YALSA’s First Webinar: Join YALSA on March 31 at 2 p.m. Eastern for a FREE webinar! Linda Braun, YALSA president, will lead the hour-long session on the topic of Getting Involved with YALSA. Topics include the various ways to participate in YALSA, and how doing so can help your daily work and career development. Registration is limited, so please contact Eve Gaus at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5293 or egaus@ala.org to reserve your space.
Process Volunteer Forms Due Today YALSA will begin appointing process committee, jury, task force, and advisory board members this spring! Be sure to fill out your Committee Volunteer Form by March 12 so that Kim Patton, YALSA’s president-elect, will know you’re interested. (Read Kim Patton’s post on the process to find out more about serving on YALSA’s committees).
After the jump, learn more about YALSA’s preconferences (including which authors will appear!), how to access YALSA’s newly revised competencies, details on YALSA’s upcoming mentoring program, how to enter the 2010 Great Ideas contest, and information on the 2010 Young Adult Literature Symposium.
Join YALSA for Annual Preconferences: YALSA will offer two preconferences before the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.’ (Advanced registration ends in May) If you have already registered and would like to add a preconference or special event, you have two options: (1) By phone: Call ALA Registration at 1-800-974-3084 and ask to add a workshop to your existing registration.; (2) Online: Add an event to your existing registration by clicking on this link. Use your log in and password to access your existing Annual registration and add events in the “Your Events†section (screen 6). Then simply check out and pay for the events you’ve added.
YALSA’ has plenty planned, in addition to preconferences. See everything we have planned at the YALSA Annual Conference Wiki.
It’s Perfectly Normal: Dealing with “Sensitive†Topics in Teen Services is a full-day workshop on’ Friday, June 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Have you ever found yourself worrying about how best to address critical but sensitive adolescent topics through your teen services and collection? Topics like sexuality, abuse, privacy and others can be difficult for librarians to address with teens &/or their parents and caregivers. Hear from experts in the field of adolescent development, along with authors and librarians, about how they have managed to successfully maneuver this difficult landscape. Explore strategies for collection development, services and programming relating to these sensitive issues. Tickets cost $195 for YALSA members; ALA Members: $235; Non-Members: $285; Student/Retired Members: $195. Authors participating: Ben Saenz, Laurie Halse Anderson, Nina LaCour, David Levithan, and Ellen Hopkins.
Promoting Teen Reading with Web 2.0 Tools (Ticketed Event-$99) Friday, June 24, 12:30-4:30. The participatory web has transformed adolescent literacy, as young people create and consume a new range of online content. Are you ready for it? Learn how libraries can use free web 2.0 tools to connect teens with reading and writing opportunities within and beyond your library collection. Librarians, reporters, and academics will explore teens’ daily use of technology and the interaction of digital and print reading channels, including fan fiction and gaming. YA authors will discuss leveraging readership through social networking channels. Authors participating: Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, Malinda Lo, John Green, David Levithan.
Check Out YALSA’s Revised Competencies YALSA has revised Young Adults Deserve the Best: Competencies for Serving Youth, a set of guidelines last published in 2004. The competencies were streamlined and updated to reflect changes in youth services over the past five years. They are available online at www.ala.org/yalsa/competencies and can be downloaded as a PDF.
YALSA to Launch Mentoring Program In April 2010, YALSA will launch a new mentoring program.’ Experienced librarians (6+ years experience) will be matched with library school students or new librarians (fewer than 6 years experience). Learn more about the process at YALSA’s mentoring page.
Share Your Great Ideas YALSA is accepting submissions for the 2010 Great Ideas contest! Do you have a great idea to support YALSA’s goals in its strategic plan (PDF)? Share them with YALSA and you could win a prizes worth up to $250. Download an entry form (Word doc) today.
Save the Date for the YA Lit Symposium YALSA’s 2010 YA Lit Symposium will be Nov. 5-7 in Albuquerque, N.M. Visit the 2010 Symposium website to see the program slate, find out how to book housing, and take a look at registration rates. Registration will open in April. Questions? Contact YALSA program officer for conferences and events, Nichole Gilbert, at ngilbert@ala.org or 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4387.
That’s it for this week’s update! To stay up to date on the latest from the YALSA Office, sign up to follow YALSA on Twitter or become a fan of YALSA on Facebook!
