ALA & YALSA Elections Now Open
Stephanie Kuenn | Election | Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
It’s time to vote in the ALA/YALSA Election! On March 17, ALA began emailing ballot information to all members whose memberships were current as of Jan. 31 of this year. It will take a few days for all eligible members to receive the email with their passcodes. If you haven’t received your election information via email by Friday, March 20, contact ALA at membership@ala.org or by phone at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5, to verify your eligibility and get your ballot information sent to you.
Voting will be open until April 24, and results will be available on May 1.
As you prepare to vote, you may find the following links helpful:
- ALA’s Election Guide, with answers to frequently asked questions, timelines and other information
- Candidates for ALA President-Elect and ALA Council (PDF)
- The official YALSA candidate slate, including YALSA President-Elect, YALSA’s ALA Council representative, YALSA Board of Directors and YALSA award committees
- Video interviews and podcasts with candidates for YALSA President-Elect and YALSA Board of Directors
- A list of youth division members (those from AASL, ALSC, and YALSA) running for ALA President-Elect or ALA Council, compiled by AASL for informational purposes
- The ALA Election homepage (you’ll need your member number, which you can find on the cover of your most recent copy of American Libraries, and the passcode that ALA will email you this week)
- Find out how to run for office, either for YALSA or ALA, in 2010 on the YALSA Wiki. You can also get in touch with Paula Brehm-Heeger, chair of YALSA’s Nominating Committee, or Sarah Flowers, YALSA’s representative on the ALA Nominating Committee, about running for office in 2010.
I wanted to remind everyone about the importance of voting in the ALA election. This is your chance to make sure that the Divisions of which you are a member, along with the larger ALA organization, support the needs of your library and the teens that you serve.
Sometimes it’s easier to vote in Division elections because of familiarity with what the Division is about and a knowledge of what needs to be accomplished by youth-oriented leaders. However, don’t forget that it’s also important to have youth aware, focused, proactive, and supportive people on ALA Council. By voting for those who have shown their support for ALA’s youth divisions for Council positions , you help guarantee that youth issues will be well represented on the Council floor. We need people who will speak up for youth during ALA debates. Members of the Associations youth divisions are likely to do just that.