Volunteer for an Award Committee or Selected Lists Team!

It’s that time of year again! As YALSA President-Elect, I’ll make appointments in October for the following YALSA committees that will begin work in early 2018. The committees below are one year terms starting Feb. 1, 2018 (even though ALA’s Midwinter Meeting is Feb. 9 – 12, these groups will not meet there)

• Award Committees’ Oversight Committee
• Alex Awards
• Morris Award
• ALSC/BOOKLIST/YALSA Odyssey Award

Additionally, appointments will be made for the Selected Lists Teams (one year term starting Jan. 1, 2018):

• Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
• Best Fiction for Young Adults
• Great Graphic Novels for Teens
• Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

As a reminder, all of the selected lists are tranisitioning from traditional committees which met in person, to 100% virtual groups who work year-round through The Hub.  For more information, email the member manager of The Hub at yalsahub@gmail.com.  You can gain valuable YALSA and professional development experience by volunteering to be on a Blogging Team or YALSA committee.  You will also be helping YALSA achieve its mission to  “support library staff in alleviating the challenges teens face, and in putting all teens ‒ especially those with the greatest needs ‒ on the path to successful and fulfilling lives.”

Eligibility for Award Committees & Blogging Teams:

• To be considered for an appointment, you must be a current personal member of YALSA and submit a Committee Volunteer form by October 1, 2017.
• Individuals may not serve on more than one award committee at the same time, nor may they serve on the board and an award committee at the same time.
• If you are currently serving on a committee and are eligible to and interested in serving for another term, you must fill out a volunteer form (so I know you’re still interested and want to do serve another term).

Important Points to Keep in Mind:

• We strive to ensure a broad representation on all committees and blogging teams across diverse backgrounds, types of libraries, geographic location and more.
• Serving on a committee or blogging team is a significant commitment. Please review the resources on this web page before you submit a form to make sure that this work is a good fit for you at this point in time.
• All award committee members must attend every committee meeting during their term of appointment. If you cannot commit now, then please do not fill out a volunteer form.
• When you fill out a form, you will receive an automated email response letting you know it was received. After that, you should not expect to hear about the status of your volunteer form until I contact you in November.

Want more information? Click on the links above. Check out the Committee FAQ.

Please free to contact me with any questions at cmartin@hri.uci.edu

Thanks for volunteering with YALSA!

Crystle Martin