Wow–November was busy! The energetic Symposium, a productive Executive Committee meeting, and the inspiring Member Town Hall were the highlights of my month serving YALSA. Read on to find out what else happened this month.
Accomplishments
- Hosted an YALSA Member Town Hall on Nov. 17 about supporting youth during challenging times. Keep following this blog and the Hub all during the month of December for more social justice tips for teens.
- Wrote a blogpost called Rethinking YALSA: Reorganization for the Future! about the transitions happening internally with our organization. Follow the links in the post to see what committees are staying the same, what’s changing and how, and why all the change is necessary for YALSA to put teens first.
- Led a chat on Nov. 29 with selection committee members and interested parties about the transition of selected lists to the Hub and the recommendations of the Selection List Transition Task Force. The task force is hard at work discussing comments and concerns from the chat and should have a recommended plan to the board later this month. Read the first draft of the recommendations, listen to the recording, and read the transcript of the text discussions.
- Led the November monthly chat with the YALSA Board about communication to our members, with special guest speaker Jeff Julian, director of ALA’s Public Awareness Office
- Led the Fall YALSA Executive Committee meeting in Pittsburgh–see Todd Krueger’s great blogpost for more information and look at these committee documents
- Attended the fabulous YALSA Youth Services Symposium in Pittsburgh! A huge thank you to the Symposium Task Force, YALSA Staff, and all the presenters and attendees!
- Participated in calls with the chair of the Selection List Transition Task Force
- Filled vacancies on various strategic committees as they occurred
- Welcome to Allison Renner –the new member manager for the YALSA blog!
- Welcome to Angela Veizaga–the new member manager for the Teen Programming HQ!
- Provided quotes for YALSA press releases
- Participated in many phone calls and email conversations with YALSA staff, board members, and committee members
- Led a discussion about a new YALSA board logo, but the proposal didn’t pass. The YALSA logo will remain the same.
- Moved forward with discussion about suggested changes to the Teens’ Top Ten Committee. This was included on an earlier board proposal from Annual, but we ran out of time to discuss it. After listening to suggestions from board members, the chair of the committee, and the staff liaison, I moved that the board: “Keeps the charge of the Teens’ Top Ten Committee the same, except that members will have a 1 year appointment, with an option to renew for a second year term and directs the TTT board liaison to inform the current TTT chair with ideas shared during the board’s discussion of this proposal.” Motion passed.
- Completed a quarterly report form for the Executive Committee
Works in Progress
- The Funder and Partner Development Board Standing Committee, led by Sandra Hughes-Hassell, presented a document for discussion about Planned Giving.
- Working on an agenda for board meetings at ALA Midwinter in Atlanta
- The Board is reviewing November chair reports and reporting back to chairs
- Preparing for a chat with YALSA chairs on Dec. 6
- Answering questions and working with YALSA board members as they prepare board documents
- Finalizing list of attendees to attend a retreat at Midwinter to create a literacies toolkit
Stats and Data
- October Membership: 4,960 (down 4% from this time last year)
- October Donations: $69.97 (It’s not too late to donate for #givingTuesday!)
Don’t forget!
- The members’ webinar for January 26, 2017 is: Let’s Keep it Real: Library Staff Helping Teens Examine Issues of Race, Social Justice, and Equity
- The winter 2017 issue of YALS features a cultural competence theme, and the spring 2017 issue will feature an advocacy theme
- The next issue of JRLYA will feature a social justice theme
- Stay current with YALSA–check out the Current Projects page
THANK YOU to the awesome YALSA Board members who have been hard at work in their standing board committees to make positive changes that will result in improved library services to teens!
THANK YOU to all our members for all that you do to support teens and teen library services in your communities!
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah Hill, YALSA President 2016-2017
