Join us at the ALA/USBBY Annual Program!

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The 2022 co-sponsored ALA/USBBY program will be held at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference on Sunday, June 26, 2022, in Washington D.C., from 1-2 pm. The program is titled “Celebrate Indigenous Storytelling: Books from across the Northern Border” and will be held in the Washington Convention Center, Room 149A-B. Save the program now in the online Conference Scheduler! 

Program Description: Join the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) as we celebrate indigenous storytelling! Hear from Inuit author Monica Ittusardjuat, as well as the co-founding authors of Inhabit Media, an Inuit-owned, independent Canadian publishing company. USBBY, an affiliate of ALA, serves as the U.S. National Section of the International Board on Books for Young People, which was founded to promote international understanding and good will through books for children and adolescents.

Authors:

Are you a member of USBBY? A diverse group, USBBY members join together to celebrate and promote international literature for children and young adults. The membership of USBBY includes authors and illustrators, publishers and editors, critics and translators, booksellers, social workers, teachers, university professors and students, librarians and parents. Membership in USBBY is open to anyone interested in its mission and starts at the individual basic rate of $50/year. Once a member, we’d love to have you volunteer to serve on one of our award, selection, or service committees! 

USBBY is governed by a Board of Directors that includes an elected Executive Committee and twelve Directors (four elected and eight appointed), who represent the USBBY membership as well as USBBY´s patron organizations: Children´s Book Council (CBC), the American Library Association (ALA), the International Literacy Association (formerly IRA), and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

This year your ALA Appointed Directors to the USBBY Board are Sarah Hill (YALSA) and Sara Kelly Johns (AASL).

YALSA Representative with ALA for USBBY Needed!

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We love our acronyms-don’t we?! If you’re not familiar-this is another one to know-USBBY. The United States Board on Books for Young People! As their web site states, “it is a nonprofit organization devoted to building bridges of international understanding through children’s and young adult books; it serves as the U.S. national section of the IBBY.” (Check out the site to see what this acronym is if you can’t stand the suspense).

To give a bit more background, ALA is a patron organization with USBBY. They host a meeting at ALA LibLearnX (previously MidWinter) and a program session at the Annual Conference in the summer. Each year the ALA Executive Board approves the selection of the ALA representative to the
USBBY Board (the two terms are staggered, and AASL, ALSC, and YALSA rotate putting a name forward of a member who will well represent ALA).

We are seeking one replacement position to represent YALSA with ALA to serve as a Director on their Board for this one year position. If you are interested, you will need to be a current YALSA member, have volunteer experience, have an interest in Young Adult books and abide by the ALA policy of a three committee limit.

Please send a copy of your resume and why you feel you are qualified to Kelly Czarnecki, YALSA President (kellyczarnecki1@gmail.com) by Friday, September 10.  Thank you!

Outstanding International Books and more, at the USBBY Midwinter Program

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Maryann Macdonald, author of the World War II-era novel-in-verse and 2014 Bluebonnet nominee Odette’s Secrets, will speak at USBBY’s program at the 2014 Midwinter Meeting. The event will be held Friday, January 24th at 8:00 p.m. in the Howe Room at Loew’s Hotel.

odette's secrets

Macdonald’s historical novel is a fictionalization on the real experiences of Odette Meyers, a Parisian girl of Jewish descent who is sent into the countryside to hide with a Catholic family during the Nazi occupation. Kirkus, which gave the book a starred review, described it as “an ideal Holocaust introduction for readers unready for death-camp scenes.” Read More →

Elizabeth Wein to Speak at USBBY Program at ALA Annual

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The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) are pleased to share that Elizabeth Wein, author of 2013 Printz Honor book Code Name Verity, will be speaking at the USBBY Program, co-sponsored by YALSA, at ALA Annual on Saturday, June 29th 4:30-5:30.

Along with every other “best of” and award list, we are proud that Code Name Verity was included on the USBBY Outstanding International Books (OIB) list for 2013.

Wein’s presentation, “True Migration: Distance, Time, and the Writer’s Journey” takes a look at her life, born in New York City, moved to England at the age of three, lived in Jamaica, and then Pennsylvania, and questions how a lifetime of travel and living abroad have influenced both her worldview and her writing.’  She has lived in Scotland since the year 2000 and her children hold dual citizenship between the US and the UK.

New group on ALA Connect

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I have been a member of USBBY (The US Board on Books for Youth) for some several years. I served as YALSA’s liaison to the Board and now serve as the NCTE rep. It is the American arm of IBBY (The International Board on Books for Youth). The focus of USBBY and IBBY is to bring attention to literacy throughout the world and to celebrate literature from other countries. Each year, USBBY sponsors lists that include books for children with disabilities and outstanding international books. You can read more about the organization at its web site (www.usbby.org).

You are invited to join a new Community on ALA Connect open to people interested in promoting international understanding and good will through books and literacy services to children and teenagers. Once you join the
community (you don’t need to be an ALA member) you can post pertinent information, register information about upcoming conferences of interest to the community on the calendar, post documents or open online discussions and chats.

Hope you will check it out at:
http://connect.ala.org/node/94955