YALSA President’s Report – February 2012

by

Monthly President’s Report – February 2012

March kind of sneaked up on me, I guess because February is a short month. Below is a summary of activities that I have completed or am working on. Happy Teen Tech Week!

Completed Tasks

  • Committee Chairs:’ ‘ I had phone conversations with several YALSA committee chairs about the work of their committees.
  • Board Activities: ‘ 
    • The Board had an online chat on February 1. Board members offered suggestions for the content of the selection and award committee chair and member webinars.
    • The Board met by telephone on February 29 to discuss chair quarterly reports and to take action on two requests for Board action that came from committees.
    • The Board voted to accept a proposal from the Morris Award committee to amend the eligibility rules to exclude self-published and e-book only books from consideration. The new rule will be re-evaluated after the 2013 award.
    • The Board voted to change the publication schedule of the Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults (JRLYA) from quarterly to a rolling schedule, pending receipt of a new ISSN.
  • Committee/Jury/Taskforce Appointments:
    • I appointed members to fill vacancies on several committees.
    • I continued appointing members to fill new task forces created by Board action at Midwinter
    • I presented a webinar for new selection and award committee chairs on February 1.
  • Committees:
    • I presented a webinar for new selection and award committee members on February 8.

‘ 

Partnerships. ‘ I am participating in an ALA-wide School Library task force. Members include AASL, ALSC, and PLA members, as well as people from the ALA Washington Office and others. I participated in a conference call on February 27. The task force is working on ways to bring the plight of school libraries to the attention of legislators and other decision-makers.

 

Writing:

  • Submitted the president’s column for the Spring issue of YALS.
  • Wrote a post on the YALSA blog to explain changes in YALSA’s website.
  • Wrote a post on the YALSA blog to encourage members to have their libraries fill out the young adult services portion of the PLDS survey.

‘ Media & Outreach

  • Along with YALSA Membership Coordinator Letitia Smith, staffed the YALSA booth at the Beyond School Hours conference in Burlingame, CA, February 16-17.
  • Spoke with Jennifer Fink, a freelance writer doing a piece for Scholastic Instructor, about ways teachers and parents can use new media to encourage reading and writing.
  • Spoke with Rocco Staino, from School Library Journal about YALSA’s Booze for Books initiative.
  • With help from YALSA’s Web Services Manager, Stevie Kuenn, submitted a letter to Chris Dodd, Chairman of the MPAA, to encourage a PG-13 rating for the upcoming film version of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

‘ Important YALSA News & Reminders

  • Don’t forget to vote! ALA (and YALSA) elections are from March 19-April 27. You will be receiving an email from ALA with a link to the online ballot. Information on all the candidates appeared in the blog during February.

‘ Thank Yous and Congratulations

  • Congratulations to Heather Schubert and Susan J. Smallsreed, winners of this’  year’s Baker and Taylor/YALSA Conference grants. Thanks to Kathy Watson and the grant jury for their work in selecting this year’s winners.
  • Congratulations to Erik Carlson and Cynthia Shutts, winners of this year’s BWI/YALSA Collection Development grants. Thanks to Laura Amos and the grant jury for their work in selecting this year’s winners.
  • Congratulations to Alison Cabaj, winner of this year’s MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens. Thanks to Joella Peterson and the jury for selecting this year’s winner.
  • Congratulations to Sylvia Vardell, winner of this year’s Frances Henne/YALSA/VOYA research grant. Thanks to Rebecca Morris and the jury for selecting this year’s winner.
  • Congratulations to all the winners of this year’s Great Books Giveaway:
    • 1st prize: ‘ Southeast Arkansas Regional Library, Monticello
    • 2nd prize: Jefferson High School, Edgewater, Colo.
    • 3rd prize:’  Barton Library, El Dorado, Ark.
    • Thanks to Carrie Dietz and the jury for selecting this year’s winners.
  • Congratulations to the winners of the first YALSA Writing Awards, and thanks to Whitney Winn and the jury for selecting the winners from the finalists submitted by the journal editors and blog managers:
  • Thanks to Megan Honig and the YALS Advisory Board, led by Kim Cullin, for getting the YALS online companion up and running, and thanks to advisory board members ‘ Whitney Winn, Cindy Welch, and Laura Pearle, who have already contributed articles.
  • Thanks to the selection and award committee members and chairs who participated in the training webinars in February. I’m already looking forward to the great lists you will be creating this year!
  • A big thanks to Wendy Stephens, her teens, and to Linda Braun for creating YALSA’s video for the Tech Soup contest. Vote now through Friday.
  • And thanks to Linda Braun and the Financial Advancement Committee for creating the YALSA Fundraising Guide.

YALSA Membership: 5,208 (down 2.9% over last year): don’t forget to renew!

Friends of YALSA January donations: $1,685 (includes $206 from Printz calendars sold at Midwinter)

Books for Teens donations: $480

Leadership Endowment: $957 collected at Midwinter Trivia Night

‘ 

Respectfully Submitted,

Sarah Flowers

YALSA President


Posted in: Governance, Reports, YALSA Info. ⋅ Tagged: , , , ,

About Sarah Flowers

Sarah Flowers is a YALSA Past President and former Deputy County Librarian for the Santa Clara County (CA) Library. Currently she does writing and speaking on topics related to teen services and teaches online courses for California's Infopeople Project.

Comments are closed.

Post Navigation