So, remember when you got that email from ALA that gave you the link so you could vote? Yeah, you’re right; that was a month ago. But you still have three days left to vote: voting closes on Friday, April 25. Now is the time to dig through your email, find that link, and go ahead and vote.
As of yesterday, 16.6% of ALA members had cast a ballot in this election. That’s a pretty low voter turnout. We don’t have numbers for YALSA members specifically, but in the past, voter turnout for YALSA has been around 20%. Still, that means fewer than 1000 people are making the decisions about things that might matter to you: who serves on YALSA’s Award committees (Printz, Edwards, and Nonfiction), and who serves on YALSA’s Board of Directors.
In March, this blog had a whole series of posts to give you information about the candidates. Every weekday, starting February 26‘ and running through March 19, there was at least one (and usually two) interviews each day with the candidates. You can find them easily by going to the drop-down menu labeled “Categories” on the side of this page and selecting “Election.”
For even more’ details, including complete biographical information on all of the candidates, check out the sample ballot.
YALSA is a member-driven organization. That means it’s up to YOU to vote for the people who will be representing you over the next few years.
Don’t let any more time go by. Vote.
Sarah Flowers, Chair, 2014 Governance Nominating Committee