In the past several months you’ve heard me talk about the member survey-why we were doing it, how to see the results, and so on. Now I’d like to go into depth about some of the findings. In the survey members indicated that the two things they most wanted were to get more involved and to have more virtual opportunities. I would guess that this is even more true now as libraries are cutting travel budgets to conferences. In the coming months the Board will be working with Chairs to find ways to increase participation in YALSA, especially virtually. We must adhere to ALA policy, which permits up to 1/3 of a committee’s members being virtual. However, Interest Groups and Discussion Groups can be entirely virtual, so this is an area we are interested in exploring further. YALSA already has several IGs and DGs, but there is definitely room for more. Did you know that IGs and DGs originate from member petitions? They are truly grassroots groups formed around a common interest. Members opt in to the group and can participate virtually. You can read more about IGs and Dgs in the YALSA Handbook at: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/aboutyalsab/discussion.cfm

Sarah Cornish Debraski

YALSA President