Last night I returned to the east coast after the week in Anaheim at ALA Annual. It was quite a week with lots of friend seeing, networking, programs, and meetings.’ Now that I’m back to “real life” it’s time to get down to my year as YALSA President Elect.’ One of the things on my schedule for the year is making appointments to YALSA Committees.
At Conference I heard from many people who are interested in joining a YALSA Committee.’ I collected lots of business cards.’ If you talked to me at Conference don’t forget to also fill in a Committee Volunteer Form.’ If you didn’t talk to me at Conference, and would like to be on a committee, you too should fill out a Volunteer Form.’ No appointments can be made without that paperwork in place. (And don’t worry, if you didn’t talk to me face-to-face at Conference that doesn’t mean you won’t get on a Committee.)
In the summer and fall appointments are made to selection committees. These are the committees that select titles for the YALSA lists such as Best Books, Quick Picks, Popular Paperbacks, Amazing Audiobooks, Fabulous Films, etc.’ In the spring appointments are made 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.
You can see the full list of committees on the YALSA web site.
Before my election as President Elect of the Division, I was well aware of the importance, for YALSA, of the various committees. Without people who can give their time, and who can put in the work, in order to help with both the selection of great titles for YALSA’s lists and awards and the running of the Division, YALSA can’t survive. Being a member of a Committee is hard work. It’s work that’s worth it however.’ If you have questions about joining a YALSA Committee, or on how the process works, be sure to let me know. You can email me or send me a Twitter message.
