First, our thanks to Gretchen Kolderup for her leadership as The Hub’s member manager since 2011. Thank you, Gretchen!

Gretchen will be leaving her role as manager of The Hub when her term ends on August 14, 2013, so YALSA is seeking a new member manager to begin in August 2013. Interested in the job? Read on  to see the position description and qualifications and find out how you can apply. Applications are due to jfinneke@ala.org by July 1, 2013.

YALSA is seeking a Member Manager for its YA literature-focused blog, The Hub, with the mission to provide a one-stop-shop for teens and librarians to help them locate high quality audio, video, and text content related to young adult literature. The deadline for applications is July 1, 2013.

The Member Manager will lead an advisory board and together the group will be responsible for the site, including recruiting bloggers and soliciting content submissions from the YALSA community. (more…)

YALSA has announced the results of its election!

Candidate results are as follows. Thank you to all who ran for office this year!

YALSA President-Elect

Chris Shoemaker

YALSA Board of Directors

Maureen Hartman
Krista McKenzie

Edwards Committee

Alicia Blowers
Sophie Brookover
Gail Zachariah

Printz Committee

Robin Brenner
Diane Colson
Angela Frederick
Shelly McNerney

Nonfiction Committee

Todd Krueger
Drue Wagner Mees
Joy Millam
Brenna Shanks

Visit ALA’s web site for their election results.

Although the 2013 spring election to select the new members of the Edwards, Nonfiction, and Printz Award Committees is still ongoing, members of the 2014 Award Nominating Committee —  Joy Kim, Stephanie Anne Squicciarini, Patti Tjomsland, Rollie Welch, and Pam Spencer Holley — are already at work collecting and vetting viable candidates for next spring’s election. That process which will continue through August of this year, when candidate names will be submitted to the YALSA Board.

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YALSA seeks proposals for its Trends Impacting Young Adult Services Paper Presentation, sponsored by YALSA’s past presidents and held at Midwinter Meeting. Proposals are due by June 1. The presenter will receive up to $1,500 to defray travel and registration costs.  The paper will be published in YALSA’s peer-reviewed Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults after the conference.
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The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is seeking a Member Editor for its open-access, peer-reviewed, electronic research journal, the Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults (JRLYA). JRLYA publishes high-quality research on library services to young adults quarterly. The position term would begin June 1, 2013. The deadline for applications is May 1, 2013.

The Member Editor will be responsible for the textual and graphic content of the continuous publication, and will work closely with YALSA’s Research Journal Advisory Board, member groups and YALSA’s Communications Manager to solicit manuscripts and oversee the peer review process. The Member Editor will also edit and proof all copy for each issue.
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Please send us your contributions!

If so, then please join us Thursday, Jan 10th from 2 – 3pm, EST, for a free, members’ only webinar in utilizing social media to build your career and help you in your job search.  The focus of the session will be on practical tips that you can implement in your spare time.  Reserve your spot via this brief online form, because space is limited! If you are unable to participate in the live session, please know that, as a benefit of YALSA membership, all members will receive a link to the recording in the Feb. issue of YALSA E-News. This event will be facilitated by Courtney Young.  Happy new year!

Applications are still being accepted for two kinds of mini grants for 2013 summer reading programs made possible by YALSA and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.  Apply today!

• Summer Reading Funding: Twenty libraries that provide programming to underserved teens will receive $1,000 to support their outstanding literacy focused summer reading program.
• Summer Reading Teen Assistant Funding: Twenty $1,000 grants are available to be used to recruit, train and compensate teen assistants to help with summer reading programs.

Individual library branches within a larger system may apply.  Deadline extended to January 14, 2013.  Apply at www.ala.org/yalsa/awardsandgrants/yalsaawardsgrants.

YALSA will select up to twenty-five innovative teen programs from all types of libraries to feature at the YALSA President’s Program at the 2013 ALA Annual Conference and to include in a sixth edition of Excellence in Library Service to Young Adults.  Successful applications will focus on programs that address new teen needs or interests, or that address ongoing teen needs or interests in an innovative or unique way.  The top five programs will receive cash awards of $1000 each. Up to twenty “best of the rest” applications will receive cash awards of $250 each.  For more details, or to apply, visit YALSA’s web site.

On October 17, 2012, help YALSA celebrate Teen Read Week™ by joining the conversation about teen reading and young adult literature via a Tweet-a-thon!  YALSA wants to know: what’s on your YA lit reading list right now?  Steampunk? Audiobooks?  Horror? Graphic Novels?  Nonfiction?  Something else?

We’re encouraging people of all ages to Tweet their YA lit reading lists, recommendations, thoughts and ideas with the hashtag #TRW12 any time on Oct. 17.  We’ll be following and re-tweeting our favorites.  We want to hear from teens, librarians, library workers, educators, authors, editors and more!  What might you Tweet on Oct. 17? Here are just a few ideas:

• What you are reading, or want you want to read
• Your opinions on who the contenders are for the Printz or other YA lit awards
• Innovative ways that libraries are bringing reading to teens
• Quotes about YA lit, or about reading in general
• Book recommendations for others
• Tips for getting more teens reading
• Links to booklists, contests and other resources
• What trends you’re seeing in YA lit right now
• Visuals! Show us what you have going on for Teen Read Week by Tweeting a photo
• Whatever else you’d like to share about teen reading and YA literature

So, librarians, library workers and educators please alert your teens — and encourage all the adults you know to participate, too.   To learn more about Teen Read Week, please visit www.ala.org/teenread.