Last night’s YALSA sponsored chat, What’s Your YALSA New Year’s Resolution, was a lively discussion about YALSA member groups, what makes an Interest Group and Interest Group, what makes a Discussion Group a Discussion Group, YALSA publishing opportunities, and the process for getting involved in the Association.

The chat was facilitated by myself, YALSA President, and Kim Patton, YALSA President-Elect. It was good to have the opportunity to answer member, and potential member, questions about the organization.

The transcript of the chat is available and you can read through to learn more about getting involved in the Association. Read More →

Last night, YALSA members met in YALSA’s ALA Connect space for the division’s monthly online chat. This month, participants discussed Teen Read Week—exchanging programming ideas, discussing the economic crisis’ effect on Teen Read Week plans, talking about the Teens’ Top Ten and more. Read the transcript (PDF) for inspiration!

Our thanks to Carla Land for hosting and to all the participants for their contributions.

Join us for the next chat, Oct. 7, on advocacy for teen services, hosted by Beth Gallaway, chair of YALSA’s advocacy task force.

YALSA is now hosting online chats every month in our space in ALA Connect! It’s an easy, inexpensive way to be more engaged in YALSA and talk with other librarians about topics that matter in teen services. Chats take place the first Wednesday of each month from 8-9 p.m. Eastern and each one has a specific theme. Our next chat will be on Sept. 2, with Carla Land, chair of the Teen Read Week committee, moderating a discussion on Teen Read Week.

In our last membership survey, members indicated overwhelmingly that they sought more opportunities for virtual participation. The monthly online chats are one way that we are providing our members with what they want from us.

After the jump, find out topics for future chats – we’ve chosen themes through January – and how to log in and participate. Have a suggestion? Leave it in the comments.

Read More →

Last night YALSA’s monthly chat was on the topic of risk in teen services. A pdf file of the transcript is now available.

It was quite an invigorating discussion with a variety of risky topics covered including:

  • Risks of librarians friending teens on Facebook and other social networks
  • Differences that exist in risk-taking in school libraries and public libraries
  • Importance of having support in risk-taking in the workplace
  • Importance of being able to talk with others about risky situations, decisions, etc. Read More →

Last night YALSA sponsored a chat on how the economy is affecting YA librarians and libraries and how YALSA can support librarians in tough economic times. Those who participated had a lot of stories to tell, questions to ask, and ideas for YALSA to consider. Including:

  • Looking at ways to provide mentoring for librarians moving up the leadership ladder. A teen librarian might be very skilled at how to run a teen department, but maybe needs some advice on how to move into management positions and how to be a successful manager. Read More →