As you begin the new academic year, think about tools available from YALSA to help you reach the future librarians in your classrooms! With more than 30 million teens in the U.S. today, no matter what type of librarianship your students choose, they’ll be interacting with teen library users in some way.
Supplement Your Syllabus with Free Stuff from YALSA
YALSA is happy to provide handouts about its grants and awards, special events, initiatives, membership, and more, as well as swag including pens, posters and pins. Interested? Fill out the Materials Request Form on our website. If you’d like free copies of our journal, Young Adult Library Services, for your classroom (limited quantities), please contact us at yalsa@ala.org.
We can also help you with guest speakers! If you’re looking for someone to discuss YALSA or any aspect of young adult literature or YA librarianship, YALSA can connect you with an expert speaker. Contact Beth Yoke at byoke@ala.org for more information.
Connect with Other Instructors
YALSA offers a discussion group and an electronic discussion list for those who teach young adult literature and librarianship.
Teaching YA Lit Discussion Group
Discussion Groups’ are an informal group that allows discussion of topics of common interest during’ ALA’s Annual Conference and Midwinter Meeting. Learn more by contacting convenor GraceAnne DeCandido.
The Teaching YA Lit Discussion Group is for people who teach literature for young adults or are interested in teaching literature for young adults can meet to discuss and exchange ideas, syllabi, and information.
Coming to Midwinter in Denver? Come find out more about discussion groups at the Discussion and Interest Group Summit, 4-5:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 25. Room number and more information will be posted at the YALSA Midwinter Wiki.
Teach-YAL Discussion List
The Teach-YAL electronic discussion list is a space for library school students, teachers, librarians, and others to discuss theory and practice and exchange ideas, syllabi, and information.The list has more than 300 members; subscribe today at the Teach-YAL discussion list homepage.
Web 2.0 Connections
YALSA reaches out to members using its blog and a href=”http://wikis.ala.org/yalsa”>wiki, by posting updates to Twitter and photos to Flickr, and by participating in social networks like Facebook and MySpace. Log on and connect with the greater YALSA community.
Use Our Helpful Publications
YALSA offers several publications that can assist you in teaching students about modern YA services:
The Official YALSA Awards Guidebook
Compiled and edited by Tina Frolund for YALSA (Neal-Schuman, 2008)
ISBN: 9781555706296
$49.50 for YALSA members (Enter coupon code YALSA at checkout)
This new book compiles bibliographic information about the books and authors honored by the Alex, Edwards, and Printz awards given by YALSA. It also includes essays on the three awards, annotations on all books that have won those three awards and speeches from Printz and Edwards winners throughout the years.
Excellence in Library Services to Young Adults, 5th Edition
Edited by Amy Alessio for YALSA
(YALSA, 2008)
ISBN: 978-0-8389-8457-4
$27 for YALSA members (enter your ALA member number at checkout for discount)
The fifth edition of Excellence in Library Services to Young Adults highlights twenty-five of the best programs across the country, providing ideas for replicating and adapting them in school and public libraries. Organized for easy browsing, each chapter encourages you to think about the range of possible programs and illustrates the growing trend of including teens in very aspect of the program—from planning to outcomes!
Young Adult Library Services
ISSN: 1541-4302
Young Adult Library Services (YALS) is YALSA’s award-winning quarterly journal. YALS primarily serves as a vehicle for continuing education for those who work with young adults. It includes articles of current interest to the profession, acts as a showcase for best practices, provides news from related fields, publishes recent research related to YA librarianship, offers reviews of professional literature and spotlights significant events.
Each issue of YALS has a theme. The themes for volume 6, which begins in October with the fall issue, are:
- Fall 2008: Serving Teens in Special Populations
- Winter 2008: Teen Tech Week
- Spring 2008: The Awards Issue
- Summer 2008: Teen Read Week
YALS is a perquisite of membership and subscriptions may also be purchased for $50 per year (U.S.) and $60 (Canada, Mexico and other countries).
Professional Guidelines
YALSA offers several publications offering guidelines for those in the profession:
YALSA White Papers YALSA now offers two white papers: The Value of Young Adult Literature by Michael Cart and The Need for Teen Spaces in Public Libraries by Kimberly Bolan.
Young Adults Deserve the Best: Competencies for Librarians Serving Youth offers a blueprint for providing quality teen services in all types of libraries. Want hard copies? Contact the YALSA office at yalsa@ala.org.
YALSA/RUSA Guidelines for Library Services to Teens, Ages 12-18 (PDF). Prepared by a task force made up of members of YALSA and the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), this publication offers guidance to offering reference services for teens in libraries.
Get Involved
Want to be more involved in YALSA? There are plenty of ways!
Publish with YALSA. We’re always looking for new book proposals or authors to write articles or professional reviews in YALS.
Join a committee, task force or award jury. YALSA has more than 60 committees, juries and task forces. These groups help carry out the business of YALSA. Committee topics include research, professional development and intellectual freedom. Current task forces include mentoring, diversity and post-MLS certification. Interested? Fill out a committee volunteer form.
Apply for the Frances Henne/YALSA/VOYA Grant. This grant provides seed money for small scale projects which will encourage research in line with YALSA’s research agenda. Applications are due December 1.
Empower Your Students
YALSA offers plenty of resources for its student members:
Discounted membership Student membership in ALA and YALSA costs $53 (limited to five years). Have your students join ALA and YALSA today.
Student Interest Group YALSA’s student interest group provides a forum for undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in pursing a career in the library field. Contact convenors Kim Patton and Jennifer Balaco for more information. YALSA’s Student Interest Group also has a Ning and a Facebook group!
Grants YALSA offers many grant opportunities for students throughout the year; in 2008, YALSA offered grants to attend ALA Annual Conference through its diversity task force and the inaugural Young Adult Literature Symposium. In addition, students could apply for the Baker & Taylor Grant, in which a librarian who works with teens in a library setting can receive up to $1,000 to travel to ALA Annual Conference. Baker & Taylor grant applications are due Dec. 1.
Questions about our resources for academics and instructors? Contact us at yalsa@ala.org or 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4390. Have a great semester!
