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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You’ve seen the slate of candidates, but want to hear more from the nominees for YALSA President and the YALSA Board? We’ve be talking with those individuals last week and this one here on the blog.

Candidates, presented in alphabetical order, were asked to contain their responses to a twitter-ish 140 characters, but I know their enthusiasm comes through even given the enforced brevity.

Today, YALSA President-Elect Candidate Chris Shoemaker.

Your current position and institution

Teen Programming Specialist, New York Public Library (more…)

You’ve seen the slate of candidates, but want to hear more from the nominees for YALSA President and the YALSA Board? We’ve be talking with those individuals last week and this one here on the blog.

Candidates, presented in alphabetical order, were asked to contain their responses to a twitter-ish 140 characters, but I know their enthusiasm comes through even given the enforced brevity.

Today, YALSA President-Elect Candidate Sharon L. Rawlins.

Your current position and institution

Youth Services Consultant, NJ State Library (more…)

You’ve seen the slate of candidates, but want to hear more from the nominees for YALSA President and the YALSA Board? We’ll be talking with those individuals this week and next here on the YALSAblog.

Candidates, who will be presented in alphabetical order, were asked to contain their responses to a twitter-ish 140 characters, but I know their enthusiasm comes through even given the enforced brevity.

Today, YALSA Board Candidate Matthew Moffett.

Your current position and institution

Assistant Branch Manager, Fairfax County Public Libraries, Fairfax County, Va. (more…)

You’ve seen the slate of candidates, but want to hear more from the nominees for YALSA President and the YALSA Board? We’ll be talking with those individuals this week and next here on the YALSAblog.

Candidates, who will be presented in alphabetical order, were asked to contain their responses to a twitter-ish 140 characters, but I know their enthusiasm comes through even given the enforced brevity.

Today, YALSA Board Candidate Krista McKenzie.

Your current position and institution

Instructional Librarian/Adjunct Professor, Garrett College, McHenry, MD (more…)

You’ve seen the slate of candidates, but want to hear more from the nominees for YALSA President and the YALSA Board? We’ll be talking with those individuals this week and next here on the YALSAblog.

Candidates, who will be presented in alphabetical order, were asked to contain their responses to a twitter-ish 140 characters, but I know their enthusiasm comes through even given the enforced brevity.

Today, YALSA Board Candidate Maureen L. Hartman.

Your current position and institution

“Coordinating Librarian, Youth Programs and Services, Hennepin County Library (more…)

You’ve seen the slate of candidates, but want to hear more from the nominees for YALSA President and the YALSA Board? We’ll be talking with those individuals this week and next here on the YALSAblog.

Candidates, who will be presented in alphabetical order, were asked to contain their responses to a twitter-ish 140 characters, but I know their enthusiasm comes through even given the enforced brevity.

Today, YALSA Board Candidate Franklin Escodebo.

Your current position and institution: 

I’m the Branch Manager of the Mission Branch Library in Oceanside, CA and I’ve been responsible 4 all teen services 4 my system for 5 yrs (more…)

It’s election season! ALA polls won’t open until mid-March, but YALSA has provided a sample ballot with candidates’ biographical information to inform your decisions.

Find the names candidates for Vice-President/President-Elect, for the YALSA Board of Directors, and for the Printz, Edwards, and Nonfiction award committees below.

In addition to choosing individuals to serve in governance capacities, YALSA members will have the opportunity to vote on five proposals related to division bylaws:

• Proposal to update bylaws language to more accurately reflect the composition of the board and to bring the bylaws more into compliance with association best practices
• Proposal to add the Financial Advancement Committee Chair as an ex-officio and nonvoting member of the board
• Proposal to modify the process for seeking candidates for the YALSA ballot
• Proposal to streamline opt-in member interest groups
• Proposal to allow for the establishment of fee-based member sections

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So, you might be saying to yourself, “Those YALSA people, they haven’t stopped talking about the ALA/YALSA election for months.” While it’s true, we’ve used a lot of blog space, email space, and so on, getting the word out about the election, it’s also true that not a lot of YALSA members vote in the annual election. In a post earlier in the election season, 2012 Nominating Committee member Judy Nelson asked people why that is.

If you read the comments to Judy’s post you’ll notice that people said they didn’t have time to do the research required in order to make good decisions about the election. Or, they felt removed from YALSA at the governance level so that voting didn’t seem to be a worthwhile thing to do.

I totally understand that it takes time to read through the materials to make the decisions that make sense for you about who is the best YALSA candidate. But, then again, as a librarian working with teens isn’t it worth that time to make sure that the national association that supports your work is providing the best support possible? If everyone leaves it up to someone else to take the time and make the decisions, then it’s very possible that only a small group is determining the future of the association, and related to that the future of support for those serving teens in libraries.
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One of the great things about participating in YALSA is knowing that you can make a difference.  No matter what your level of experience, if you are passionate about serving teens in libraries, we can find a way for you to contribute.  And while not everyone has time to serve on the Board or take part in a book committee, one thing each and every one of us can do is vote in the YALSA and ALA elections.

Don’t forget you can learn about the candidates by checking out YALSA’s posts on this Blog, reading through the handy 2012 YALSA Election Guide, and going through the sample ballot.

YALSA is fortunate to have what is considered by many to be the most innovative, resourceful, and vibrant membership group in all of ALA.  Today I challenge you to make YALSA stand out in a new way:  let’s see if we can’t get the highest election participation of any association in the entire ALA.  Take the time to vote this week, and remind your friends to take part, too!