Monthly President’s Report – February 2012

March kind of sneaked up on me, I guess because February is a short month. Below is a summary of activities that I have completed or am working on. Happy Teen Tech Week!

Completed Tasks

• Committee Chairs:  I had phone conversations with several YALSA committee chairs about the work of their committees.

• Board Activities:  
  • The Board had an online chat on February 1. Board members offered suggestions for the content of the selection and award committee chair and member webinars.
  • The Board met by telephone on February 29 to discuss chair quarterly reports and to take action on two requests for Board action that came from committees.
  • The Board voted to accept a proposal from the Morris Award committee to amend the eligibility rules to exclude self-published and e-book only books from consideration. The new rule will be re-evaluated after the 2013 award. (more…)

The 2012 YALSA/VOYA Frances Henne Research Grant Committee congratulates this year’s grant recipient, Sylvia Vardell.  Her research proposal is entitled, Poetry Books and Apps: Complement or Competition?  Dr. Vardell’s research seeks to investigate student attitudes toward poetry apps and the impact of use of apps on poetry book reading and circulation.

In the research proposal, Dr. Vardell poses these questions and ideas:

“Where do we begin in selecting poetry that children will like? No one has yet considered the impact of the new format of the poetry application or ‘app.’ It seems logical to hypothesize that access to this new innovation might have a positive impact on young people’s attitudes toward the poetry content, but it has not been investigated. In addition, this raises the question about whether poetry in print format will suffer as a result. Does new technology trump old books? The proposed project will attempt to address these questions.”

Dr. Vardell notes that although this small study focuses exclusively on poetry, this look at the impact of apps on student attitudes and the relationship to book reading offers wider applications that interest professionals and researchers in libraries and literacy.

Sylvia Vardell is Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at Texas Woman’s University, where she teaches graduate courses in children’s and young adult literature.

The YALSA/VOYA Frances Henne Research Grant offers seed money to research that supports the YALSA Research Agenda.  Applications for the 2013 grant are due on December 1, 2012.  For more information, please see http://www.ala.org/yalsa/awardsandgrants/franceshenne .

The applications are in!  The YALSA/VOYA Frances Henne Research Grant applications have been submitted, and the review committee is currently reading the innovative research ideas of this year’s pool of grant proposals.

We are looking forward to announcing the 2012 recipient at the ALA Midwinter Meeting.  You are invited to join us for the official announcement during the “YALSA Research Forum: What’s Next for YA?” event on Friday, January 20, to be held from 1:30 PM-3:30 PM, Dallas Convention Center, Room D225.  As part of the Research Forum, we will announce the winning grant proposal and tell you how to apply for the 2013 Henne Research Grant.

We will also share the news of the 2012 recipient during the “YALSA Trends in YA Presentation” on Saturday, January 21, to be held from 4:00-5:30PM, in the Dallas Convention Center, Room C141. This event will feature a paper presentation from Jeanie Austin called “Critical Issues in Juvenile Detention Center Libraries.” The paper will explore the tensions present in juvenile detention center library services (such as institutional limitations and access to technologies) and how youth and librarians can and do navigate these tensions within the library setting.

For more information on these programs, please go to http://wikis.ala.org/yalsa/index.php/YALSA_at_ALA%27s_2012_Midwinter_Meeting.  We hope that you can join us for one of these YALSA events at Midwinter, and we look forward to celebrating this year’s Frances Henne Research Grant recipient with you in Dallas!

Just ten days left to submit your volunteer form if you are interested in being on one of YALSA’s 2011 selection committees. This is your chance to help select the best fiction, movies, audiobooks, graphic novels, and more for teens. Be sure to read the entire list of committees, and find one that fits your interest and expertise. Terms vary, depending on the committee, so be sure you check that as well, and consider your time commitments. Committee members will be appointed during October and will start work immediately after Midwinter 2011. You will need to attend both Annual and Midwinter conferences during your term on the committee.  Use the comments section of the volunteer form to tell me why you should be on the committee!

When I was elected to the 2011 Michael L. Printz Award Committee, I was excited and nervous.  I was excited to have such a great opportunity, to help recognize the book that made the highest contribution to young adult literature.  But I was nervous because wow, that’s a big responsibility, picking the best book of the year!

At least, I told myself, I had served on another selection committee in the past and had some familarity with the process: with the YALSA nomination forms, with how the workflow would go, things like that.  Yet even with that knowledge, I’ve been surprised at what serving on the Printz Committee is actually like.  So here are some things to know if you’ve ever considered standing for election to the Printz Committee.
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Now that we’re done with ALA Annual (well, almost done—there are still those post-conference reports that committees need to send in), it’s time to start thinking about the upcoming year, which is my year as President-Elect. One of the exciting parts of being President-Elect is that I get to appoint people to YALSA’s committees. This summer and fall, I will be appointing people to next year’s selection committees. These are the committees that select titles for the YALSA lists such as Best Fiction, Quick Picks, Popular Paperbacks, Amazing Audiobooks, Fabulous Films, etc.

In the spring, I’ll make appointments for the process committees. These are the committees that help YALSA run smoothly day-by-day, week-by-week, and month-by-month and include Legislation, Research, Intellectual Freedom, Teen Tech Week, Teen Read Week, Web Advisory, and more. Award committee appointments will come after next spring’s election results.

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Thank you everyone for submitting your volunteer applications for consideration of appointment to a YALSA Process Committee. The appointment process is nearly completed and all of the open slots will soon be filled. Once we are finished, all volunteers who submitter a form, but were not chosen will be notified by the Appointments Committee. Please let me know if you have any questions. You can reach me at kimpatton@kclibrary.org

Heading to our nation’s capitol this summer? Whether you’re a brand new or seasoned YALSA member, we need your help manning our action-packed booth in the exhibit hall! (more…)

Don’t forget that deadline to submit your volunteer form if you want be considered for an appointment on a YALSA Process Committee is quickly approaching. Volunteer forms are due Friday, March 12, 2010.

If you are new to YALSA, a Process Committee, Jury, or Advisory Board can be an excellent way to get to get your feet wet and begin to learn how member groups work. There are nearly 30 different Process Committees, Juries & Advisory Boards ranging from Legislation to Teen Read Week so it is easy to find a group that fits your interests. A complete list of YALSA Process Committees, Juries, & Advisory Boards is available on the YALSA website. In order to serve on one of these groups, you need to be appointed by me, the President-Elect. (more…)

Ready for Teen Tech Week? Teen Tech Week starts this Sunday! Tell us what you have planned at your library at the YALSA Wiki. Looking for last-minute inspiration or publicity tools? Visit the Teen Tech Week website. Have your teens help chose next year’s theme by taking the Teen Tech Week Survey.

Early Bird Ends Today! Today is the last day to get the Early Bird rate for Annual 2010 in Washington, D.C. Registration is also open for YALSA’s preconferences (and remember, you don’t need to register for Annual to attend either preconference). Learn more about our preconferences (there’s info after the jump, too) and see what YALSA has planned for DC at http://tinyurl.com/yalsaac10.  Remember, you don’t need to register for Annual to attend either of YALSA’s preconferences.

Process Volunteer Forms Due March 12 YALSA will begin appointing process committee, jury, task force, and advisory board members this spring! Be sure to fill out your Committee Volunteer Form by March 12 so that Kim Patton, YALSA’s president-elect, will know you’re interested. (Read Kim Patton’s post on the process to find out more about serving on YALSA’s committees).

After the jump, find out more about YALSA’s preconferences before ALA Annual, how to register for YALSA’s first webinar (it’s free!), and what’s on tap for the 2010 YA Literature Symposium

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