Category Archives: Election

Get ready to vote in this year’s YALSA election! To help you make informed decisions, we’re sharing interviews with each of the 2022 YALSA Governance candidates. Voting will take place from March 13 through April 5, 2022.

Serving three-year terms, YALSA Board members are responsible for jointly determining YALSA’s current and future programs, policies, and serving as liaisons to YALSA’s committees, juries, taskforces, and advisory boards. Members work year-round and attend in-person meetings at ALA’s LibLearnX and Annual Conferences. A full description of Board duties and responsibilities can be found here. You can learn more about ALA elections here.

Name and current position:  Rachel Milburn, Youth Services Manager, Frankfort Community Public Library, Frankfort, IN

1. What best qualifies you for being on the Board of Directors?

I have loads of experience working with young adults/teens/tweens even before becoming a librarian. Previously, I worked in schools, youth programming, and literature clubs. I originally went back to school to become a teacher. However, I switched my major to English with a plan of becoming a librarian. I chose this path after working in the schools in order to share my love of learning in a more creative manner. As the Teen Services Manager at the Frankfort Community Public Library, I created several new programs including Adulting 101, Self-Care Programming, Homework Help, and a Teen Advisory Board to name a few. I am always instituting new ideas that allow young adults to explore information and learning in unique and creative ways. Also, I am an extremely hard-working person with a passion for library services, specifically library services for young people. They are, arguably, our most important patrons and bridging their library usage from children’s programming to adult programming ensures we create life-long learners. My passion, determination, and hard work would be a wonderful asset to YALSA, with me on the Board of the Directors.

2. How do you envision furthering YALSA’s mission if elected to this position?

I would promote the need for outreach. More than ever, I believe that since Covid restrictions are lifting it is time for Y.A. Librarians to reach outside our walls. We need to find and serve the young people that are not yet experiencing the library. 

3. What would be the most exciting aspect of this position? The most challenging?

The most exciting aspect of this position would be meeting and learning from librarians from all over the country. I greatly hope to increase my network and continue to learn from the wonderful and diverse individuals that serve in this profession. The most challenging aspect would be planning travel and arranging my schedule for conferences. However, I believe that going to these conferences is important in achieving my goal of increasing my network. That is why I am committed to making travel and conference attendance happen.

4.  Please share a recent example(s) where you made a shift to better focus on the current needs of teens in the wake of the pandemic.

I was the first librarian in my library system to begin virtual programming. The minute that we closed our doors, I went straight into virtual mode. I shared blog posts and press releases with online resources and advice for young people working on e-learning. I also completed a course on well-being and began virtual self-care programming for our youth.  The previous fall, I had “inducted” the first Teen Advisory Board at our library. Then without having met often, the library closed. I did not allow that to prevent us from communicating. I regularly reached out to our T.A.B. members and their families throughout the stay-at-home order and while the library was closed. Each of our T.A.B. members agreed to do four hours of volunteer service at the library a year. When the library reopened following the pandemic, all of our T.A.B. members returned to their volunteering. Some of these young people eventually took jobs working in our library system. Retaining these members is evidence of the success of our service to them thru the pandemic.

Following the pandemic, I have been working to get young people back in the library. As the head of our Summer Reading program, I planned our program with the goal of getting people back in our building. This includes weekly incentives, collaborations with several community organizations, and a hefty social media marketing campaign. Likewise, one of my roles is the head of our county’s Youth Theatre. For our 2022 Summer Musical, our first back on the stage, I generated promotions that led to 5 sold out performances (we only planned on 4). Our Winter Show, saw all our social media numbers increase to the highest they had ever been, which led to the highest sponsorships. Finally, as we plan for our Summer Musical we were able to conduct over 80 youth auditioning for our the show. This success is a result of continued work on outreach, disseminating the information that these programs are here, and harnessing the power of social media.

5. What is the most pressing issue facing YALSA today?

The threat of censorship is a huge issue facing YALSA and all areas of librarianship. The fact that so many librarians must fear criminal prosecution when sharing books with young people is terrifying. I believe our only hope is to work together to develop new ideas on how to protect the freedom to read.

Get ready to vote in this year’s YALSA election! To help you make informed decisions, we’re sharing interviews with each of the 2022 YALSA Governance candidates. Voting will take place from March 13 through April 5, 2022.

Serving three-year terms, YALSA Board members are responsible for jointly determining YALSA’s current and future programs, policies, and serving as liaisons to YALSA’s committees, juries, taskforces, and advisory boards. Members work year-round and attend in-person meetings at ALA’s LibLearnX and Annual Conferences. A full description of Board duties and responsibilities can be found here. You can learn more about ALA elections here.

Name and current position: Katrina Ortega, Manager, College and Career Pathways, The New York Public Library, New York, NY

What best qualifies you for being on the Board of Directors?

My experiences as a Young Adult Librarian and program manager have allowed me to acquire a breadth of knowledge, skills, and capabilities that would make me an excellent addition to the YALSA Board. I have learned how to cooperate and compromise with others in order to effectively move forward with a task. I have learned how to be an efficient arbitrator among colleagues and patrons who are having difficulty with others. In the past, I actively mentored other YA staff members around the Library system, and I regularly act as a sounding board for others to discuss ideas or hurdles in their work. I have assisted many of my colleagues in developing new, system-wide initiatives and best practices, and I regularly encourage collaboration among my colleagues when putting together conference presentations and papers. Finally, I have had the opportunity to implement strategic plans for an annually growing program. I’ve learned to budget a branch budget, as well as a multi-million dollar program budget. I have learned how to measure the effectiveness of programs and events across multiple branches to establish best practices and strategies. All in all, I feel that I am an incredibly well-rounded candidate for this board and that I can effectively address the YALSA community’s comprehensive needs.

How do you envision furthering YALSA’s mission if elected to this position?

I have been fortunate enough to work in two different aspects of librarianship – on the front lines, assisting teens in what was, at the time, the largest teen space in the New York Public Library system, and also on the administrative side, offering support and assistance in the forms of budget, materials, and curricula to those who are serving teens in the branches. I plan on bringing the expertise gained through my experience to this organization, with the intention of looking to the professionals who belong to YALSA to determine ways in which we can best support them in their everyday professions. I intend to implement methods of communication and feedback between YALSA and its constituents that will help us gain a better understanding of where the organization can improve its support systems.

What would be the most exciting aspect of this position? The most challenging?

I am most looking forward to helping form the strategic plan to accomplish YALSA’s mission. I hope that the organization can re-focus its efforts as an organization to supporting the professionals who provide equitable, diverse, and inclusive team services to all of the young adult communities (and adults that support them) that we serve. I also believe that this might be the most challenging aspect of this position. The constituents that YALSA serves come from vastly different areas, and the needs of their patrons can vary immensely. My goal in serving on this board is to strive to establish an open and accessible method of communicating with professionals from around the country to hear what their concerns are and where they feel they could best use the support, and then to work with other members of the organization to determine how we can best offer that support.

Please share a recent example(s) where you made a shift to better focus on the current needs of teens in the wake of the pandemic.

As the manager of NYPL’s College and Career Pathways program, I have focused a lot of my efforts over the past few years trying to best support teens who are preparing to exit high school and enter whatever pathway they’ve decided fits them best. This has been especially challenging with all of the complexities that the pandemic introduced to the postsecondary landscape. Supporting teens who had suddenly lost access to their school guidance or college counselor, who could no longer take the in-person test prep course, who could not do the internship or the volunteering that they’d planned to do because of the pandemic was an enormous set of hurdles (particularly because we were also navigating our own unforeseen challenges). My goal was to try and meet teens in any way that we could to get their college and career readiness needs met, and this inevitably meant turning to virtual programs and services. I put together a plan where teens from all over NYC could request a 1-on-1 session with one of our trained librarians to discuss their college/career readiness needs (a service that is still being used today!). Under my direction, branch staff recorded dozens of different workshops that live on the College and Career Pathways webpage, so that teens can access these program-style workshops at any time it is convenient for them. Lastly, I’ve advocated for the continuation of virtual or hybrid programs even as we’ve returned to nearly entirely in-person programs, because it has been made clear by both YA patrons and the staff who serve them that virtual programs are often the most accessible to teens, and allow them the freedom to access support from the Library that they simply wouldn’t have if the programs were no longer held virtually.

What is the most pressing issue facing YALSA today?

Staff burnout – not only are patron-facing staff still faced with the possibility of getting sick at work; but they must also contend with the never-ending staff shortages, and the toll that providing social services can take. Add to that the recent wars being waged on library collections and programs that many communities across the country have taken up, and it’s a perfect storm. Library staff deserves as much appreciation and support as we can give them, and right now we simply cannot give them enough. I am aware that my inclusion on this board will not be a solution to all of the ills that plague YA-serving staff at our libraries, but I certainly intend to try my best to do all that I can!

Get ready to vote in this year’s YALSA election! To help you make informed decisions, we’re sharing interviews with each of the 2023 YALSA Governance candidates. Voting will take place from March 13 through April 5, 2022.

Serving three-year terms, YALSA Board members are responsible for jointly determining YALSA’s current and future programs, policies, and serving as liaisons to YALSA’s committees, juries, taskforces and advisory boards. Members work year-round, and attend in-person meetings at ALA’s LibLearnX and Annual Conferences. A full description of Board duties and responsibilities can be found here. You can learn more about ALA elections here.

Name and current position:  Kim Dare, Teacher-Librarian, Herndon High School, Herndon, VA

What best qualifies you for being on the Board of Directors?

I have been a member of YALSA throughout my library career, and have served in various capacities, including book award committees, selection committees, and process committees. I had just begun chairing the YALSA Book Awards Oversight Committee when the pandemic shut things down. I worked closely with the Board that year to support award committee chairs in their new world of virtual meetings and to help plan YALSA’s part in the annual Youth Media Awards. I am excited to support YALSA members—and the teens we all serve—in this new capacity.

How do you envision furthering YALSA’s mission if elected to this position?

I love that YALSA’s mission statement is all about empowerment—empowering all in our profession to provide equitable, diverse, and inclusive teen services. There are challenges to that empowerment these days, as various groups seek to limit the work we do to support teen learning and enrichment and to foster healthy communities. As a high school librarian, I work closely with teens on a daily basis, and the library is a safe haven for so many of them. I am passionate about ensuring that every teen can see themselves—and discover more about themselves—in libraries, and will work to implement practical support for librarians in all parts of the country who are facing roadblocks to YALSA’s mission.

What would be the most exciting aspect of this position? The most challenging?

I am most excited about the opportunity to work collaboratively with a group of professionals who are committed to providing practical support for librarians as they meet their teens’ needs. I have learned so much from each of my past YALSA appointments and look forward to gaining a deeper understanding of the issues our profession faces, and ways we can continue to thrive.

I anticipate that one of the most challenging aspects will be to encourage more of our members to take the next step in their membership journey. I think that the pandemic left us all with such a sense of fatigue, and I have seen a decline in volunteerism in other organizations to which I belong. We can do so much together and need to figure out a more effective way to bring members in from the sidelines of the organization to the committees, juries, task forces, and advisory boards that will further YALSA’s mission of equitable, diverse, and inclusive teen services. 

Please share a recent example(s) where you made a shift to better focus on the current needs of teens in the wake of the pandemic.

Our high school library has tried to meet students where they are over these past several years. While students were learning remotely, we offered curbside book checkouts and drove books to students’ homes if they couldn’t make it to school. We offered a virtual student book club and (since snacks were always a popular part of the book club), delivered a brown bag of snacks on book club days. The return to in-person learning has been wonderful in a lot of ways, but we are all changed, and the ways that we teach and interact with students have changed, too. Recently, we implemented a Student Library Advisory Board, which meets monthly. The student members reflect our very diverse school, and we have been so appreciative of their suggestions for little things we can put in place to increase accessibility and use.

What is the most pressing issue facing YALSA today?

Membership, and member involvement, are our most pressing issues right now. It is essential that librarians who serve youth are able to see YALSA’s relevance and value. YALSA can be a strong advocate for librarians who are committed to teen services, but we are only as strong as our members and our member involvement. There are so many exciting ways to get involved—committees, juries, task forces, advisory boards—and members have the option of participating in many of these opportunities virtually rather than in person. I have made friends from all over the country through my YALSA work and am a better librarian for it.

Get ready to vote in this year’s YALSA election! To help you make informed decisions, we’re sharing interviews with each of the 2022 YALSA Governance candidates. Voting will take place from March 14 through April 6, 2022.

Serving three-year terms, YALSA Board members are responsible for jointly determining YALSA’s current and future programs, policies, and serving as liaisons to YALSA’s committees, juries, taskforces and advisory boards. Members work year-round, and attend in-person meetings at ALA’s Midwinter and Annual Conferences. A full description of Board duties and responsibilities can be found here. You can learn more about ALA elections here.

Name and current position: Melanie Wachsmann, Library Director, Lone Star College – CyFair Library

How has your experience prepared you to address issues within YALSA related to equity, diversity and inclusion?
I began my career in education as a high school ESL teacher over 20 years ago. Those years instilled in me how important it is to listen to all voices and that they all have their own, different stories to tell. Those students taught me so many lessons, and I was often their advocate when they didn’t have one. Those experiences have carried on into my library career as a school librarian and now as the library director of a joint use community college and public library. I strive to ensure that the voices of my community are welcomed and represented in our collection and programming. Most of all I’ve learned how to listen. By listening to other’s ideas and experiences, I am better able to ensure that equity, diversity, and inclusion is not simply an acronym, but a part of everything. 

What are your ideas on how YALSA can collaborate with our Affiliate organizations like AILA, APALA, BCALA, REFORMA?
There are many avenues available for collaboration, from booklists or author spotlights that can be shared via a blog or fleshed out to more of an official selection committee list. Also, conversing with the leaders of the groups to learn more about their missions and goals and find ways that those align with YALSA and teen services in general. 

In your opinion, what do you feel is the biggest challenge ahead for YALSA?
I feel that the biggest challenge is finances. First, YALSA needs to have the full and complete financial picture and make plans for retaining the members we have, recruiting new members, and inviting back members who have left for various reasons. YALSA needs to show librarians what the organization has to offer them and the benefits of joining. 

How will you make YALSA’s mission, vision, and intended impact meaningful for current and potential members and supporters?
Communication is the key. Finding ways to tell and show stakeholders more about YALSA and its benefits, speaking with current and potential members about what they need and want from a professional organization, providing members with ways to collaborate at the state, local, and national levels. Lastly, in this era of book challenges and banning, providing librarians with resources and support is a way to make the work that the organization does meaningful. 

Get ready to vote in this year’s YALSA election! To help you make informed decisions, we’re sharing interviews with each of the 2022 YALSA Governance candidates. Voting will take place from March 14 through April 6, 2022.

Serving three-year terms, YALSA Board members are responsible for jointly determining YALSA’s current and future programs, policies, and serving as liaisons to YALSA’s committees, juries, taskforces and advisory boards. Members work year-round, and attend in-person meetings at ALA’s Midwinter and Annual Conferences. A full description of Board duties and responsibilities can be found here. You can learn more about ALA elections here.

Name and current position: Melissa Malanuk, Coordinator of Teen Services, Queens Public Library

How has your experience prepared you to address issues within YALSA related to equity, diversity and inclusion?
I’ve spent my library career working in one of the most diverse areas in the world.  While working for Queens Public Library I have had the opportunity to work in different communities and to provide programs and services for people of different cultures and backgrounds.  When I was promoted to Coordinator of Teen Services for QPL I had to think about equity, diversity and inclusion in a much larger scale.   Inclusion, equity and diversity is something I think about in all facets of my role including developing programming, finding new vendors, staff training and collection development and reader’s advisory.   Celebrating and representing all cultures in our programming is something we discuss a lot and are working to incorporate into all of our system wide programs.  I am currently working on developing training on cultural competencies for our youth serving librarians and will be working with our collection development team to train on diversity audits.  Equity and inclusion is also something I think about when deciding where to place programs or which platform to hold programs in.  This is something we were constantly discussing when the pandemic forced us to go virtual.  We are very aware that not all youth will access to the same resources and do our best to plan accordingly.  Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion is something we pride ourselves on and our always striving to improve on.

What are your ideas on how YALSA can collaborate with our Affiliate organizations like AILA, APALA, BCALA, REFORMA?
I think the best way we can work with Affiliate organizations is to break down silos and to make sure we are communicating with everyone.  I imagine that we are already doing similar work around equity, diversity and inclusion and civic engagement.  Communicating with each other to see where there is opportunity to pool resources and to amplify our messages and work is a strong first step.  For YALSA we can share information via The Hub or our newsletters and email blasts.  It is also important to keep those pathways to communication open and to make sure YALSA’s committee chairs are kept in the loop and are informed about the various work the Affiliate organizations are doing.  There are so many smart and creative library professionals working on our committee and I am sure once those pathways to communication open up we will find lots of different ways to collaborate.

In your opinion, what do you feel is the biggest challenge ahead for YALSA?
Building up our membership and getting new and fresh members to volunteer for committees.  YALSA has created an exciting strategic plan that I am excited to help implement but YALSA is only as strong and diverse as its members.  We need to be better at spreading the word about all the great resources and opportunities YALSA provides and at recruiting and retaining new members.

How will you make YALSA’s mission, vision, and intended impact meaningful for current and potential members and supporters?
I think YALSA’s mission, vision and intended impact is already meaningful to the majority of us who work with teens.  I imagine that the majority of library staff who work with teens want to create inclusive and diverse programs and spaces, be it virtual or in person, and to help set teens up to successfully navigate adulthood.  I think this is something that YALSA’s members are already striving for.  The role of the Board is to help connect the mission, vision and intended impact to all of the work we are doing and to continuously reinforce that messaging.  As someone who has volunteered for many different committees and task forces I know how easy it can be to forget the bigger picture and to just focus on the work in front of you.  This is especially true for supporters who are not actively working on committee’s and taskforce.  We need to be diligent in making sure we connect all of our work back to the mission, vision and intended impact. 

Get ready to vote in this year’s YALSA election! To help you make informed decisions, we’re sharing interviews with each of the 2022 YALSA Governance candidates. Voting will take place from March 14 through April 6, 2022.

Serving three-year terms, YALSA Board members are responsible for jointly determining YALSA’s current and future programs, policies, and serving as liaisons to YALSA’s committees, juries, taskforces and advisory boards. Members work year-round, and attend in-person meetings at ALA’s Midwinter and Annual Conferences. A full description of Board duties and responsibilities can be found here. You can learn more about ALA elections here.

Name and current position: Carrie Sanders, Youth Services Coordinator, Maryland State Library 

How has your experience prepared you to address issues within YALSA related to equity, diversity and inclusion?
I served several years as a youth librarian in a suburban public library and also as a school librarian in two very different settings: a small community with affluence and also poverty and then in an urban, large, Title 1 school, where the vast majority of students represented under-served and under-resourced populations.  These years of experience working with youth from a wide variety of backgrounds reinforced to me the importance of striving for equity, diversity, and inclusion in our library services, resources, and programs so that all youth can explore their interests, read, and engage in learning experiences. I also feel strongly that EDI efforts to reach youth will not be successful if they exist solely within library walls; they must include mobile/outreach services and community partner collaboration in order to reach all youth in our communities.  

What are your ideas on how YALSA can collaborate with our Affiliate organizations like AILA, APALA, BCALA, REFORMA?
Collaborating with these organization will further our pursuit of equity in teen services.  The leads of these groups could convene regularly and/or there are guests at each other’s meetings to discuss their projects and priorities as well as explore ways to collaborate – perhaps through crosswalks, joint meetings, or joint presentations at conferences.  Connections with organizations such as ARSL and the Urban Library Council would also bring valuable perspectives as we strive “to provide equitable, diverse and inclusive teen services”.  Intentional collaborations with ALSC acknowledges the developmental continuum from childhood to tweens/Teens, while deliberate collaboration with AASL would enable YALSA to reinforce its efforts in “transforming teen services” through support of student learning in our informal environment, augmenting AASL’s focus on formal instructional learning in schools.  

In your opinion, what do you feel is the biggest challenge ahead for YALSA?
Membership growth remains an important priority for YALSA and can be encouraged through strong efforts around YALSA’s priorities: advocacy, research, training, capacity-building, development of teen services best practices, and trend identification.  It is also vitally important now, as we hopefully merge out of the pandemic, to support our library staff and their community partners in reconnecting with teens: providing needed trainings and resources regarding teen mental health, educational supports, and re-connecting teens with peers and mentors.   

How will you make YALSA’s mission, vision, and intended impact meaningful for current and potential members and supporters?
I will continue to work diligently in my role as a state youth consultant as well as embrace new projects with colleagues, serving on the YALSA board, to further YALSA’s priorities of networking, advocacy, and professional development to support library staff and their community partners in their service for and with teens.  Equity diversity, inclusion will be the constant lens driving my work with youth services staff in Maryland as well as with YALSA.  YALSA’s mission, vision, and intended impact becomes real and tangible when the needs and voices of all our teens remains the guiding force in our work and will be the motivator to inspire current and bring in new members.  

Get ready to vote in this year’s YALSA election! To help you make informed decisions, we’re sharing interviews with each of the 2022 YALSA Governance candidates. Voting will take place from March 14 through April 6, 2022.

Serving three-year terms, YALSA Board members are responsible for jointly determining YALSA’s current and future programs, policies, and serving as liaisons to YALSA’s committees, juries, taskforces and advisory boards. Members work year-round, and attend in-person meetings at ALA’s Midwinter and Annual Conferences. A full description of Board duties and responsibilities can be found here. You can learn more about ALA elections here.

Name and current position: Josie Andrews, Teacher-Librarian, Nevada Union High School

How has your experience prepared you to address issues within YALSA related to equity, diversity and inclusion?
My experience over the last 20 years of library service working with and listening to the voices of diverse youth has informed my perspective on how to address issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Over the last two years, I have worked with my district on an anti-racisct and inclusivity task force, dedicated to revising policy, process, and curriculum to be more inclusive and equitable. I currently serve on the board of the California Heritage Indegenous Research Project, a non-profit organization that supports land rights issues, tribal recognition, and education. I am currently working with students to create a Dismantling Racism Club on campus that will focus on education and programs that promote anti-racist learning school wide. In book club, we are reading and discussing books that focus on traditionally marginalized people and work towards making sure that we have a collection of materials available to students that represent the diverse world that we live in. I have taught classes in social justice, restorative practices, and trauma informed practices. My experience with social justice informs my practice as a youth services librarian and I am dedicated to keeping equity, diversity, and inclusion at the forefront of my profession. 

 What are your ideas on how YALSA can collaborate with our Affiliate organizations like AILA, APALA, BCALA, REFORMA?
Building community with affiliate organizations will be key to successful collaboration. In order to build community, the YALSA board members will need to work on identifying key stakeholders and work together to reach common goals. My priority is working with youth and amplifying youth voice. I think that the board can work together to build relationships with ALA affiliated organizations, as well as local and state organizations in our own communities. I would love to work with folks to develop some cross-organizational training so we can support youth across our organizations. 

In your opinion, what do you feel is the biggest challenge ahead for YALSA?
Currently the biggest challenge that I see is the challenge and removal of materials in libraries. Youth deserve to have access to equitable, diverse, and inclusive collections that provide windows and mirrors, encourage literacy, and amplify student voice. Across the nation, youth library services are under attack by a vocal minority who want to censor what and how kids read. It’s no coincidence that these groups are looking to pull items that represent marginalized groups. It is imperative that YALSA leadership protect the first amendment right of young people to read. I would also like to find ways to support teen library staff that are new to the profession to stand up to intimidation from those who wish to censor library materials.

How will you make YALSA’s mission, vision, and intended impact meaningful for current and potential members and supporters?
I plan to work with my local, state, and national communities to promote YALSA through networking, outreach, promotion, and advocacy. I would love to work on professional development concepts, to bring to youth librarians and organizations, and work directly with youth to make sure that they have a seat at the YALSA table. It is important that the organization work to remove barriers and increase access to library services for youth by creating physical and virtual spaces that focus on meeting the diverse needs of teens through transformative library services.

Get ready to vote in this year’s YALSA election! To help you make informed decisions, we’re sharing interviews with each of the 2022 YALSA Governance candidates. Voting will take place from March 14 through April 6, 2022.

Serving three-year terms, YALSA Board members are responsible for jointly determining YALSA’s current and future programs, policies, and serving as liaisons to YALSA’s committees, juries, taskforces and advisory boards. Members work year-round, and attend in-person meetings at ALA’s Midwinter and Annual Conferences. A full description of Board duties and responsibilities can be found here. You can learn more about ALA elections here.

Name and Current Position: Yvette Garcia, Branch Manager, Chicago Public Library

How has your experience prepared you to address issues within YALSA related to equity, diversity and inclusion
When I was a new librarian, I participated in a recruitment video produced by the Ohio Library Council (Looking for Leaders) and assisted at a Spectrum leadership institute.  Additionally, I presented at the Midwest REFORMA chapter conferences, developed resources, and led as chapter President.

As a seasoned professional, I have taken several leadership roles within YALSA, chairing committees, including the DMP twice. Under my leadership, these committees implemented member surveys and focus groups on topics such as the volunteer experience, member recognition, and reached out to potential members. The combined feedback led to the insight that YALSA serves many audiences with different needs, such as school librarians. DEI is founded in communication; telling and more importantly showing that everyone is welcome, included, and necessary. I am eager to make these recommendations a reality with all membership concerns gathered over the years combined with my personal experience working in an urban library serving a diverse community.

I currently manage an urban library branch in a diverse community.  I know the struggles of professional staff that don’t speak the language and the challenges of utilizing clerks, pages, and other staff to better serve our patrons.  

What are your ideas on how YALSA can collaborate with our Affiliate organizations like AILA, APALA, BCALA, REFORMA?
There are a few different ways that YALSA and Affiliates can partner together to increase diverse voices.  In a perfect world, our committees can work together towards common goals, such as collaborating on resources and continuing education opportunities for teen-serving staff.  These projects can be as simple as translating library lingo into various languages on a bookmark, having cultural discussions regarding serving teens from diverse backgrounds, creating recommended reading lists, etc.  I believe that the best way forward is to keep things simple and utilize existing activities as opportunities to join forces. 

YALSA and affiliates can also work together to provide the networking and mentorship needed by members of both organizations; members sharing knowledge, experience, and supporting each other, such as hosting a joint Snack & Chat for an open discussion on the difficulties of being a librarian of color. 

Mentorship is important to me; I had one of the best mentors – Colleen Seisser.  She guided me through YALSA teaching me everything, encouraging me.  She has been there helping me navigate processes and I was lucky to serve under her and with her on a few committees. We have shared knowledge and insights.  I strive to live up to her example and pay it forward by encouraging and supporting my committee members so that they may become YALSA’s future leaders.

In your opinion, what do you feel is the biggest challenge ahead for YALSA?
YALSA’s greatest challenge is change.

During the past several years we, as an organization, have experienced the loss of institutional knowledge, change in leadership and internal reorganization.  Additionally, ALA is also undergoing changes that directly impact YALSA at all levels.   As we prepare to implement a new strategic plan with an updated mission and vision, we need to find ways to manage change so that we transition together as a whole with empathy and understanding of the impact on membership.  Change is hard; for some, it will happen too quickly, for others too slowly. This is in a period of transition, reflection, and adaptation.

Recently I have worked in a changing environment; a department that was undergoing staffing changes and an institution undergoing change management complicated by loss of institutional knowledge.  Change represents opportunity and loss at the same time.  In a leadership role, I assisted my staff with new policies as they were being implemented and had an open dialogue concerning changes in philosophy and/or priorities.  Now, in the time of COVID, I have guided my staff through different service structures with empathy, communication, and transparency.  We hold frequent staff Q&A sessions to discuss updates to policies, procedures, evaluate branch layout for social distancing, etc. It was important to have consistent communications for service expectations, but also give an opportunity for everyone to express concerns and to feel heard and safe.

How will you make YALSA’s mission, vision, and intended impact meaningful for current and potential members and supporters?
I’ve learned that one common factor within the membership is “local implementation.”  Teen-serving staff have a need and desire for resources that have a direct impact on services and programming[SN1]  in their community.  YALSA’s aspirational goals for contributing to librarianship need to be complemented with the tools and resources needed today on the frontlines.  This means that we, as an organization, must always ask, “How will our members use this information at the reference desk, in their programs, as part of their practice?”

Get ready to vote in this year’s YALSA election! To help you make informed decisions, we’re sharing interviews with each of the 2022 YALSA Governance candidates. Voting will take place from March 14 through April 6, 2022.

Serving three-year terms, YALSA Board members are responsible for jointly determining YALSA’s current and future programs, policies, and serving as liaisons to YALSA’s committees, juries, taskforces and advisory boards. Members work year-round, and attend in-person meetings at ALA’s Midwinter and Annual Conferences. A full description of Board duties and responsibilities can be found here. You can learn more about ALA elections here.

Name and current position: Matthew Layne, Young Adult Librarian, O’Neal Public Library 

How has your experience prepared you to address issues within YALSA related to equity, diversity and inclusion? 
I have been honored to serve on a number of different non-profit boards over the years; some as a board member at large and some in a leadership position. I have worked to ensure that any board I’m associated with is fully representative of the larger community. While serving as the chair of the board which oversees Birmingham, Alabama’s Day of the Dead Festival, I actively recruited board members from across the Latinx community to lead the board into the future. When it comes to questions of equity, diversity and inclusion, my first job is to listen. My second job is to amplify the voices of those around me. My third job is to ensure that they not only have a seat at the table, but they are given opportunities to lead.

What are your ideas on how YALSA can collaborate with our Affiliate organizations like AILA, APALA, BCALA, REFORMA? 
We should invite representatives from each of our affiliate organizations to speak at YALSA meetings and share how YALSA can best serve them. Then, we should do our utmost to meet those needs and requests. 

In your opinion, what do you feel is the biggest challenge ahead for YALSA? 
One of the biggest challenges of YALSA is to meet the wide-ranging needs of YA librarians across the vastness of the United States. I think it’s important that YALSA take an active role in city and statewide library conferences. In this way, we can grow membership while simultaneously learning the needs of our constituents. 

How will you make YALSA’s mission, vision, and intended impact meaningful for current and potential members and supporters?
I want to help make YALSA more relevant on a local basis. I want to increase our presence in local and state conferences and offer our expertise in programming, services, and best practices to librarians and staff who work with teen populations. I also feel it is essential that we get a more direct line to the teen populations which we serve. I would love to institute a national YALSA Teen Advisory Board.