-Lift for Kids - Susan Queiser, Patricia Becker
• Teach and Be Taught: Teens in the Library - Emily Sanders
• YSS Leadership Meeting
• Return of the Notable Books Report - Leah Langby et al
• STEAM Programming on a Budget - Emily Zorea
• All Play Literature Engagement for Public Libraries - Ashlee Kunkel, Valerie Edwards

Stop here at the WAPL conference website for all the session handouts and slidedecks.

Free Audiobooks for Teens All Summer Long Beginning April 27

This program is a great one to use if you're looking for ways to reach teens, partner with your local middle and high schools, or want to share the awesomeness of audiobooks. SYNC is totally free for us and our patrons to use. The tool kit has all the promotional materials you could need. Teens don't even need a library card to download these books, only a computer or device with the Overdrive app on it, and the books are theirs to keep.

Librarians, Educators, Bloggers—Spread the Word!

What is SYNC?

The audiobook publishers’ and AudioFile Magazine’s commitment to introducing the listening experience to teens.


A FREE audiobook download program that has been offered since Summer 2010 and returns April 27, 2017.

•     SYNC audiobook titles are given away in themed pairs.
•     SYNC hooks readers by introducing a free download of a wide variety of titles.
•     SYNC demonstrates that Required Reading can be completed by listening.
•     Libraries, schools, and bloggers can access the SYNC Tool Kit.
•     Titles are delivered through the OverDrive app.

How can Libraries, Schools, Bloggers & Press Promote SYNC to Teens?

•  Use the SYNC Tool Kit to introduce SYNC to your patrons, students, and other readers.
•  Encourage teen readers to text syncya to 25827 to receive text alerts about all the featured titles.
•  Sign-up to “Join the SYNC Newsletter” for title alerts.
•  Encourage teens to download the OverDrive app, in advance of the program.

Download Details

•     Downloads are in MP3 format and are Mac and Windows compatible.
•     Downloads will operate through the OverDrive app.
•     Most listening devices are supported.
•     Each SYNC audiobook is available for download for a period of 7 days (only).

Frequently Asked Questions for Librarians and Educators:
 
Can I copy and distribute SYNC audiobooks for my students/patrons to use? SYNC audiobooks are intended for personal use only and may not be copied and distributed under any circumstances.

Can our library add the SYNC audiobooks to our audiobook collection or to our existing OverDrive collection? No. SYNC audiobooks are for personal use only. Most individual titles within the SYNC program are available for purchase through OverDrive. Contact your digital content provider for more information.

Additional Questions:

For questions about the program, titles, and how to use the tool kit to connect with teens, please contact the SYNC Manager at sync@audiofilemagazine.com.

For issues or questions about the download process please contact the SYNC Help Desk at synchelp@audiofilemagazine.com

Audio Book Conference in Beloit!

Beloit Public Library (along with sponsors Brilliance Audio, Listening Library and the Beloit Health System) invites everyone to their AudioCon: Celebrating the Spoken Word conference on Saturday April 1 starting at 10:00 am. The day features a fun line up of activities and speakers including spoken word artists Dion Graham and Jayne Entwhistle as well as a presentation by Enoch Pratt's Deb Taylor showing people how to "read with their ears."

Attendees can also stop at listening stations to hear great samples of audiobooks (bring your own headphones); try narrating on your own; join the "Great Storytelling Voice" competition and so much more packed into a fast five hours!  Read all the details here!

Banned Books Week for Kids and Teens

Banned Books Week is celebrated this year from September 25 to October 1, but recognition of intellectual freedom and the freedom to read and to listen is a year-round commitment.

For insights on reading and listening to challenged books, read this School Library Journal article Hear No Evil co-written by YSS member Sharon Grover, co-author of Listening to Learn: Audiobooks Supporting Literacy. You can also view ALA's lists of Frequently Challenged Young Adult Books and Frequently Challenged Children's Books compiled by Patricia Peters in August 2016, as well as Frequently Challenged Books with Diverse Content.

Be sure to attend this topical session at this year's WLA conference on Thursday, October 27 from 2:45 to 3:30pm:

Meeting the Challenge: Collection Development of Youth Materials

Track: Building Collections/Back to the Book

Megan Schliesman, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC), UW-Madison; Tessa Michaelson Schmidt, Department of Public Instruction, Madison

Should you buy a buzzed-about book if reviews point out serious shortcomings? How do you handle an award-winner that rubs you the wrong way? Are you uncertain after reading blog posts calling out books for racial insensitivity? Do worries about challenges make you hesitate with some titles or topics? This safe and instructive conversation will also explore the essential role intellectual freedom plays in the work you do every day.  Library newbies and veterans welcome.

June Is Audiobook Month: Audiobooks for Summer Reading

Submitted by Sharon Grover, Youth Services & Audiobook Literacy Consultant

Co-author, Listening to Learn: Audiobooks Supporting Literacy

Yes, you read that right, audiobooks are a legitimate way to read and should be part of every summer library program. In the summer, when everyone’s on the go, an audiobook can be an especially good way to squeeze in summer reading lists, reading for pleasure, or a shared family literature experience. If you're looking for great audiobook titles to include in your recommendations for summer reading, here are some suggested sites that will make it easy:

Sound Learning (http://soundlearningapa.org)

This terrific toolkit for teachers and librarians from the Audio Publishers Association is one-stop shopping for information on audiobooks and literacy-development, as well as a treasure-trove of teacher tips, suggestions for audiobook promotion in public libraries, and loads of great titles for every occasion, including summer reading.

Sync Audiobooks for Teens (http://www.audiobooksync.com)

This free program includes 30 titles (2 titles each week for 15 weeks) that can be downloaded and kept as long as you like. Geared toward teen interests and learning themes, this is an exciting, easy way to promote listening for teens ages 13 and up. Many adult listeners will find this list appealing as well.

Audiobooks for Kids and Teens (http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/kids-teens/)   

AudioFile magazine’s comprehensive list of titles is divided by age group and even includes titles particularly recommended for family listening. The large mix of genres, themes, and narration styles provides plenty of suggestions for all types of listeners. The AudioFile blog also offers ways to encourage discussion of what kids have read with their ears (https://blog.audiofilemagazine.com/category/audiobooks-literacy/).

Listen-Alikes for Grades 5-12

AudioFile also offers this broad selection of genres and themes paired together for listening and discussing. Check out the digital edition of the magazine for these titles in a five-page spread: http://digital.audiofilemagazine.com/i/657727-april-may-2016/21

And when you're doing audiobook Readers’ Advisory, don't forget the wonderful lists available from ALA: Notable Children's Recordings (http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists/ncr), Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults (http://www.ala.org/yalsa/amazing-audiobooks), and the premier Odyssey Award, jointly administered by ALSC and YALSA (http://www.ala.org/yalsa/odyssey-award). You also don't want to miss titles selected for the Audio Publishers Association Audies Awards, exciting audiobooks for all ages and interests (https://apa.staging.t-r.io/uploads/pdf/Audies_Nominations_Release.pdf).

Happy listening!

Summer Road Trips

I rarely ever get into the car without an audiobook. It makes a drive, any drive, that much faster. AND more relaxing.

Some ideas for family listening. Doesn't even have to be long trips. Just to go to the zoo. Listen to Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathman.
http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2012/06/06/road-trip-audiobooks-for-the-whole-family/

Try incorporating audiobooks in displays too. For our summer Dream Big display, I'm displaying the audio of a Wrinkle in Time. Another great family audiobook.