Posted by Teri Lesesne
The Quick Picks Committee has been busy here at midwinter. With hundreds of nominated titles to consider, our fearless leader, Jamie Watson, has kept us on task as we talk about the reaction of our readers to the books. Of course, we also insert our own thoughts and feelings into the proceedings as each member of the committee has also read each nominated title. The meetings are open to the conference participants who are encouraged to talk about any of the titles they have seen reluctant readers gravitate toward or reject. Tomorrow we will cast our votes for each book, write annotations for the titles, and begin thinking of which books we will nominate for the 2007 list.
I am VERY interested in serving on this committee. I reached out after hearing Mary Ann Harlan speak at CSLA in November, and would love more information and a chance to serve.
Please put me to work. Thanks!
jmillam@pylusd.org
Ms. Millam, Thanks so much for your willingness to serve on a committee! First, you should know that we have two types of committees: 1) process committees, which help carry out the work of the association and 2) selection committees, which select specific media/booklists or choose YALSA’s award winners (Michael L. Printz, Alex, and Margaret A. Edwards).
The selection committee appointments are always one of the first tasks the newly-elected President-Elect must accomplish. These appointments, with the exception of Edwards and Printz, are made in the fall so that new committees are ready to work as soon as Midwinter has ended. The Edwards and Printz appointments are not made until after the election results are announced in early May, but before the Annual meeting in June.
Next comes the task of appointing members to the process committees, which occurs after the Midwinter Meeting but before the Annual Conference; again, these appointments are made by the President-Elect.
In order to be considered for a committee, you need to fill out a Committee Volunteer Form. It is online at:
http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/boardandcommittees/boardcommittees.htm
If you already submitted volunteer forms for any committee, but either weren’t appointed or missed the deadline for your particular committee, your forms will be turned over to the next President-Elect. However, forms are only kept on file for one year, so you will need to fill one out each year that you would like to serve on a committee.
It is also recommended that besides filling out your volunteer form, you should contact the chair directly to let him/her know you’re interested. Names and contact information for all the committee chairs are available from that “Board & Committees” link on YALSA’s homepage. Also, at the Midwinter or Annual conferences, be sure to attend the All Committee Meeting to meet with the committee chair and members. You’ll have a chance to learn more about the committee, and establish an important contact with the committee chair, who helps fill seats as they become vacant.
Lastly, you don’t have to wait to get placed on a committee before you can become active in YALSA. Go here to learn about other ways you can get involved:
http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/joinus/howparticipate.htm
I hope this information has been helpful to you. You can learn more about the committees here:
http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/boardandcommittees/boardcommittees.htm
If you have any questions, please contact me or YALSA’s President-Elect, Judy Nelson directly jnelson@pcl.lib.wa.us. Thanks again for your interest in YALSA! We appreciate the enthusiasm and creativity of our members!
-Beth Yoke byoke@ala.org
Thanks for the clarity. I will be following up– keep up the great work! Thank you.