Recommended Films and Videos from the American Library Association — The End?
Sunset of American Library Association’s Carnegie Medal of Excellence in Children’s Video and list of Notable Children’s Videos (both 2017), and list of Fabulous Films for Young Adults (2015)
I haven’t been in the close American Library Association (ALA) loop lately, so I was surprised to find out February 12 (2018) that, in total, three ALA recommended video outlets have been discontinued. YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of ALA) ended their Fabulous Films for Young Adults back in 2015, and it turns out ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children, a division of ALA) ended both their Carnegie Medal of Excellence in Children’s Video and list of Notable Children’s Videos in 2017.
There’s been no move to replace the YALSA list, but ALSC has announced there will be a list of Notable Children’s Digital Media and other new digital media awards:
The [2018 inaugural Notable Children’s Digital Media] Committee will select, annotate, and present for publication, a bi-annual list of notable children’s digital media, including websites and Apps of interest to young people and their families, from birth through age 14, starting in January 2018.
I await the announcement debuting ALSC’s technology-forward choices in the days to come!
I was worried that the Booklist Editors’ Choice — Video had also been discontinued, but it was just delayed. There is both a list and a Top of the List title!:
Booklist Editors’ Choice- Video and Top of the List
Also, the Video Round Table of the American Library Association did release its annual Notable Videos for Adults.:
ALA Video Round Table Notable Videos for Adults Committee releases 2018 list
But at a time when there’s more digital visual content available than ever, especially once you add in the various online video social media platforms (like YouTube, Vimeo); the ever-hybrid-ding (no, not a word, but it needs to be) online television subscription services/apps (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon) and devices (Roku, Apple, Amazon Fire); the online streaming video channels which do show up on regular TV channels for hours at a time (Classic Arts Showcase); the online-only streaming channels free (Cheddar, Shout! Factory) and subscription (PokerGO, Ice Network) and individual shows (AM to DM) including those tied to periodicals (Essence, People, Bloomberg) and those with tiered paid and free options (medici.tv); the occasional livestreaming of events happening across the country and all over the world (Livestream, Ustream, Facebook Live, Twitter, Periscope); livestreaming of videogamers (Twitch); online-only streaming video-on-demand subscription services (BroadwayHD, Qwest TV, CONtv); along with the dozens of cable and network television shows and channels available online including online-only (Star Trek: Discovery, ABC News Live) as well as the dozens of databases and archives with digitized versions of various film and video titles and collections (FilmStruck, Fandor, Criterion), how could these recommendation lists come to an end?
Or maybe I just answered my own question…
(Also, I hope I’ve made you see why ever-hybridding should be a word!)
Hopefully, ALA’s new Notable Digital Media Committee provides a clear pathway in this increasingly complex visual media landscape — with a model that paves the way toward compiling similar lists for teens and for adults.
Meanwhile, a Twitter List I created of various media properties, Media TODAY, is available to watch (!) online over at Breaking News and Media http://www.valsadie.com/valsadie/news/
In a press release dated April 24, 2018, ALSC announces inaugural Notable Children’s Digital Media list. The annotated version of the list can be found at Notable Children’s Digital Media.
