YALSA is pleased to offer the following professional development opportunities in May. If you have questions about YALSA’s professional development, please contact Eve Gaus, YALSA’s program officer for continuing education, at egaus@ala.org or 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5293.
YALSA Summer Online Course Registration: Registration is now open for YALSA’s summer online courses! In Beyond Booklists: Serving Diverse Today’s Diverse Teens, instructor Jennifer Velasquez will guide participants in serving today’s diverse generation, including ways to design, implement and evaluate more in-depth services and programs for today’s diverse teen population and recent teen immigrants. Participants will also gain skills in addressing issues such as language barriers, cultural differences, and institutional support. In Power Up with Print, instructor Jamie Watson will show participants how to boost the library’s circulation’ through the development of teen-centered programs,’ material evaluation and selection, booktalks and more, as well as discuss the latest trends in YA lit. Course registration now open at www.ala.org/yalsa/onlinecourses. Courses cost $135 for YALSA members, $175 for ALA members, and $195 for nonmembers and will take place July 12 to August 9.
May 5, First Wednesdays with YALSA: YALSA’s First Wednesdays continue with an online chat this month at 8 p.m. Eastern, this time on encouraging reading by using Web 2.0 tools, hosted by Wendy Stephens. We will be using a private room in Meebo for the chat; the password to log in is available to YALSA members at this ALA Connect post. See you next Wednesday!
May 20, VIPs: Why You Need Them for Advocacy Webinar: Join Karen Keys for YALSA’s webinar discussion on VIPs: Why You Need Them for Advocacy. Karen will explore how librarians and library workers can help grow their library program by improving communication and developing professional relationships with local town councilors, school board members, Chamber of Commerce members, etc. These folks are the movers and shakers in your community and it’s important that you reach out to them regularly and educate them about the critical role libraries play in helping your community thrive.’ Cultivating relationships to help your library meet its mission is critically important in the current economic climate, so join YALSA for this important discussion! This webinar will take place Thursday, May 20, at 2 p.m. Eastern. Register today! Registration costs $39 for individual YALSA members, $49 for all other individuals. A group rate of $195 is available by contacting Eve Gaus at egaus@ala.org or 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5293. Learn more about our webinars at www.ala.org/yalsa/webinars.
Save the Date! June 17 Webinar on YA Classics: Sarah Debraski will lead this webinar on classic YA literature and how to highlight it at your library on Thursday, June 17 at 2 p.m. Eastern. Register today! Registration costs $39 for individual YALSA members, $49 for all other individuals. A group rate of $195 is available by contacting Eve Gaus at egaus@ala.org or 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5293. Learn more about our webinars at www.ala.org/yalsa/webinars.
Mentoring Program Applications Open:YALSA’s new mentoring program will pair an experienced librarian (more than 6 years’ experience) with a new librarian (fewer than 6 ‘ years’ experience) or graduate student in a library science program. YALSA believes that we all have important skills and knowledge that we can share with one another and so this program encourages protégés to share their skills and know-how with their mentor. YALSA will accept applications through June 30. Learn more and apply at www.ala.org/yalsa/mentoring.
