Happy Veterans’ Day and Native American Heritage Month!
I’ve just returned from YALSA’s inaugural YA Services Symposium and Fall Executive Committee Meeting and I am so pumped and inspired by the incredible work that all of our members are doing!
I’m looking forward to expanding on my experiences at both events in some other blog posts, but in the meantime, here is what I’ve been working on since September 2015:
Accomplishments
- Called for YALSA Board to vote on location for YALSA’s 2017 YA Services Symposium
- The 2017 YA Services Symposium will be held in Louisville, KY
- Called for YALSA Board to vote on Rachel McDonald’s Board Member-at-Large vacancy
- Due to the time frame of her term, the Board voted to leave the position vacant until the upcoming ALA/YALSA elections in Spring 2016
- Completed and submitted welcome for 2015 YA Services Symposium program
- Completed and submitted President’s column for Winter 2016 issue of YALS
- Worked with YALSA Executive Board Members Linda Braun, Sarah Hill and Todd Krueger to facilitate October 2015 Board Development Chat
- Discussed and debriefed with YALSA Standing Board Committees regarding YALSA Quarterly Chair reports during October 2015 Board Development Chat
- Submitted and posted September 2015 President’s Report
- Worked with YALSA President-Elect Sarah Hill to determine YALSA Board Development Chat topic for November 2015
- Completed planning, agenda and documents for YALSA’s 2015 Fall Executive Committee Meeting
- Discussed Libraries Transforming Communities campaign with ALA President Sari Feldman, who will be interviewed for the YALSAblog
- Found coordinator for Summer Learning pre-conference at ALA Midwinter
Works in Progress
- Preparing for YALSA Strategic Planning at ALA Midwinter
- Seeking out partnerships with ALA ethnic caucuses, ALA GLBT Round Table, ASCLA, and more
- Working with colleagues at Wattpad, National Writing Project, Connected Learning Alliance, and DeviantArt on possible design challenge partnership in conjunction with Teen Tech Week 2016’s theme: Create It @ Your Library
Important YALSA Dates & Reminders
- November 15 – Quarterly Chair Reports Due
- November 30 – YALSA Town Hall Tweet-up: YALSA Strategic Planning & Midwinter Preview, 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, use hashtag #yalsachat
- December 1 – Award & Grant Applications for Members due, including YALSA Conference Grants, Baker & Taylor/YALSA Collection Development Grant, Service to Young Adults Outstanding Achievement Award, among others.
- December 1 – Applications due for YALSA Board Fellow Program
- December 1 – Strategic Committee Volunteer Form Opens; More information about YALSA’s Strategic Committees may be found here
Relevant Stats & Data
- Friends of YALSA raised $1,025 in September 2015
- Membership: 5,110 (-1.4% over this time last year)
Last, but certainly not least –
THANK YOU
- Amanda F. Barnhart, Caroline E. Aversano, Kristyn Dorfman, Aimee Haslam, Samantha Millsap, Gretchen Smither, and Melissa Patrice West for all for their hard work on this year’s Teen Read Week Committee
- YALSA Board Members, especially the members of YALSA’s Executive Committee, for great discussion and support of our members, committees and association
- All of our members for all that you do to support teens and teen library services in your communities, every day!
Until next time!
Respectfully submitted,
