On May 13th and 14th I was fortunate enough to attend ALA’s Legislative Days in Washington DC. It was a truly great event - many thanks to ALA, especially the Washington Office, who worked so hard to make this important advocacy event possible again this year. Having never been to National Leg Day it was quite an experience for me as I watched librarians rush from one legislative office building to the next, working to speak up on behalf of libraries and librarians. I spent a lot of my time with the Executive Directors and Presidents of AASL and ALSC as we spoke to legislative staffers about vital topics like the SKILLS act and social networking. Two highlights for me were the offices of Congressperson Judy Biggert and Senator Edward Kennedy. We stopped by these offices and had the opportunity to speak at length with staff for what I felt were very productive and meaningful conversations. Meanwhile, every state delegation of librarians, with the help of a state coordinator, spent much of their time talking to their individual state representatives about various local and national issues of importance to libraries.

I have to admit that after this experience I am feeling a little addicted to advocacy! And so next year, I will find a way to participate in National Library Leg Days again. This participation will likely be virtual and I look forward to that entirely new experience too. I urge everyone to strongly consider being involved in this important annual event. After all, if librarians don’t make the case for libraries with our legislators in a loud and clear voice, who will?

Paula Brehm-Heeger, YALSA President

As I mentioned briefly in my January President’s Report, YALSA’s new Endowment received quite a boost at the recent Midwinter meeting when several Past-Presidents led the charge at the All-Committee meeting to help us reach our $10,000 goal for creating an Endowment Fund. The response was overwhelming at that meeting and has continued in the weeks since Midwinter, too. Just to update everyone on where that fund stands, we have now surpassed that initial $10,000 goal and have received a total of $11,300 to date! The funds will go toward establishing leadership programs such as scholarships and institutes.

Thanks to all the members who have supported this effort and to so many of YALSA’s dynamic and dedicated Past-Presidents and leaders for giving our division the push and support to make the Endowment a reality. Please check the YALSA webpage and this blog for more information as we move forward on this important project in the coming months.

Since the announcement that the 2008 recipient of YALSA’s Margaret A. Edwards Award is Orson Scott Card for his novels ‘Ender’s Shadow’ and ‘Ender’s Game,’ YALSA has received feedback that has made it clear additional clarification of the criteria and terms of this award are necessary. I’ve provided a brief statement, that hopefully provides this clarification.

Thanks again to the 2008 Margaret A. Edwards Award Committee for their hard work!
Paula Brehm-Heeger
YALSA President, 2007-2008

Hello YALSA members:

The recent Dec. 29th post about the upcoming Midwinter meeting is a great example of how many people are gearing up for the upcoming meeting in Philadelphia. I hope to see many of you at the meeting and know that those not able to attend will find plenty of excellent information about the meeting right here on YALSA’s blog!

The latest edition of American Libraries also features Midwinter-related information, including a Midwinter Preview section. Page 62 of this preview discusses the Youth Media Awards Press Conference (Monday, Jan 14th from 8-9 a.m.) While it is always great to see the Youth Awards receive the attention they deserve, this preview mentions several awards by name (including the new ALSC/YALSA Odyssey Award) but does not specifically mention YALSA’s prestigious Michael L Printz, Margaret A. Edwards or Alex Awards.

I encourage all YALSA members to continue to advocate for the importance of the Printz Award, Young Adult literature — the fastest growing segment in publishing – and YALSA’s awards in general. There are more than 30 million teens in the country–the second largest generation after the Boomers. Drawing attention to YALSA’s excellent award-winning books for this large teen audience is an important task for those of us working to serve teens in libraries every day.

I also encourage all YALSA members to read through the list of candidates for ALA’s Executive Board (also on page 62 of the American Libraries Midwinter Preview) and begin thinking about which candidates fit your priorities for our Association. ALA Council will consider this slate of Executive Board Candidates at the Midwinter meeting. The candidates are Frances R Roscello, Diane R. Chen, Thomas L. Wilding, Dora T Ho, Pamela C. Sieving, Em Claire Knowles. There will be a Candidates Forum featuring these candidates at the Midwinter meeting on Jan. 14th from 11:30 to 12:30 in Ballroom B of the convention center.

General information about ALA’s Executive Board

Roster of current Executive Board members

Paula Brehm-Heeger
YALSA President, 2007-2008

YALSA has recently received great news — we are receiving funding from ALA for a 2008 Diversity Campaign!

This funding means YALSA will be able to fund a Spectrum Scholar, start a conference scholarship for a member with a diverse background to attend ALA’s Annual conference and also exhibit at an ALA affiliate conferences in 2008.

A task force will soon be established to help implement this exciting campaign. As the current YALSA President, I will be making the appointments and would love to hear from any YALSA member interested in possibly working on this task force.

Paula Brehm-Heeger
YALSA President, 2007-2008

paulabrehmheeger@fuse.net

Be a Candidate for ALA Office

The 2009 ALA Nominating Committee is already at work and the 2008 election hasn’t even started, but it’s never too soon to plan ahead. With that thought in mind, I wanted to remind all our members to think about running for ALA Office. The 2009 ALA Nominating Committee will begin its work at Midwinter 2008 in Philadelphia by discussing possible candidates. That work will be enlarged upon at Annual, with a final list due to the ALA Executive Committee in the fall of 2008.

How does that affect you? Well, it’s time to start thinking about running for Council or ALA President. The Committee will submit two names for ALA President and 34 names for ALA Council and you could be one of those names. If you would like to be considered for one of these spots, please send your name, a brief bio, and a paragraph as to what you have to offer for either the Councilor or the President’s position to Pam Spencer Holley [pamsholley@aol.com] by Monday, January 8, 2008. Questions can be sent at any time to Pam at the same e-mail address

With Teen Read Week just around the corner, why not begin your celebration of Teen Reading with YALSA, the Readergirlz and “31 Flavorites!” The Readergirlz divas and YALSA will be hosting 31 of your favorite authors for 31 days in October — all in honor of Teen Read Week.

Chat nightly at 5 PM PST/8 PM EST with an amazing lineup of today’s most popular teen authors. And don’t miss the grand finale on October 31st with a special chat that will be held at 9 PM PST/MIDNIGHT EST) featuring Stephenie Meyer. More details are available at http://www.readergirlz.com/issue.html.

Authors participating in the Readergirlz celebration include Ann Brashares, Andre Norton, Holly Black, Deb Caletti, Dia Calhoun, Janet Lee Carey, Cecil Castellucci, Rachel Cohn, Chris Crutcher and many more!

Special thanks to author and Readergirl Justina Chen Headley for lending her talent, energy and enthusiasm to the idea of this Readergirlz/YALSA collaboration. This great project offers teens another option to keep reading for the fun of it this October by providing a fun, relevant way for connecting with reading, authors and books!

Please take a minute to share your thoughts about YALSA’s two publications for members, YALS & YAttitudes, by responding to a short survey available at http://tinyurl.com/2xsvo9.

Your feedback is essential for ensuring these excellent publications continue to give you the information you want and need!

Thank you,
Paula Brehm-Heeger
YALSA President, 2007-2008

Now is the time to apply if you would like to be among the new group of ALA Emerging Leaders! More information on the Emerging Leaders program - including an application to be considered for a spot as a 2008 Emerging Leader — is available at http://wikis.ala.org/emergingleaders .

YALSA will sponsor one member to participate in the Emerging Leaders program this year. The application to be considered for YALSA sponsorship is now available at http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/leaders.htm.

The application period to apply to the Emerging Leaders program and to apply for YALSA sponsorship to the program is the same: July 1 - August 15, 2007.

YALSA will select one member to participate in the Emerging Leaders program and will provide $500 per conference (midwinter, 2008 in Philadelphia and annual, 2008 in Anaheim) to defray travel costs (your employer may also wish to contribute toward transportation and lodging).

It is possible to be selected to participate in the Emerging Leaders program even if you are not selected by YALSA for sponsorship. If you are interested in being an Emerging Leader you may wish to consider submitting both the general application and the application for YALSA sponsorship.

–Paula Brehm-Heeger

YALSA President, 2007-2008

Kevin & Sarah:

Thanks for all your great answers to the many questions posted so far! Just a few more:

What advice would you offer a Director for supporting someone wanting to work with YALSA? If Directors cannot afford to send staff to conferences, what are other ideas for encouraging staff to be involved in YALSA? Can you offer any examples - current or any time during your career, when your Director or administration was particularly helpful in supporting your involvement in YALSA?

And speaking of conferences and involvement, this brings me to a question current YALSA President, Judy Nelson, asked last year’s Presidential candidates:

Now that you’ve decided to commit yourself to YALSA for the next three years, what won’t you be doing in your spare time?