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.

Photo of YALSA Board of Director candidate Rachel Milburn, Candidate for Director at Large.
Rachel Milburn, Candidate for Director-At Large

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.

Photo of YALSA Board Candidate Katrina Ortega for the 2023 YALSA Election for Director at Large.
Katrina Ortega, Candidate for Director-at-Large

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.

Photograph of Kim Dare, Candidate for YALSA Director at Large in the 2023 YALSA Election.
Kim Dare, Candidate for YALSA Director at Large

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.

Over 1700 members gathered, either virtually or in person, in New Orleans in January to attend ALA’s LibLearnX. It was a momentous occasion, not just because it was the first ever in-person LibLearnX, but also because of ALA Governance. LibLearnX 2023 was the first time ALA held the Governance Institute which brought together ALA member leaders and provided invaluable insights into critical issues related to effective governance, with a focus on communications and financial analysis, review, and stewardship. There was also an ALA Special Council Session called to discuss, revise and finalize the ALA Bylaws. This was not an easy task, and was not taken lightly. This revision has been the result of over five years and over hundreds of hours of work by multiple committees (SCOE, Forward Together, Transforming ALA Governance Task Force, and ALA Council). 

On June 27, 2022, during the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., ALA Council voted overwhelmingly in the affirmative to rescind the ALA Constitution and tasked the ALA Constitution and Bylaws Committee (CBC) with creating instead a thoroughly revised set of ALA Bylaws that integrates content from the Constitution into a single updated Bylaws document that reflects a modern, forward-looking Association.

Per the ALA Constitution (Article XII. Amendments), rescission of the ALA Constitution requires two consecutive votes of Council, followed by ratification by the members of the Association. On August 26, 2022, Council conducted the required second vote to rescind the Constitution—again voting overwhelmingly in the affirmative.

On January 27, 2023, during the Library Learning Experience event in New Orleans, LA, ninety-eight percent (98%) of ALA Council voted in the affirmative to adopt the general revision of the American Library Association Bylaws as amended, for submission to the American Library Association membership, with the proviso that, after appropriate review upon adoption of the general revision by the ALA membership, all recommended policy insertions be made in the ALA Policy Manual.

So now it’s your turn, the vote is in the hands of membership. Take time to read and understand this important document that will guide the Association in the coming years. Click here to access the ALA ByLaws Revised Document.

Respectfully submitted by Liz Nebeker, YALSA Councilor

In March of 2022 I saw a post via ALA Connect to apply for the ALA Liaison position in the Young Adult Library Services Association:

“Does networking with folks around the country sound intriguing? Is serving as a connector with leaders to advance youth interests your jam? You might consider applying for the ALA Liaison position at YALSA!” -Kelly Czarnecki

YALSA Past President

My answers to these questions are yes, yes and yes so I applied to volunteer as the ALA YALSA Liaison.

In May of 2022 I was contacted for a brief interview based on my application and then I was appointed by YALSA President Franklin Escobedo to the position. 

To prepare for my term of July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023, I contacted Kelsey Ford to see what Kelsey’s term entailed as the 2021-2022 liaison. Kelsey walked me through the committees that were actively meeting via Zoom and introduced me to the chairs via email as the incoming liaison to take her place after returning from ALA Annual in D.C. June 23-28, 2022.

I jumped in and had my first committee meeting representing YALSA in August of 2022 at the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee. Most committees don’t meet in July because they just met in person at the ALA Annual Conference in June. In September I attended the YALSA 2022-2023 Board Orientation and was added to the online directory.

My favorite committee so far to attend as a liaison for YALSA is the ALA Conference Committee! My first meeting with ALA CONF was on September 20th, 2022 at 8am Pacific Time. We were able to vote for our top 2023 LibLearnX Speaker considerations in New Orleans! I was always curious to see how conference guest speakers/authors were invited to speak at conferences and now I got to take part in it! Most recently we met on Tuesday, November 29th at 8 am PT for 3 hours to go over ALA Annual in Chicago and vote for our top potential author/speakers for June 22-27, 2023 https://2023.alaannual.org

In conclusion, I highly recommend applying for this 2023-2024 position. Did I mention you have access to a $1000 stipend for attending the conferences? “If there’s financial need, up to $1,000 in total funds can be provided to the liaison to defray the cost of attending two of ALA’s signature Meetings.” https://www.ala.org/yalsa/ala-liaison 

Submitted by Ziba Perez, YALSA ALA Liaison

Young Adult Librarian II
Palisades Branch Library


If you’re interested in being YALSA’s next ALA Liaison, please watch YALSA Blog, YALSA eNews, and our YALSA Connect spaces for announcements for applying for the 2023-24 ALA Liaison position this Spring 2023. The next ALA Liaison’s term will begin July 1, 2023.

YALSA members-you showed up! Attending conference during a pandemic and for me-as President-you definitely feel all the things! It is the members though that showed up for the YALSA Mixer at
Busboys and Poets (thank you YOUmedia and Learning Times), the small group conversations we held at YALSA 301 to talk about the possibilities of involvement in governance, the thoughtful and provoking educational presentations by members and the well-attended Coffee Klatch on early Sunday morning that brought the energy to such an enormous event!

It’s a lot to process and for the nervous system in general when many of us may have been taking a pause from large scale events for a bit. But before we put our nose to the grind again or sit behind that reference desk or whatever shape our job may take us in this week I’d also encourage you not to hesitate. Did you exchange cards with someone that you made a connection with in YALSA? Did Franklin Escobedo, incoming YALSA President, share some volunteer opportunities that you are thinking about? Are you scrolling through photos and remember how they made you feel -like you might want to do it all again (hello upcoming Symposium in Baltimore!). Don’t hesitate-just do it. Get your morning coffee (if that’s your habit) and register, sign up, send that email! If you didn’t go to conference. . . maybe you’re still curious! Like us on socials, check out our site, and reach out!

As the last blog post as your President, I also wanted to share some of the items the Board discussed at meetings this conference. Thank you to the Evaluating Volunteer Resources Task Force for your recommendations on helping YALSA align with our EDI Plan. For Board members who brought forth a document on making the member grant and scholarship applications a more fair and equitable process. This input was directly from members which shapes YALSA and in turn give us resources to better serve teens. A comprehensive agenda and documents can be found here. Minutes will be posted soon.

A huge thank you to YALSA staff as well for continuing to support our work and ‘make the magic happen.’ The information that is put online, the sponsors at our conference sessions, the membership process, the swag, the budget. . . . .all YALSA staff. Thank you LaMoya, Letitia, Carla, Ninah and Rachel!

I look forward to continuing to serve members as Immediate Past President and the incoming Board and President Escobedo where I’m needed!

What a wild and wonderful year!

Thank you,

Kelly

Any questions or comments, feel free to email: kellyczarnecki1@gmail.com.

2020-2021 YALSA President-Elect Kelly Czarnecki

Kelly Czarnecki (she/her)
YALSA President
2021-2022
Photo credit: Taken by Kelly Czarnecki

It’s been a tough month for many reasons. I hope you’re taking care of yourself and able to find some time to rest and recharge if that is what is calling for you.

Here are some of the highlights from May:

-May has been a busy month for YALSA. We’re planning for Annual of course; working with the Board Development and Division of Membership Promotion to create YALSA 301 and 101 where you’ll learn more how to get involved. I’ve been meeting with my Presidential TaskForce all year to prepare for our program on Monday of conference. For more information on YALSA at ALA Annual, visit here.

-We also held our first YALSA Membership Forum since sharing the Strategic Plan with members earlier this year. We anticipate having the forums on a more regular basis. Thank you for all that were able to attend. The meeting was recorded, so if you were unable to make it, you’ll get to watch the replay.

-Membership has steadily increased each month! We are currently around 3400 of total members! Welcome everyone-we’re so glad you’re here!

-Met with ALA Continuing Education and YALSA ED to continue planning future YALSA CE offerings

-Appointed a Board rep for the ALA EDI Assembly for next term (Thank you Liz!)

-I worked with our YALSA Spectrum Scholars to include a quote from their experiences and will include in my end of year report.

-Connected those YALSA members that have stipend positions with the Executive Director so they’re ready for attending Annual.

-I shared applications for the YALSA ALA Liaison with the YALSA President-Elect and Immediate Past President.

-Attended a meeting with other Division leads (ED and President) to be informed of the recommendations TAG (Transforming ALA Governance) is presenting to Council at Annual.

Any questions or comments, feel free to email: kellyczarnecki1@gmail.com.

2020-2021 YALSA President-Elect Kelly Czarnecki

Kelly Czarnecki (she/her)
YALSA President
2021-2022

Photo credit: spring by promanex is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

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.