YALSA Governance Nominating Committee Needs YOU!

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Many associations function through the work of volunteer members. YALSA is one of these associations and every year YALSA, with its more than 5000 members, looks for dedicated folks to run for various elected positions on the executive committee and board of directors.

Who finds these candidates? YALSA has a Governance Nominating Committee made up of five dedicated professionals: the immediate past president and four involved members. (I’m one of the five members.)

Each year specific positions are available and each opening has specific requirements based on the description of it and current makeup of the Board. In our quest to find a perfect match for each slot, we look for diversity…in its broadest sense: gender, location, type of library worked/works in, years in the profession, areas of specific expertise, and previous experience. It is this mix on the board that allows YALSA to attract new members and retain long term ones, all the while making sure we are innovative, educational, professional and fun. Because YALSA’s Board of Directors is currently engaged in a Strategic Planning process which aligns itself with an Outcomes  Based Planning and Evaluation process as well as with the concepts presented in the its Future of Library Services for and with Teens report, we’re also considering individuals who may have familiarity with either or both.

Our deadline is to have a slate of candidates to present to the YALSA Board for approval by the end of the summer.  Our process is to review all volunteer forms that have been submitted and review the requirements for each available slot. We are currently looking for several Board positions including Director-at-Large, Secretary and President.  Successful candidates will run for election in the Spring of 2016 and begin their terms during YALSA’s Board III meeting at the Annual 2016 conference in Orlando.

For more information on the responsibilities of each role on the Board, please visit the Governance page which includes some handy FAQs to help get you started. There’s also a series of interviews and podcasts from past Board members in a series on this blog called “Life on the YALSA Board.”

Are you interested, a current member, and ready to put your name forward? Please submit the online nomination form.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Shannon Peterson, Past President and 2016 Governance Nominating Chair at shannon.peterson@gmail.com

 

How It Works: The YALSA Nominating Process

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Many associations function because of the work of their volunteer members, and every year YALSA, with its more than 5000 members, looks for about 30 dedicated folks to run for various elected positions, for award committees and executive and board positions.

But who finds these candidates? YALSA has a nominating committee made up of five dedicated professionals: the immediate past president and four involved members. (I’m one of the five members.)

And what do they do? YALSA maintains spreadsheets of volunteer information with all the names of those who have submitted a volunteer form for a process or selection committee. The Nominating Committee looks over that information. But that is just one step in a process that takes about nine months – the creating of “the slate”.
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YALSA Nominating Committee: What’s It All About?

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The function statement for YALSA’s Nominating Committee reads:

To recruit, vet and select candidates for the slate for the election of YALSA Officers, Directors and certain award committee members. When building the slate, strive to provide for broad representation, including but not limited to representation of the membership by: diverse background, type of library, special interest, and geographic location. To assist candidates in preparing for the election, including but not limited to planning and implementing a Candidates’ Forum.

That’s what the 2012 Nominating Committee (of which I am the Chair) is now working on. Read More →

Get Ready for the 2010 Elections

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As the Outgoing chairperson of the YALSA Nominating Committee, I wanted to remind everyone that the 2010 ALA and YALSA election season is just around the corner.’  Online voting begins in less than two months on March 16th and ends April 23rd.’  Members who wish to vote in the upcoming 2010 election must have their membership current as of January 31st, 2010 – just 10 days from today.’ ‘  If you are planning to renew your membership, doing so before the January 31st deadline will ensure that you are eligible to vote in the 2010 election. Read More →

ALA Nominating Committee Information

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Be a Candidate for ALA Office

The 2009 ALA Nominating Committee is already at work and the 2008 election hasn’t even started, but it’s never too soon to plan ahead. With that thought in mind, I wanted to remind all our members to think about running for ALA Office. The 2009 ALA Nominating Committee will begin its work at Midwinter 2008 in Philadelphia by discussing possible candidates. That work will be enlarged upon at Annual, with a final list due to the ALA Executive Committee in the fall of 2008.

How does that affect you? Well, it’s time to start thinking about running for Council or ALA President. The Committee will submit two names for ALA President and 34 names for ALA Council and you could be one of those names. If you would like to be considered for one of these spots, please send your name, a brief bio, and a paragraph as to what you have to offer for either the Councilor or the President’s position to Pam Spencer Holley [pamsholley@aol.com] by Monday, January 8, 2008. Questions can be sent at any time to Pam at the same e-mail address