The YALSA Update is back after a brief hiatus! Please check in every Friday to find the latest news from YALSA.

At Midwinter? Are you joining YALSA and ALA in San Diego this weekend? Be sure to drop by the Old Spaghetti Factory, 275 Fifth Avenue, tonight at 5 for the YALSA Happy Hour. Then, head over to the convention center at 8 p.m. for the Not-So-Silent Auction, with plenty of great prizes (Skype author visits! Handmade jewelry! Treats! And, of course, books!) available and all proceeds benefiting the Friends of YALSA. And, that’s just what’s happening today. Check out our complete listing of events at the YALSA Midwinter Wiki.

Follow the Youth Media Awards ALA will announce its book and media awards on Monday at the Youth Media Awards, 7:45 a.m. PST, including YALSA’s awards! If you’re there, watch them live in Ballroom A-D in the Convention Center. You can also follow along with a liveblog right here at the YALSA Blog, at the Youth Media Awards Twitter, or by tuning into the live webcast (limited seats available; first come, first serve starting at 7:30 a.m. PST). If you’re tweeting about the awards, use hashtag #alayma.

Up Your Tech Knowledge with YALSA’s Online Learning Resolve to learn more this new year!  Brush up your technical know-how with YALSA’s January 20^th webinar, Tech 4U: Technology Programs for Every User.  Looking for an in-depth look at teens and technology? Join us for our newly revised online class, Connect, Create, Collaborate: Supporting Teen Needs with Technology, which begins February 7. Register today!

After the jump, find out how you can edit one of YALSA’s journals, apply to host a research poster session or table talk at ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, or apply for a $1,000 Dollar General summer reading grant!

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October is a great month to spend as a YALSA member. Members celebrated Teen Read Week™ by engaging teens in numerous programming events meant to encourage them to spend more recreational time reading for the fun of it. A new round of the WrestleMania Reading Challenge kicked off with teens signing up at participating libraries and pledging to read books and compete in bookmark competitions for a chance to attend WrestleMania in Atlanta next spring. (more…)

September was a month full tying up loose ends and kicking off new projects. The YALSA Executive Committee is preparing to meet for our annual fall meeting in Chicago on October 22-23. October will be just as busy as we all gear up for Teen Read Week™ and the kick off of the Wrestlemania Reading Challenge …Thank you’s this month go to Pam Spencer Holley for participating in an interview with Lini S. Kadaba of the Philadelphia Inquirer for an article on Ellen Hopkins and why teens love her books. mk Eagle gets a huge thanks for leading her bloggers through another successful round of 30 days of back to school blogging. Maria Gentle, who has volunteered to translate YALSA’s updated Competencies for Librarians Serving Youth into Spanish for YALSA also deserves a big YALSA thank you.  (more…)

August proved to be a busy month that included attending my first ever BCALA conference in Birmingham, AL, conference calls with chairs of various YALSA committees, and calls from the press for various interviews.

 Thank You’s

• Thanks to the hard work of the 2010 Nominating Committee led by John Sexton, we are one step closer to having a full slate for the 2011 YALSA elections. Watch for more information on the candidates on the blog, and make plans now to attend the Coffee with the Candidates Forum at the Midwinter in San Diego, CA.
• Thank you also to the YALSA office staff led by Executive Director Beth Yoke who worked with ALA’s Development Office to write and submit a grant to Dollar General.  YALSA was awarded $70,000 to fund summer reading and Teen Read Week™ efforts in 2011, including mini grants to libraries, creating Spanish language TRW materials and distributing sets of the 2011 Teens’ Top Ten winners.
• Thanks to all the members and groups who have donated items to YALSA’s Not so Silent Auction so far.  Amy Alessio is compiling a dessert cookbook to auction off at the event.  She still needs recipes from members, and it’s not too late for you to participate.  The deadline to turn in your recipe is Sept. 30th.  There’s an easy to use template at http://yalsa.ala.org/midwinter11/cookbooktemplate.doc      (more…)

YALSA President’s Report for July 2010

Since I’ve taken the lead post, I have been off and running to keep up with demands of the job. I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and I am grateful to the wonderful YALSA staff for helping me along the way. I am also grateful for the chance to get to know our great members who are also a hard working group of talented volunteers! I would like to extend my thanks to all of the members who worked so hard make the conference successful.  Thanks also to the WrestleMania Reading Challenge Taskforce for updating the toolkit. A big thank you also to the Financial Advancement Committee for launching the silent auction effort and finally, thank you to President-Elect Sarah Flowers who is also the editor of YALS, because of her leadership, the journal has won its 3^rd Apex Award in a row. (more…)

This is it! Next week Saturday is your last chance to register for the 2010 WrestleMania Reading Challenge! Remember, the challenge is being held over just one week this year, making it simpler for everyone to implement. Why should you register? In addition to making your library eligible to win books from Penguin and $2,000, it can revitalize your library services and bring in teens that aren’t regular users. Just ask Bambi Mansfeld.

Be a 2010 Emerging Leader! YALSA will sponsor two Emerging Leaders in 2011! Emerging Leaders is a program that fast-tracks promising and new ALA members for leadership roles within the association. The application and guidelines can be found at the Emerging Leaders website.

New Stipend and Contest from YALSA This week, YALSA announced a new stipend and a new contest, both funded by Friends of YALSA. YALSA will award five stipends of up to $1,000 each to attend ALA’s National Library Legislative Day in 2011. In addition, YALSA seeks your advocacy success stories for the Thinking Big about Advocacy Contest, where you can win $500 for your library’s YA program (four runners-up will receive $100 each). Details on both, and applications, are available at www.ala.org/yalsa/awards&grants.

After the jump, find out more about YALSA publications, upcoming webinars, early bird registration for the symposium, and more!

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Save $10 on next Thursday’s webinar If you register for YALSA’s Risky Business webinar by July 14, , taking place next Thursday at 2 p.m. Eastern, you’ll save $10 over normal registration rates. That means the webinar is just $29 for individual YALSA members and $39 for all other individuals. Register today at www.ala.org/yalsa/webinars.

WrestleMania: We’ve made the Challenge shorter and simple. The WrestleMania Reading Challenge has changed this year to take place during just one week, making it simpler for you and your teens and tweens to particpate. Registering automatically enters you into a drawing for one of five sets of books from Penguin — and it gives teens and tweens at your library the chance to win tickets to WrestleMania and $2,000 for your library. It’s a surefire way to get new YA readers into your library. Don’t believe us? Then find out what happened at Bambi Mansfield’s library.  Register today at www.ala.org/wrestlemania.

Win cold, hard cash from YALSA. Do you have an idea to make YALSA’s awards and booklists into household names, ensure young adult and school librarians have access to important research, help YALSA better advocate for quality library services for every teen in every library, develop continuing education or career services that librarians need or engage YALSA’s current membership and recruit new members? Of course you do. Well, YALSA will pay you $250 for that great idea (and YALSA committees are eligible to submit an idea, too). But you have to submit your idea to the Great Ideas contest by July 15.

New Books from YALSA Now available in the ALA Online Store: Risky Business: Taking and Managing Risks in Library Services to Teens by Linda Braun, Hillias J. Martin, and Connie Urquhart and Multicultural Programs for Tweens and Teens, edited by Linda B. Alexander and Nahyun Kwon. Order your copy today!

After the jump, find out how you can win FREE BOOKS simply by registering for Teen Read Week, be a 2011 YALSA Emerging Leader, and more!

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Summer Course Registration Ends Tuesday Registration ends July 6 – that’s Tuesday – for YALSA’s summer online course, Power Up with Print! Instructor Jamie Watson will show participants how to boost the library’s circulation through the development of teen-centered programs, material evaluation and selection, booktalks and more, as well as discuss the latest trends in YA lit. Course registration now open at www.ala.org/yalsa/onlinecourses. Courses cost $135 for YALSA members, $175 for ALA members, and $195 for nonmembers and will take place July 12 to August 9.

Congrats to YALSA’s Newest Spectrum Scholar! Congratulations are in order for Hoan-Vu Do, YALSA’s 2010-2011 Spectrum Scholar. Do will attend San Jose State University’s School of Library and Information Science.

WrestleMania Reading Challenge Registration You only have 30 days to register for the 2010-2011 Challenge! Remember, the Challenge has changed this year to take place during just one week, making it simpler for you and your teens and tweens to particpate. Registering automatically enters you into a drawing for one of five sets of books from Penguin — and it gives teens and tweens at your library the chance to win tickets to WrestleMania and $2,000 for your library. Register today at www.ala.org/wrestlemania.

Register for our July webinar! Registration is open for YALSA’s July webinar! Our July 15 webinar (Risky Business, hosted by Linda Braun) offers participants insights into effectively taking risks to manage and improve services to teens at your library. This in-depth, one-hour webinar will be held at 2 p.m. Eastern. Registration costs $39 for individual YALSA members, $49 for all other individuals. A group rate of $195 is available. Learn more (and find out details on our August and September webinars) at www.ala.org/yalsa/webinars.

After the jump, see how to win $250 from YALSA for your Great Idea,  how you can get a free copy of Excellence in Library Services to Young Adults, 4th edition; how to win books  simply by registering for Teen Read Week (it’s free!); who’s speaking at the Bill Morris Memorial Author Luncheon at the YA Lit Symposium, and how you can be a 2011 Emerging Leader!

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Risky Business

Please feel free to forward this report to others whom you think are interested

The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to this population.

Mission Moment
How Recent YALSA Activities Support the Association’s Mission and Strategic Plan

At their Annual Conference meetings the YALSA Board discussed recommendations, made by an ad hoc committee of the Board, related to the use of William C. Morris Endowment funds. Following their discussions, the Board voted that over the next three years the Association would use the funds to support Teen Read Week in three areas that connect to the YALSA strategic plan. These three areas are: research, marketing, and member recruitment and engagement. By supporting these areas with Morris funds, not only does YALSA support its mission and strategic plan, the Association also helps librarians to participate actively and successfully in Teen Read Week. The document discussed by the Board which led to their vote is available on the YALSA website.
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Join Us in DC! It’s not too late to join YALSA in Washington, D.C. next week for ALA’s Annual Conference. If you register online at www.ala.org/annual by Monday, June 21, you can still add tickets to YALSA’s special events, including our full-day preconference, It’s Perfectly Normal: Dealing with “Sensitive” Topics in Teen Services ($195 for YALSA members, students, and retirees; $235 for ALA members; $285 for nonmembers), featuring authors Ben Saenz, Laurie Halse Anderson, Nina LaCour, David Levithan and Ellen Hopkins, and YALSA’s half-day preconference on June 25, Promoting Teen Reading with Web 2.0 Tools ($99), featuring authors Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, Malinda Lo, John Green, and David Levithan. From June 21 until 4 p.m. on June 23, you can reserve tickets to both preconferences or the Margaret A. Edwards Luncheon ($59), featuring Jim Murphy, by contacting Nichole Gilbert at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4387, or ngilbert@ala.org.

Tickets for the Printz Program and Reception ($35) and the YA Authors Coffee Klatch ($25) will be available onsite; see a YALSA staff member at the door.

To find out more about all of YALSA’s programs and events at ALA Annual, visit the YALSA Annual Wiki.

Boost teen reading with YALSA’s online courses Registration is now open for YALSA’s summer online courses! In Beyond Booklists: Serving Diverse Today’s Diverse Teens, instructor Jennifer Velasquez will guide participants in serving today’s diverse generation, including ways to design, implement and evaluate more in-depth services and programs for today’s diverse teen population and recent teen immigrants. Participants will also gain skills in addressing issues such as language barriers, cultural differences, and institutional support. In Power Up with Print, instructor Jamie Watson will show participants how to boost the library’s circulation through the development of teen-centered programs, material evaluation and selection, booktalks and more, as well as discuss the latest trends in YA lit. Course registration now open at www.ala.org/yalsa/onlinecourses. Courses cost $135 for YALSA members, $175 for ALA members, and $195 for nonmembers and will take place July 12 to August 9.

Want to win free books? Sign up for Teen Read Week & WrestleMania If you haven’t already, register for Teen Read Week and the WrestleMania Reading Challenge! In addition to showing YALSA that you support these programs — which encourage teens to read for fun — there are major benefits to doing so.

When you register for Teen Read Week, you’re automatically enrolled in a contest to win a collection of titles from Cinco Puntos, 25 manga titles from Viz Media, and a full set of the Fall 2010 launch list from Carolrhoda Lab. Register today!

When you register for the WrestleMania Reading Challenge, you’ll get a resource pack that includes posters featuring WWE Divas and Superstars, prizes for your participants (including Topps trading cards, a Coldstone Creamery gift card, and a WWE Shop coupon), and a toolkit for putting on the Challenge. You’ll also get entered to win one of five sets of books from Penguin. And remember: your teens and tweens could win a trip to WrestleMania and the chance for ringside seats, and your library could win $2,000 and even more books. So register today!

That’s it for this week’s update! To stay up to date on the latest from the YALSA Office, sign up to follow YALSA on Twitter or become a fan of YALSA on Facebook!