Greetings! This is my first post on the YALSA blog as YALSA President 2021-2022! I am so excited to work with and for all in this upcoming year and so grateful for all the work that Amanda Barnhart, YALSA President 2020-2021 gave during her term.
The YALSA Board was hard at work during the recent virtual ALA Annual conference because of the great work of all the members! We thank you for all that you give to YALSA. If you were unable to attend the conference or want to review any documents, visit the 2021 Annual Conference link here.
Some highlights (which were approved by the board) to whet your appetite for when you have more time to cozy up on the couch or are passing time on your commute:
- Upcoming volunteer opportunities (Teen Programming HQ Advisory Board, President’s Program Task Force, and updating Toolkits Task Force). Stay tuned for information on how to apply!
- In aligning with our DEI goals to open up participation, book award committee attendance for the Printz, Nonfiction, Morris and Alex Award is not required to be in-person at the next Annual conference! Yes, read that again! In taking into consideration the cost and time of travel which can prohibit participation, and striving for more inclusivity as an organization, this proposal was brought forward. A thoughtful survey was sent to the committee members and chairs and the decision was based on these results. For more information on committee attendance for the above mentioned, see this board document here. Policies and procedures regarding this decision will be updated as well.
- Last but not least <insert drum roll> forthcoming will be more information on our work with the new strategic plan. If you’ve never had the pleasure of updating a strategic plan-it’s quite a process but so worth having that foundation in which to work from and we can’t wait to share the details!
As mentioned, these are just some of the features that are worth noting. If you have time, check out the nitty gritty on all the topics covered, ask questions (kellyczarnecki1@gmail.com) or leave a comment below.
Kelly Czarnecki
YALSA President
2021-2022
