YALSA is now hosting online chats every month in our space in ALA Connect! It’s an easy, inexpensive way to be more engaged in YALSA and talk with other librarians about topics that matter in teen services. Chats take place the first Wednesday of each month from 8-9 p.m. Eastern and each one has a specific theme. Our next chat will be on Sept. 2, with Carla Land, chair of the Teen Read Week committee, moderating a discussion on Teen Read Week.

In our last membership survey, members indicated overwhelmingly that they sought more opportunities for virtual participation. The monthly online chats are one way that we are providing our members with what they want from us.

After the jump, find out topics for future chats – we’ve chosen themes through January – and how to log in and participate. Have a suggestion? Leave it in the comments.

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The YALSA Board of Directors will meet via conference call on Aug. 25, 3:30-5 p.m Eastern. Members interested in listening to the discussion can email yalsa@ala.org or call 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4390, for the phone number and passcode.

YALSA’s YA Lit Symposium Needs You Think about joining YALSA in 2010 for the Young Adult Literature Symposium, Nov. 5-7, 2010, in Albuquerque, N.M, with a theme  of “Beyond Good Intentions: Teens, Literature and Diversity.” Proposals for programs, papers, and the preconference will be accepted at the symposium website through Oct. 1. We’re also giving away two stipends to offset travel costs, one for someone whose worked directly with teens in a library setting for ten years or less and one for a student in an ALA-accredited MLS program (you must be enrolled in an MLS program at the start of the symposium); stipend applications are due by Jan. 4, 2010. Details on both are available at www.ala.org/yalitsymposium.

Be an Emerging Leader! YALSA will sponsor two Emerging Leaders for 2010. The Emerging Leaders program enables newer librarians from across the country to participate in problem-solving work groups; network with peers; gain an inside look into ALA structure, and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity. It puts them on the fast track to ALA and professional leadership. Applications are due Aug. 7. Learn more at the Emerging Leaders wiki.

After the jump, details on our online courses and member grants!

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YALSA is back from Annual Conference, re-energized and ready to serve. See more about what happened at Annual in Linda Braun’s post-conference wrap-up post.

Annual handouts online! You can download materials from ALA Annual Conference (including YALSA’s events and programs) from the ALA Presentations Wiki at http://presentations.ala.org.

YALSA’s monthly e-chats are back! YALSA will host an online chat on the first Wednesday of each month at 8 p.m. Eastern, starting August 5. For our next-echat, on August 5, President Linda Braun and members of her presidential advisory task force will lead the discussion on taking smart risks for teen services, as part of her presidential theme, Risky Business. Join us in YALSA’s space in ALA Connect on August 5 at 8 p.m. Eastern!

Online course registration open! Register today for one of YALSA’s fall online courses. This fall, we’re offering three courses (including two brand-new classes!): AIMing at Tweens: Advising, Involving, Motivating (taught by Teri Lesesne); Graphic Novels and Teen Readers: The Basics and Beyond (taught by Francisca Goldsmith) and Reaching Teens with Gaming (taught by Beth Gallaway). Read descriptions and register at YALSA’s Online Courses page.

After the jump, learn more about the symposium, Young Adult Library Services’ new award, and how you can help YALSA engage in Risky Business this year.

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