There’s just 12 more days until the deadline for submission of YALSA committee volunteer forms. Anyone interested in joining a YALSA selection committee, needs to submit a volunteer form by September 30.’ Without those forms I won’t know you are interested in joining a selection committee. And, if I don’t know of your interest, it’s not possible for me to appoint you to a committee.
Once September 30 comes and goes then I’ll get to work on making the appointments.’ I’ve been waiting until the 30th in order to make sure I have all the information I need in order to go forward.’ What the appointment process entails is me going through the volunteer forms – well not really the forms the information from the forms that’s been added to Google Docs.’ I’ll look at the information and make appointments based on what people noted as their interests and with an eye towards balancing committee membership in terms of location of members (we like to have members from coast to coast), library type (we like to have a mix of school, public, etc.), and gender (it’s great to have a mix of men and women on the committees).’ Of course it’s not always possible to have the balance we strive for, but I’ll try.
Once I’ve gone through the Google Docs information, I’ll send Letitia Smith, in the YALSA Office, the appointments. Letitia will then send out invitations to people on the lists I send her.’ Anyone who receives a letter of invitation will need to respond to Letitia to accept or decline.’ By the way, we understand if you need to decline. Declining won’t put you on a list of bad members. We’ll know that the timing isn’t right, but that another time might work out perfectly.
My goal is to have the process completed as quickly as possible after the September 30 volunteer form submission deadline.’ Those who submit a volunteer form, for a selection committee, should have some word from the YALSA Office by late October or early November.
Don’t forget that it’s also possible to volunteer for ALA committees. You can read Sarah Debraski’s recent post to learn more about that.
If you have any questions about the committee appointment process feel free to contact me at lbraun@leonline.com or on Twitter at lbraun2000.
