During the past month I have continued to work with YALSA’s Executive Director, Beth Yoke, the Executive Committee, and Board members on programs and services of the Association.
Accomplishments
- As a part of ALA’s strategic planning process Division Executive Directors and Presidents, Roundtable representatives, along with ALA Executive Board members and some ALA staff members participated in a strategic planning retreat. The planning was facilitated by Paul Meyer of the Tecker Consulting Group. During the retreat sessions participants discussed ALA’s mission, vision, and goals for the future. Over the next few months ideas developed at the retreat and at follow-up ALA meetings will be released for feedback to members and member groups.
- Each fall members of ALA Division Executive Committees meet in Chicago to discuss plans for the coming year. Over the past few weeks I’ve worked with YALSA Executive Director Beth Yoke on the agenda and support materials for meetings of YALSA’s Executive Committee. This year, YALSA’s Executive Committee, made up of the President, President-Elect, Immediate Past President, Secretary, Fiscal Officer, and ALA Councilor, will talk about a variety of topics including continuing support for committee chairs and conveners of interest and discussion groups, YALSA’s selected list portfolio, strategic planning, and programs and events at 2011 Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference.
- YALSA received several resignations over the past month including YALSA Blog Manager, Chair of the Legislation Committee, Teen Tech Week Chair, and the Chair of the 2010 Midwinter Social Event Task Force. I am pleased to report that I was able to fill all open positions in a timely manner. Janet Hilburn is the new Legislation Chair, Penny Johnson has taken on the role of Chair of the 2010 Midwinter Social Event Task Force, Kelly Czarnecki is the new Teen Tech Week Committee Chair, and mk Eagle is the new YALSA Blog Manager. Thanks to Janet, Penny, Kelly, and mk for accepting these leadership positions. Thanks also go to Paula Griffith (previous Chair of the Legislation Committee), Anna Koval (previous Chair of the Social Event Task Force) and Heidi Dolamore (previous Blog Manager and Teen Tech Week Chair) for their work over the past several months.
- In September the Carnegie Corporation of New York published a document titled Time to Act: An Agenda for Advancing Adolescent Literacy for College and Career Success. The report highlights the importance of teen literacy, yet it does not mention libraries or librarians in the text. I sent a letter to the Carnegie Corporation of New York in response to their document and to point out the importance of school and public libraries and librarians in helping teens achieve literacy success. The text of the letter is available.
- YALSA’s Professional Development Committee is charged with selecting two YALSA members that will be sponsored by the Association as ALA Emerging Leaders. In September the Committee finished their selection deliberations and I want to thank the Chair, Brijin Boddy, and her Committee members for their work in making these selections. (Emerging Leader selections will be announced by ALA in the next week.)
Media
- Spoke with Deborah Gordon of WCBS Radio about Teen Read Week and library services to teens. The interview aired on WCBS Radio on Sunday, September 27.
- Interviewed by Cindy Leach of WCBS TV about teens in libraries during after school hours.
- Spoke with Katie Humphrey of the Minneapolis Star Tribune for an article, that appeared in the September 30 issue of the newspaper, on the importance of teen advisory groups in libraries.
- Provided YALSA’s Communications Specialist, Stephanie Kuenn, with quotes on Teen Read Week, teen voting for Teens’ Top Ten, and the Teen Tech Week technology poster sessions being sponsored by YALSA at Annual 2010.
In Progress
- Over the past year YALSA updated documents related to the description of the Association’s Executive Committee and that outline the responsibilities of Board members. In its ongoing efforts to keep this type of Association information up-to-date and current, I have initiated an AdHoc Committee to review and revise committee chair and member job descriptions. YALSA’s Immediate Past President, Sarah Debraski, is the Chair of the group and she and her members will look at the current job descriptions for YALSA Chairs, Committee Members, and Virtual Committee Members and submit revisions for approval by the YALSA Board at Midwinter 2010. The current job descriptions are available on the YALSA web site in the Governance section of the YALSA Handbook.
- At Annual Conference 2009, the YALSA Board approved the implementation of the proposal developed by the YALSA-TV Task Force. The proposal presented a plan for the development of a new YALSA blog space that will focus on teen reading and literature and provide a one-stop-shop for teens, librarians teachers, and parents for finding multimedia and lists about teen books. In September YALSA posted the job description for a member manager for this new blog. The position announcement is available on the YALSA blog.
- The Task Force charged with developing YALSA’s Reader’s Choice list began work in September. The member group, Chaired by Sarah Ludwig, will present a report to the YALSA Board at Midwinter Meeting 2010. Thank you to Sarah and her Task Force members for taking on this work.
Additional Important YALSA News
- During the past year the YALSA Nominating Committee worked diligently to put together a slate of members to run for YALSA’s leadership positions. These include positions on the YALSA Board as well as on Award Committees. My thanks go to Paula Brehm-Heeger and her hard-working committee members for putting together the final slate of candidates. The complete slate is available on the YALSA web site.
- As libraries and teen librarians continue to face challenges related to the economy, the time might be just right for applying for a YALSA sponsored member award or grant. Each year YALSA distributes more than $35,000 in awards and grants to support programming, collection development, and conference attendance. A full list of member grants and awards is available on the YALSA web site.
- There is still time to apply to present a poster session at Annual Conference 2010 in Washington, DC. YALSA is accepting applications for presentations on effective and affordable technology programs that can be sponsored year-round in a library. The application and more information is available on the YALSA web site.
- Registration is now open for YALSA’s Midwinter Institute and special events. The theme of the Institute is Web 3.0 Teen Edition and the program co-chairs and planning task force members are in the process of putting together an exciting program. Information on the Institute is available on the YALSA blog and registration for Midwinter Meeting and all YALSA events is available on the ALA web site.
