YALSA Seeks Member Volunteers

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There’s a lot of great opportunities coming up to be more involved with YALSA! We’re currently taking applications for strategic committees. All participation is virtual, so members are asked to be skilled at using online tools such as Google Docs, Google Hangouts, ALA Connect, Zoom, etc. To apply you will access the form here: Committee Volunteer Form .

If you have questions or issues please contact Letitia Smith, YALSA Membership, lsmith@ala.org

Terms begin July 1, 2021 and end June 30, 2022.  For information specific to each committee, visit the link here.

  • AASL/ALSC/YALSA Committee on School & Public Library Cooperation
  • Division & Membership Promotion
  • Editorial Advisory Board (for YALS & the YALSAblog)
  • Education Advisory Board
  • Financial Advancement
  • Hub Advisory Board
  • JRLYA Advisory Board
  • Organization & Bylaws
  • Research
  • Teens’ Top Ten

    Thank you for your interest!
    ~Kelly Czarnecki, YALSA President-Elect

Write for YALSA!

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Are you a writer or blogger? YALSA offers several opportunities for members and non-members to contribute to YALSA. One of them is writing for our publications, which includes our blogs and journals, and is a year-round opportunity. See below for descriptions of each publication, along with information regarding the type of content each publication seeks.

  • *The Hub: YALSA’s teen collections blog is looking for diverse voices to blog about issues related to working for/with teens to develop and curate materials in all formats for teen collections.
  • The Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults (JRLYA): YALSA’s open-access research journal seeks research concerning the informational and developmental needs of young adults; the management, implementation, and evaluation of library services for young adults; and other critical issues relevant to librarians and library staff who work with young adults.
  • *YALSAblog: YALSA’s teen services blog is looking for diverse, forward-thinking, and innovative voices in teen services to blog about challenges, successes, and failures relating to teens, learning and libraries.
  • Young Adult Library Services (YALS): YALSA’s official journal serves as a vehicle for continuing education for librarians serving young adults, ages 12-18. Each issue is themed and calls for article proposals are made each quarter. Articles should be of current interest to the profession, showcase best practices, provide news from related fields, spotlight significant events of the organization or offer in-depth reviews of professional literature.

*indicates members’ only opportunity, but there is also an opportunity for individuals to guest blog. Those who write for YALSA also have the opportunity to be selected as a recipient for our annual Writing Award.

YALSA continuously strives to uphold its commitment of featuring content and contributions from a diverse range of voices, experiences, interests, backgrounds, and more. If you’re interested in writing for YALSA, please fill out the interest form. This opportunity is open on a rolling basis.

YALSA Leadership Opportunity! Seeking a Member Manager for Teen Programming HQ

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YALSA is seeking a Member Manager for its programming database, Teen Programming HQ for a one year term starting around March 1. The Member Manager will receive an honorarium of $500 per year. Apply by sending a resume and cover letter to Anna Lam at alam@ala.org by February 15.

Visit this previous YALSA Blog post from December to learn more about what the Teen Programming HQ manager is responsible for.

This position is a fantastic opportunity for a member that is specializing or wants to grow their experience in teen programming. The Teen Programming HQ is a free YALSA resource and the goal is for the site to connect with others who plan, implement, and evaluate teen library programs by sharing and discussing programming ideas. It’s YALSA’s Teen Programming Database (who doesn’t love a database!).

Some of the feature of Teen Programming HQ are:

Our previous Teen Programming HQ manager, Dawn Abron, worked very hard for the last few years to populate the site with some fantastic programming ideas and promote YALSA’s Teen Programming HQ as the number one YALSA resource for programming ideas. YALSA is looking for a new member manager that will be able to keep up the work and continue to make Teen Programming HQ as our members’ first choice for finding programming ideas, work to establish an advisory board for the Teen Programming HQ, and take the data from the current Teen Programming HQ feedback survey we are running to find improvements that can be made to the site.

To fill out the YALSA Teen Programming HQ Survey, please navigate to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HFCQWC9. The feedback you provide will help us assess and improve the database. Please complete the survey by February 22.

Members looking to gain experience improving their programming expertise, working with different groups, and stepping up their leadership experience should apply now! To apply, send your cover letter and resume to Anna Lam, YALSA Communications Specialist at alam@ala.org by February 15.

 

Posted by YALSA Board Director at Large, Colleen Seisser

YALSA Leadership and Volunteering

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At ALA Annual this year, YALSA held information sessions on how to get involved with the organization, both as a new volunteer and as someone seeking leadership opportunities.  Here’s a recap of the event.

If you’re just starting out, volunteering for one of YALSA’s committees is an excellent first step.  All YALSA members are encouraged to fill out the Committee Volunteer Form once a year. Here is a list of committees and the link to the form. Read More →

Volunteer Opportunities: Three New YALSA Taskforces

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Have you ever benefited from YALSA grants or awards? How would you like to be recognized if you did win a YALSA scholarship or award? Want to help YALSA raise funds to support leadership initiatives for members? Then we need your help! I’m accepting volunteer forms for three new taskforces that were established by the Board last week–Leadership Fundraising, Member Achievements Recognition, and Member Grants and Awards Evaluation taskforces.  Volunteer now through Feb. 15! Please email me with any questions and read on to learn more about the volunteer opportunities.

Read More →

How Do I Get Involved?

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Think fast. What’s the last thing you’ve purchased online? It’s probably easy to come up with an answer, because it’s something many of us do quite often. You quickly fill out a convenient form, and something appears on your doorstep, practically’ the next day.’ YALSA’s new Opt-in Opportunities form is not exactly like unwrapping a new pair of warm slippers, but it’s close. Read More →

Are you Taskforce ready?

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Wowsers is right, the ALA Annual meeting was an action-packed few days for the YALSA Board. Several Board members will be sharing background and information on select proposals that were brought forth over the course of the next few weeks, so please stay tuned. Obviously I’m a bit of a governance nerd myself, but I hope you’ll find that the processes and paths that the Board follows to come to these decisions are almost as thoughtful and interesting as the results themselves. I said it once and I’ll say it again: your YALSA Board volunteers are awesomesauce.

Part of my follow-up over the course of the next few months will be to madly appoint to some amazing new taskforces. Either as a newer member looking for a way to get more involved or as a seasoned vet ready to share your expertise, this could be you! Check out the taskforce descriptions below and if interested, please fill out a volunteer form.’ ‘ The more information you can give me related to the group(s) that you’re interested in serving on, the easier it will be for me to place you. And remember, if you aren’t selected in this round of taskforce appointments, President-Elect Chris Shoemaker will soon be perusing selection committee volunteer forms which are due September 30th.’ ‘ Thanks for considering!
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Ready to Read?

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There’s just one week left to submit volunteer forms for the following YALSA committees and taskforces:

Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
Best Fiction for Young Adults
Fabulous Films for Young Adults
Great Graphic Novels for Teens
Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults
Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
Alex Award
Morris Award
Odyssey Award
Outstanding Books for the College Bound
2014 Midwinter Marketing & Local Arrangements Taskforce
2014 Midwinter Paper Presentation Planning Taskforce
Readers’ Choice List Taskforce

Please see my previous post for the nitty gritty (http://bit.ly/SngekL) and feel free to contact me with any questions at shannon.peterson@gmail.com.

Thank you!

 

Summer Volunteers

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Throughout the year, teens in my branch come in, check out their things, and leave. Not many hang out in our teen area, maybe because our other branch has a way cooler teen room. Our stats show that they like our collection, but programming-wise, the numbers are never there. This is why I love summer. We see more teens during the summer than at any other time, and they all want to volunteer. Read More →