Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few weeks, you’ve probably heard about the controversy surrounding one of YALSA’s best-known lists: the Best Books for Young Adults. Heck, you’d have to be ignoring Twitter, various journals, and this very blog to have not heard a peep about the kerfuffle.
But what really happened?
Yesterday I was officially installed as YALSA’s President for 2009-2010. I am very excited about working with the Division and its members on an array of projects that will help support librarians working with teens.
One thing YALSA will be focusing on over the next year is my presidential theme which is Risky Business. I developed this theme with the support of the Presidential Advisory Task Force. (Thanks to Frances Jacobson Harris, Lisa Lindsay, Jack Martin, Becky Mazur, Jami Mayo, and Connie Urquhart for their hep in getting ready for this year.)
YALSA knows librarians take risks every day of the year when they purchase materials that might be controversial, when they have conversations with teens which might lead to topics that are sometimes difficult to discuss, when they advocate for the programs and services teens need. In order to support librarian risk-taking, during the year YALSA will collect stories about risk from librarians, Continue reading Risky Business & More
The YALSA Board will meet via conference call from 4:30 to 6:00PM, eastern on Thurs. March 5th to discuss Post-Conference Committee/Jury/Taskforce reports and program proposals for the 2010 ALA Annual Conference.
Per ALA policy, this is an open meeting, and members who want to sit in on the call can contact yalsa@ala.org or call 1.800.545.2433 x4390 to request the dial-in number and passcode.
One of the activities of the YALSA Board Friday’s at Midwinter, is a Board Planning session. At that session Board members talk about where the Division is and where it should be headed. Topics at yesterday’s Board Planning session included the financial health of the Division, the status of the YALSA Strategic Plan, responsibilities of Board members, and Division policies and procedures.
During one brainstorming session at the meeting, each Board member was asked to write down single words (hyphenation was allowed) to describe how she would like to see YALSA remembered by the end of her term on the Board. The brainstorming wasn’t focused on specific projects, but on the direction of the Division in terms of what members should say about the organization’s work, projects, and initiatives. The word cloud below gives a visual of the words generated from that discussion. Continue reading Words Mean Everything
Teen Read Week Is Almost Here! Teen Read Week starts on Sunday! Bookmark www.ala.org/teenread and have your teens begin voting for the 2009 theme (voting doesn’t open until Sunday)! The theme options are: Seek the Unknown @ your library’®, Read Beyond Reality @ your library or Unbelievable Reads @ your library.
Got a Cool Event for Teen Read Week? Tell Us! Visit YALSA’s Teen Read Week wiki and tell us what your Teen Read Week plans are! And after Teen Read Week, make sure to enter your event in the Best Teen Read Week Celebration Contest, from YALSA, AdLit.Org, Mirrorstone, 2008 TRW corporate sponsor.
And Don’t Forget the Teens’ Top Ten! Teens’ Top Ten voting starts Sunday as well! Encourage your teens to vote in the only booklist created entirely by and for teens! We’ve also developed a widget to add to your library blog or site to encourage teens to vote. Download the button to the left and link back to www.ala.org/teenstopten beginning Oct. 12.
Find out more news from the YALSA Office after the jump.
Continue reading The YALSA Update: TRW, Teens Top Ten & More!
YALSA’s Board of Directors was hard at work at the 2008 ALA Annual Conference. Here are some of the key decisions the Board made that I thought members would be interested in:
Posted on behalf of Michael Cart, YALSA Nominating Committee Chair: YALSA needs you! The Nominating Committee is seeking qualified candidates for a variety of 2009 offices & committees and urges interested YALSA members to submit the online nomination form available online at http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/aboutyalsa/nominating.cfm. As the YALSA membership has grown dramatically, the Nominating Committee increasingly needs your input, time and talent and reminds members that self-nominations are welcome. Don’t be shy! The following positions will be filled: President-Elect (minimum of 2 candidates; 1 elected) Board Directors-at-Large (minimum of 4 candidates; 2 elected) 2011 Michael L Printz Committee (minimum of 8 candidates; 4 elected) 2011 Margaret A. Edwards Committee (minimum of 6 candidates; 3 elected) Division Councilor (minimum of 2 candidates, 1 elected) Terms for the President-Elect and Board Directors-at-Large will run from July 2009 thru June 2012. Terms for the award committees run approximately from July 2009 thru June 2011. The Nominating Committee is seeking nominees now through August 2008. Additional information and the nomination form can be found here: http://wikis.ala.org/yalsa/index.php/YALSA_Election_Information#2009_Election Questions can be directed to Michael Cart at mrmcart@sbcglobal.net. Thanks for all that you do to ensure that teens have access to excellent library services and resources!
-Beth Yoke
