YALSA is seeking personal members who are interested in representing YALSA on the following:

  1. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’ (IFLA) Section on Libraries for Children & Young Adults
  2. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’ (IFLA) Section on Literacy & Reading

One representative for each section will be selected by the ALA Executive Board and recommended to IFLA to serve a four-year term from 2019-2023.  YALSA personal members who are interested in representing YALSA on either section must submit their resumes to YALSA at yalsa@ala.org no later than September 1, 2018.  Please be sure to put IFLA Applicant in the subject line and in your email message indicate what section you’re interested in serving on.

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As I was sitting in the Philadelphia airport, waiting to fly home from Midwinter 2014, I checked my email to find something rather startling: an invitation to be the keynote speaker at a symposium on library services for children and teens sponsored by the National Library for Children and Young Adults (NLCY) in South Korea. According to the email, my book Young Adults Deserve the Best: YALSA’s Competencies in Action had been translated into Korean and distributed to libraries in Korea, and they wanted me to come to the symposium and share my “experience and expertise in youth library services”—all expenses paid!’  Read More →

Representing YALSA is a special honor and responsibility. As a representative to IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations), I am the “face” of the organization. When I work with other professional associations, I am the communication lynchpin. I have to listen well to make sure I understand what concerns and trends are emerging, using my experience as a YALSA member as my hearing timbre. How do these ideas potentially impact YALSA? Likewise, I listen for opportunities to insert the concerns, values, and possible contributions of YALSA. I also have to listen to the silence, the unspoken, to make sure that the voice of YALSA and YALSA ideas are heard.
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