A new chapter

I started this blog originally in order to document the creation of a new edition of Children and Libraries: Getting It Right. There were a few digressions along the way, but that was certainly the focus. I finished the manuscript and dealt with the many changes and queries raised by a fastidious copy-editor. I understand I'll receive page proofs very soon. The final title, generated by the marketing folks, is Twenty-First Century Libraries for Twenty-First Century Children, I think. So this chapter of my writing life is pretty much over until I have to face the prospect of reading reviews, and there didn't seem to be anything relevant to post on this blog.

Until today.

This morning I received an email from Stephanie Zvirin at ALA Editions telling me that the proposal that Elaine Meyers and I submitted to revise Teens and Libraries: Getting It Right has been accepted. Writing a book with a collaborator is a very different process from the lonely work of a single author. Elaine and I still need to talk about how we're going to approach this one; the proposed chapters don't divide up neatly into our different areas of expertise. We want this edition to have more of an administrative and policy focus than the last one. Working title: Teens and Libraries: Managing to Get It Right.

The one element we have agreed on is a series of profiles of real teens that will be sprinkled through the book. We've designed some interview questions that we think will make these kids pop off the page.

So watch this space.