Link Love - Disaster Relief, September Releases and A New Spidey!

Sprout's napping, hubs is out and about, and I'm veering off course from my previously scheduled studying time to post the weekly link roundup. There's time enough for reading journal articles later, right??

~ Wow, what a couple of weeks it's been for natural disasters. My heart goes out to all those affected, particularly those who are struggling to clean up and recoup their losses after earthquakes, hurricanes and floods. Galleycat has this look at one library's post-earthquake reshelving project. Kudos to them for bravely wading right in. Many bookstores and libraries were hard hit by Hurricane Irene -- author Kate Messner has a rundown on her blog and includes ways you can help. The economic downturn was already taking a bite out of the budget for some of these small libraries, so they really need help in patching everything back together.

~ Award season begins now! Teen readers are invite to vote for YALSA's Teen Top 10. Click the link for details and remember that the vote is for teens only, so if you're somewhat -- ahem -- above the prime demographic, round up a young one to vote for you. :)

~ And calling all book bloggers: judges for the next round of the CYBILs are now being sought. I so, so, SO much want to participate in this, but sadly I fear that my currently jam-packed schedule doesn't afford me the extra time. But it's a great gig, so if you are a regular contributor to a book blog, get your app in now!

~ Try as I might to deny it (because of that whole school's-back-in-session thing), the calendar has turned over to September. One good thing about it, though, is the monthly rundown of new releases featuring characters with diversity or multicultural themes. The HappyNappy Bookseller brings us this great list, while over at Diversity in YA they have a roundup of middle grade and YA titles. And my TBR list grows ever longer. . .

~ Speaking of TBR lists, Leila at The Bookshelves of Doom blog put out a call for read-alouds for a "snarky-smart precocious almost-12-year-old" girl. You could say that she got a few recommendations. Such great stuff!

~ On my TBR list, still, is The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh, the first in a trilogy about which I have heard wonderful, wonderful things. And after this interview with Walsh over at The History Girls blog, I am longing even more to read it -- which I will do, hopefully, before semester break. Stay tuned.

~ Ditto for Wildwood by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis. Which longing is only made worse when I stumble across things like the book trailer and website. Sigh.

~ To continue in the school-themed vein (can you tell where my head is lately?), I'm taking Collection Development this semester. I cannot wait to bring up things like this impossibly cool addition to one library, now available for checkout. Gee, I wonder how you weed this collection??

~ Yay! Hooray! Woohoooo! A major superhero comic embraces diversity in a big, BIG way. And that's why we love us some Spiderman. (Thanks to my darling husband, comic geek extraordinaire, for the link.)

~ And finally, happy 50th anniversary to The Snowy Day! To say that Ezra Jack Keats' books were groundbreaking is a major understatement, and they remain fresh and appealing even 50 years later. Sprout loves the adventures of Peter and his friends, particularly Peter's Chair, The Snowy Day, and of course Whistle for Willie. If you're in or near NYC, check out the Jewish Museum's exhibit of Keats' artwork that opens on September 9. You can whistle all the way there, and whistle all the way home.