Issues today - School violence

Visit the School Angels website to see how local communities are working together to stop violence and bullies in schools http://www.schoolangels.com.au/ The School Angels are regional groups designed to help better support schools with resources sharing, aid, management, counselling and anti-violence and tolerance programs. The School Angels is about parents, teachers and schools helping each other. Anti-violence needs to be taught at school, as does tolerance education.

Louise McMorland, Youth Librarian, Manly Library

What are Youth doing on-line? survey results

Youth Field Xpress, May 2008, ATTITUDES AND OPINIONS, Youth Poll 2008
The results of the 16th national Youth Poll of the attitudes and opinions of 15- to 18-year-olds in Australia were released in early May. This year's poll found that while the internet plays a critical role in young people's lives (64 per cent had a social networking site such as MySpace and Facebook), 22 per cent had also experienced online bullying or harassment. Youth Poll 2008 also found that:* 58 per cent of respondents supported same-sex marriage;* rates of youth binge drinking, smoking and other drug use had all declined compared to previous Youth Poll surveys;* body image was a major concern to 54 per cent of those surveyed;* 46 per cent knew a young person who had attempted or committed suicide; and* 72 per cent supported the Australian government's signing of the Kyoto Protocol.
Information from the Youth Field Express website http://www.acys.info/publications/newsletter/current_edition
Louise McMorland, Youth Librarian, Manly Library

Grants for great ideas - The Spark Fund

Igniting Innovative Ideas!
Applications are now open for The Foundation for Young Australians for Spark Fund granting round for young people. The Spark Fund financially supports young people aged 12-25 years to ‘Ignite an innovative idea’ which makes a positive contribution to the community and enhances their skills and experiences. Individuals or small groups of young people aged 12-25 years, may apply for a Spark Fund grant. Applications can be made at any time and the Selection Committee will meet to decide on applications received.
Applications for the next round of The Spark Fund need to be received by the 30 June 2008.
Potential applicants can find out more by logging onto http://www.youngaustralians.org/
Louise McMorland, Youth Librarian, Manly Library

Burma and China - messages of hope from Australian schools

You can read a selection of messages written by Australian schools and students to survivors in Burma and China on the online gallery created on the School Aid website http://www.schoolaid.org.au/. Over 80 schools have thus far registered for School Aid’s Burma Appeal. You can check out which schools are involved on the site and, if you’re a school, register for the Appeal or Messages of Hope projects!
Daniel Bolotin, National Program Manager

Crime Fiction

Are you trying to read widely in the crime/mystery fiction genre ? Try finding some short stories, these come in 2 ways.
1. as compilations with multiple authors in the one volume
2. multiple short stories by the one author
Reading a short story by a crime author gives you a sense of how they write, without reading a full fiction novel
ALSO available at some libraries are adult readers, these are designed for adults who are learning english as a second language who have to improve their literacy skills. These readers are often short versions of classic authors in this field eg Raymond Chandler, Lynda La Plante, Arthur Conan Doyle
Louise, Youth Librarian, Manly Library

BELONGINGS ideas list now available

Are you doing Belongings for the 2009 HSC? - our 3 libraries have got together and created a fabulous list of possible texts to use. Don't forget to ALWAYS check with your teacher before choosing a text. Follow the link back to the www.insidebreak.org.au website to see the list.
Louise McMorland, Youth Librarian, Manly Library

Global incidents and terrorism

Do you like tracking global events? Have a look at the Global Incident Map http://globalincidentmap.com/home.php it shows the latest 30 global incidents.
Louise, from a State Library of NSW referral