Hello members!
The YALSA/ALA election kicks off on Monday, March 8. Over the course of the next week, we will publish interviews with all of the candidates. Please take a moment to read through these, and most importantly, VOTE when you receive your electronic ballot from ALA.
Enormous thanks goes out to member Sarah Sogigian for conducting these interviews!
The live Candidates’ Forum will take place via Zoom on Friday, March 5 at 3pm ET / 2pm CT / noon PT. This event will include all YALSA candidates, along with the three candidates for President-Elect of the American Library Association. Please register to attend the Forum.
The next two candidates are for YALSA Division Councilor, Elizabeth Nebeker and Joel Shoemaker:
Name and current position:
Elizabeth Nebeker. I am currently the YALSA Liaison to ALA Groups.
What best qualifies you for being on the Board of Directors?
EN: I feel I am qualified to be on the Board of Directors because I have been a member of YALSA for a few years. I have served on YALSA committees and am currently fulfilling the appointed position of YALSA Liaison to ALA Groups, which, like the Councilor position is about sharing information. I have held a few leadership positions in TLA, my state library association, and feel I am qualified to serve the larger membership of YALSA.
How do you envision furthering YALSA’s mission if elected to this position?
EN: Our mission is to support library staff in alleviating the challenges that teen face so that teens will have successful and fulfilling lives. I envision that as the YALSA Councilor, I will be able to further our mission by sharing information, discussions, and solutions from other ALA groups with the Board in order to make informed decisions. I will be able to share information with YALSA membership as a whole, so our members will know what is happening.
What would be the most exciting aspect of this position? The most
challenging?
EN: Being the YALSA Councilor will put me on the front lines of what is happening at ALA. ALA has so many working parts and it will be exciting to see how all the units, division, committees, and groups work to together. It will be exciting to be able to share with the other YALSA Board and YALSA Members what is going on with ALA. It will also be challenging to share ALL the information in a succinct, efficient, and effective way. I feel I am ready for this challenge.
Please share a recent example(s) where you made a shift to better focus on the current needs of teens.
EN: As a high school librarian, when the nation was put on quarantine, it was imperative to step up my high school’s virtual space. I was able to collect data from different sources as to what was needed to help my teens be successful. I was able to work with my local public library on an ebook/audiobook partnership. I was able to support my teachers with their curriculum needs for accessible videos by finding a educational streaming service.
What is the most pressing issue facing YALSA today?
EN: Supporting library staff who work with teens has always been vital for YALSA. With Covid and quarantine restrictions, libraries have had rethink many of the ways we serve teens. Supporting the library virtual “space” as they support teens during this time has become crucial. Addressing the needs of support for those who cannot access virtual spaces due to inequality of access for whatever reason is a pressing issue for YALSA.
Name and current position:
Joel Shoemaker, Director, Illinois Prairie District Public Library
What best qualifies you for being on the Board of Directors?
JS: I’ve been involved in ALA for nine years and have been in rural libraries for a decade, at least half of that in leadership. I’ve worked in public libraries as well as school and medical libraries. I’ve also interned with ProQuest. With my school and public library experience, especially related to service to teens, I feel like I am qualified for leadership positions within YALSA.
How do you envision furthering YALSA’s mission if elected to this position?
JS: I want to highlight ways we can support rural libraries, especially small libraries with limited budgets. I also want YALSA to recognize libraries with only one staff member, or small staffs, and libraries that don’t necessarily have departments for teens or youth. A lot of us are a one-person show and would like to serve teens but need to know how to balance that with other responsibilities.
What would be the most exciting aspect of this position? The most
challenging?
JS: I think YALSA is doing great work within ALA and I’m very enthusiastic about the future of the organization. I’m elated to support it in every way. I think the challenge remains with proving relevance and showing value to those who have to choose whether to pay for membership to ALA and YALSA. It’s not necessarily a cheap endeavor and library budgets are often stretched very thin. Choices have to be made; cuts have to be considered annually. I think YALSA needs to show people why membership should not be up for that consideration.
Please share a recent example(s) where you made a shift to better focus on the current needs of teens.
JS: Great question. I’m a library director with six branches and a very small staff. Essentially, we have circulation staff only at many branches and heavily focus on just checking in and checking out. Pre-COVID, I shifted focus to programming for teens and figured out how to make that work for us. What it could look like. Essentially, we took one program and made it weekly and mobile so that it could be implemented at each branch. Making it weekly allowed me to fit it into my schedule alongside administrative tasks. Teens show up for technology programming here, especially 3D printing, circuits, and other makerspace events.
What is the most pressing issue facing YALSA today?
JS: I think it’s always going to be advocacy. I think that’s what member organizations such as YALSA and ALA can and should be great at. Let’s use our resources to show our elected officials what libraries are good at and why they deserve their attention. The threat to cut funding is never going to go away.
