September was a month full tying up loose ends and kicking off new projects. The YALSA Executive Committee is preparing to meet for our annual fall meeting in Chicago on October 22-23. October will be just as busy as we all gear up for Teen Read Weekâ„¢ and the kick off of the Wrestlemania Reading Challenge …Thank you’s this month go to Pam Spencer Holley for participating in an interview with Lini S. Kadaba of the Philadelphia Inquirer for an article on Ellen Hopkins and why teens love her books. mk Eagle gets a huge thanks for leading her bloggers through another successful round of 30 days of back to school blogging. Maria Gentle, who has volunteered to translate YALSA’s updated Competencies for Librarians Serving Youth into Spanish for YALSA also deserves a big YALSA thank you.’ Read More →
August proved to be a busy month that included attending my first ever BCALA conference in Birmingham, AL, conference calls with chairs of various YALSA committees, and calls from the press for various interviews.
‘ Thank You’s
- Thanks to the hard work of the 2010 Nominating Committee led by John Sexton, we are one step closer to having a full slate for the 2011 YALSA elections. Watch for more information on the candidates on the blog, and make plans now to attend the Coffee with the Candidates Forum at the Midwinter in San Diego, CA.
- Thank you also to the YALSA office staff led by Executive Director Beth Yoke who worked with ALA’s Development Office to write and submit a grant to Dollar General.’ YALSA was awarded $70,000 to fund summer reading and Teen Read Weekâ„¢ efforts in 2011, including mini grants to libraries, creating Spanish language TRW materials and distributing sets of the 2011 Teens’ Top Ten winners.
- Thanks to all the members and groups who have donated items to YALSA’s Not so Silent Auction so far.’ Amy Alessio is compiling a dessert cookbook to auction off at the event.’ She still needs recipes from members, and it’s not too late for you to participate.’ The deadline to turn in your recipe is Sept. 30th.’ There’s an easy to use template at http://yalsa.ala.org/midwinter11/cookbooktemplate.doc’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Read More →
YALSA President’s Report for July 2010
Since I’ve taken the lead post, I have been off and running to keep up with demands of the job. I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and I am grateful to the wonderful YALSA staff for helping me along the way. I am also grateful for the chance to get to know our great members who are also a hard working group of talented volunteers! I would like to extend my thanks to all of the members who worked so hard make the conference successful.’ Thanks also to the WrestleMania Reading Challenge Taskforce for updating the toolkit. A big thank you also to the Financial Advancement Committee for launching the silent auction effort and finally, thank you to President-Elect Sarah Flowers who is also the editor of YALS, because of her leadership, the journal has won its 3rd Apex Award in a row. Read More →
Risky Business
Please feel free to forward this report to others whom you think are interested
The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to this population.
Mission Moment
How Recent YALSA Activities Support the Association’s Mission and Strategic Plan
At their Annual Conference meetings the YALSA Board discussed recommendations, made by an ad hoc committee of the Board, related to the use of William C. Morris Endowment funds. Following their discussions, the Board voted that over the next three years the Association would use the funds to support Teen Read Week in three areas that connect to the YALSA strategic plan. These three areas are: research, marketing, and member recruitment and engagement. By supporting these areas with Morris funds, not only does YALSA support its mission and strategic plan, the Association also helps librarians to participate actively and successfully in Teen Read Week. The document discussed by the Board which led to their vote is available on the YALSA website.
Read More →
Risky Business
Please feel free to forward this report to others whom you think are interested
The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to this population.
Mission Moment
How Recent YALSA Activities Support the Association’s Mission and Strategic Plan
Advocacy is the first goal listed in YALSA’s strategic plan and in May several activities of the Association supported this goal.
- Five YALSA members were selected to receive a stipend in order to make it possible for them to attend Library Advocacy Day on June 29 in Washington, DC. Thanks go to the Task Force (chaired by Chris Shoemaker) that reviewed applications and selected to whom the stipends would be awarded.
- YALSA held a webinar on advocacy which was facilitated by Karen Keyes. Association members can access the webinar on YALSA’s Members Only website.
- A packet of information was sent to faculty at library schools to highlight the importance of YA services in libraries, encourage expanded teen service oriented curriculum, and inform them of the resources and support YALSA can provide.
Risky Business
Please feel free to forward this report to others whom you think are interested
The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to this population.
Mission Moment
How Recent YALSA Activities Support the Association’s Mission and Strategic Plan
In April YALSA launched a mentoring initiative which seeks to match experienced librarians with library school students and/or new librarians. Those accepted into the program will work together as proteges and mentors in order to learn from each other about serving teens successfully in libraries. Read More →
This week YALSA Board members are discussing their experience serving on the Board. This post is one in that series.
The position of Secretary was added to the YALSA Board, by membership vote,’ only four years ago.’ Until my term began, in 2008, the role of keeping our volunteer association’s formal record fell to YALSA staff.’ The addition of this position to the Board places that responsibility with membership; in addition, the position of Secretary adds another voice—and set of energies—to the Board’s Executive Committee.
I ran for the position of Secretary for several reasons:’ I had been on the YALSA Board when the idea of creating the position was under discussion and then development and I was a promoter of the concept.’ In addition, I have served in a few other elected offices, in other professional organizations, at the time when that position was first initiated, so I had a good sense of the kind of ground-breaking and flexibility the initial office-holder needed to bring to the effort of “launching†how the position might work to the advancement of the Board and membership as a whole. Read More →
This week YALSA Board members are writing about their experience serving on the Board.’ This post is one in that series.
The unique thing about running for YALSA President is that, if elected, you will fill three distinct roles in three years. All of the things that Sara Ryan mentioned in her perspective as a Board member hold true, plus there are additional responsibilities.
As President-Elect you will spend the year working hard on making committee and task force appointments.’ This is no small task, but it is a great way to get to know many YALSA members.’ You will also be serving on the Executive Committee and have those meetings (including an in-person meeting in the fall), in addition to regular YALSA Board meetings.’ There is a lot of observing and learning during this year, as well as developing a working relationship with the President and Executive Director.
What skills do you need to be President-Elect? An attention to detail, a willingness to learn, and a good system for organizing your work. Read More →
“Risky Business”
Please feel free to forward this report to others whom you think are interested
The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to this population.
Mission Moment
How Recent YALSA Activities Support the Association’s Mission and Strategic Plan
YALSA Executive Director, Beth Yoke, attended this year’s WrestleMania Reading Challenge event and returned with these Mission Moment stories:
Two of thiis year’s Reading Challenge finalists were from a school for homeless youth in San Diego and two kids returned from previous years. I spoke to the mother of one, who said that her son enters every year in hopes of winning. He’s a 10th grader who has wrestled since he was 5 and who wants to be an architect.
Read More →
“Risky Businessâ€
Please feel free to forward this email to others whom you think will be interested.
The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to this population.
Mission Moment
How Recent YALSA Activities Support the Association’s Mission and Strategic Plan
At YALSA’s Midwinter Meetings, the Board voted to create a member recognition award that will annually honor a committee chair, committee member, and/or member group for their work with and for YALSA during the previous year. YALSA Board member Stephanie Squicciarini has agreed to chair the ad hoc committee that will develop an award proposal to be presented to the Board at their Annual meetings in June. The creation of this Award directly supports YALSA’s mission to support those who provide service to teens and the member engagement and recruitment goal in the strategic plan. Thank you to Stephanie and her committee members for their work on this initiative.
Accomplishments Read More →