I’ve been doing some thinking about the recent blog post made by YALSA’s Fiscal Officer Mary Hastler and the comment posted. I’m thankful she broached the topic on the blog of what to do in these difficult economic times. It’s not necessarily a comfortable nor easy subject to talk about but it also can’t be ignored.
The post got me thinking about how we as YALSA members are helping each other on a daily basis in the context of the economy and how we can perhaps use the many tools of communication that YALSA already has in place. We can share with others how we made a difference and maybe that difference would apply to other libraries as well or at least nudge someone to speak up and ask for some advice particular to their own situation.
- Maybe we’re in a position to share a room at annual conference with someone whose library can’t afford to pay for it. We can join ALA Connect, form a group, and let YALSA members know that we’re a resource or post on the YALSA wiki under ‘roomates’
- We can leave comments on the YALSA blog to let someone know their post about a program or other teen connection really inspired us to think more positively about our own day to day situation
- Perhaps we can draft an article about something we’re doing that we feel might help another library be able to reach teens in a similar way
I know that leaving a comment on a blog isn’t enough to solve the enormity of today’s economic problems. But sometimes keeping as positive as we can, and sharing with each other in whatever way we can-multiplied over 5,000 makes a darn big difference.
