The Blog Is Back!

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Thanks for your patience during the ALA blog and wiki outage! If you were following #YALSABlogInExile and #TheHubInExile you know that The Hub bloggers did another fantastic live blog of the Best Fiction for Young Adults Teen Feedback session (with video from Kate Pickett on Qik).

Don’t forget that the YALSA Twitter feed and YALSA and Books for Teens Facebook pages are always sources of up to date information about YALSA, and places where members like you can make your voices heard.

But for more apps and tweets, YALSA coverage from ALA Annual 2012, summer programming ideas and much much more, look no further than the YALSA Blog!

Creating Buzz @ Your Booze for Books Event

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Over the past few weeks we’ve been posting on the YALSA Blog about the upcoming Booze for Books event on April 12. It’s a fundraising event focused on raising monies for YALSA’s Books for Teens initiative which gets books into the hands of underserved teens.

We’ve posted about planning for the event, moving beyond the booze box, and getting the word out about your event. This time around I want to throw out some ideas about getting some buzz going just before, during, and just after your event whether it be Mocktails for a Mission, Chocolate for a Cause, Booze for Books or something else.

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April 12, 2012: Get the Word Out

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Over the past few weeks the YALSA Financial Advancement Committee has been posting about Booze for Books. It’s the YALSA event scheduled for April 12 that focuses on raising funds for the Books for Teens initiative.’  If you haven’t read about Booze for Books yet, check out these two YALSABlog posts – Booze for Books: Don’t Miss It and Thinking Outside the Booze Box.

Once your Books for Teens fundraiser is planned and you have a catchy name (Mocktails for a Mission, Libations for Libraries, Tea for Teens, etc.), how do you get the word out?’  Your event involves socializing; doesn’t it make sense to use social media to get the word out. Or does it?’  Getting the word out can be challenging.’  Snail mail or email?’  Email will limit you to only those in your address book but I guess that is true for snail mail too. Do people still have a print address book? Hmmm, the question to ask yourself is how much time do I have/need to get the invites to donors, I mean your friends? If you start now snail mail will work for you.’  You will have a couple more weeks if you use email.’  Not much to think about with these choices.
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Thinking Outside the Booze Box

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What’s all the buzz?’  There has not been this much tweeting since John Corey Whaley won this year’s Printz and Morris Awards!

The initial announcement about Booze for Books, scheduled for April 12, 2012, sure stirred a heated debate.’  While the title says Booze, the event does not have to include booze, and is your opportunity to help raise funds to get books into the hands of needy teens. It’s all a part of YALSA’s Books for Teens initiative.

Options Galore ‘ After reading the initial post about Booze for Books, many YALSA blog readers posted other options for events that don’t incorporate alcohol.’  Janene suggested “Burgers for Books!”’  Beth mentioned quite a few “Pizza for Pages,” “Tea for Teens,” and “Chocolate for a Cause.” Another Beth wrote “Mocktails for a Mission.”’  YALSA’s first Booze for Books fundraiser can be adapted to meet your community’s needs.’  The core idea of this fundraiser is to raise money for Books for Teens, which connects at-risk teenagers with books.’  A novel idea!
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Booze for Books: Don’t Miss It

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Have you heard? April 12 is YALSA’s first Booze for Books event.

What? What’s Booze for Books?
It’s a fundraising event in support of Books for Teens which focuses on raising money to get books into the hands of needy young adults.

How do you get involved?
The idea is that people around the country, and maybe around the world, will sponsor a Booze for Books fundraising event on April 12. Events can come in all shapes and sizes. You might have a book discussion group that night and ask those who attend to donate an amount of their choice to Books for Teens. Read More →

Thanks, We Did It!

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As YALSAblog readers know, in December an anonymous donor gave YALSA a challenge. If the association was able to raise $500 for the Books for Teens project, the donor would give a matching $500 to the project. The good news is that because of the generosity of those who support and understand the importance of teen reading, the challenge was met and even exceeded.

Donations to Books for Teens in December were $800. YALSA uses Causes on Facebook for donations via that social media platform, and that vendor charges a small processing fee for donations via their service. In December they charged YALSA $20. Therefore $780 was raised by donations, after the service charge, and add another $500 from the donor making the challenge for a grand total of $1280.

That is an impressive monthly total and will make it possible to get many more books into the hands of needy teens.

Thank you to all of the donors! Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

Linda W. Braun, Chair YALSA Financial Advancement Committee