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YALSA is pleased to offer the following professional development opportunities in June. If you have questions about YALSA’s professional development, please contact Eve Gaus, YALSA’s program officer for continuing education, at [email protected] or 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5293.

June 2, First Wednesdays with YALSA: YALSA’s First Wednesdays continue with an online chat this month at 8 p.m. Eastern, this time on managing your teen advisory board, hosted by Evie Wilson-Lingbloom. We will be using a private room in Meebo for the chat; the password to log in is available to YALSA members at this ALA Connect post. See you next Wednesday!

June 17, YA Classics Webinar: Join Sarah Debraski, YALSA past president, for a discussion of YA classics. Sarah will highlight YA novels from 1951 -2003, discussing their themes and issues and how YA librarians can connect teens with these classics. Participants will receive a list of 25 go-to titles that they can use for readers advisory or to add to their collection.  This webinar will take place Thursday, June 17, at 2 p.m. Eastern. Register today! Registration costs $39 for individual YALSA members, $49 for all other individuals. A group rate of $195 is available. Learn more about YALSA webinars at www.ala.org/yalsa/webinars.

Save the Date for Upcoming Webinars: YALSA has scheduled its next three webinars. Join us July 15 for Risky Business, hosted by Linda Braun;  August 19 for Back to the Facts: YA Nonfiction, hosted by Angela Carstensen; and September 16 for Ready, Set, Go! 30 Ways to Reach Reluctant Readers in 60 Minutes, hosted by Jen Hubert Swan. Learn more about YALSA webinars at www.ala.org/yalsa/webinars

Mentoring Program Applications Open: YALSA’s new mentoring program will pair an experienced librarian (more than 6 years’ experience) with a new librarian (fewer than 6  years’ experience) or graduate student in a library science program. YALSA believes that we all have important skills and knowledge that we can share with one another and so this program encourages protégés to share their skills and know-how with their mentor. YALSA will accept applications through June 30. Learn more and apply at www.ala.org/yalsa/mentoring.

YALSA Summer Online Course Registration: Registration is now open for YALSA’s summer online courses! In Beyond Booklists: Serving Diverse Today’s Diverse Teens, instructor Jennifer Velasquez will guide participants in serving today’s diverse generation, including ways to design, implement and evaluate more in-depth services and programs for today’s diverse teen population and recent teen immigrants. Participants will al

Join YALSA tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern for its monthly member chat! We will be chatting in Meebo in a private room. The chat will last one hour and will focus on programming for older teens, led by Penny Johnson, convenor of YALSA’s Serving New Adults Interest Group.

The URL for the chat is http://www.meebo.com/room/yalsaapril7memberchat/. The login is memberapril7.

Questions? Contact Eve Gaus at [email protected] or 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5293.

This Wednesday, Feb. 3,  is the First Wednesday of the month − and you know what that means! YALSA hosts an online chat for members on the first Wednesday of each month from 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern in its space in ALA Connect. The chat this month, moderated by Sarah Flowers, will be on the topic of Building and Defending Your Teen Services Budget. Join the discussion to learn tips and tricks for how you can build and defend your teen services budget and share your own experiences.

YALSA members should use their login for the ALA website. If you’ve lost your password, you can recover it through the ALA website. Once logged in, head to the YALSA area (it’s http://connect.ala.org/yalsa or you can navigate there within Connect by choosing “YALSA” from under “My ALA Groups”) and then click “Chats.”

Can’t make it? The transcript will be posted on the YALSA Blog on Thursday.

Last night’s YALSA sponsored chat, What’s Your YALSA New Year’s Resolution, was a lively discussion about YALSA member groups, what makes an Interest Group and Interest Group, what makes a Discussion Group a Discussion Group, YALSA publishing opportunities, and the process for getting involved in the Association.

The chat was facilitated by myself, YALSA President, and Kim Patton, YALSA President-Elect. It was good to have the opportunity to answer member, and potential member, questions about the organization.

The transcript of the chat is available and you can read through to learn more about getting involved in the Association. If you have questions about the committee appointment process contact Kim Patton. If you have questions about getting involved in YALSA outside of committee membership, feel free to contact me.

YALSA chats are held the first Wednesday of every month. The next chat is scheduled for Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 8 to 9 PM Eastern, and the topic is Defending Your Teen Services Budget. The monthly echats are a part of YALSA’s First Wednesdays with YALSA initiative. You can read more about it on the YALSA web site.

YALSA hosted its monthly online chat in ALA Connect on Wednesday, Dec. 2, with members talking about technology and teen services, plus ideas for Teen Tech Week. The chat was hosted by Karen Keys, chair of YALSA’s Tech for Young Adults committee, and Kelly Czarnecki, chair of YALSA’s Teen Tech Week committee.

You can read the chat transcript (PDF). Join us for next month’s chat on Jan. 6, 8-9 p.m. Eastern, on starting your new year with YALSA! We’ll be chatting about how you can get involved with YALSA — whether it’s participating online by joining an interest group in ALA Connect, proposing a program for Annual 2011, volunteering for a committee, or something else, we’ll be talking about the many ways you can be a part of our association.  See you there – and remember, be part of First Wednesdays with YALSA.

YALSA kicks off its monthly First Wednesday initiative tonight! YALSA gatherings are happening across the country, with members and teen library supporters gathering to network, discuss current issues in librarianship, and participate in YALSA’s monthly online chat.

Tonight’s chat takes place, per usual, in YALSA’s space in ALA Connect (you must be a YALSA member to participate) at http://connect.ala.org/yalsa from 8 – 9 p.m. Eastern. Tonight’s topic is teens and technology. Led by Karen Keys, chair of YALSA’s Technology for Young Adults committee, and Kelly Czarnecki, chair of YALSA’s Teen Tech Week committee, we’ll be discussing how to incorporate technology into teen services and planning for Teen Tech Week 2010.

To join us for tonight’s chat, visit YALSA’s area in ALA Connect (the chat is open only to YALSA members). YALSA members should use their login for the ALA website. If you’ve lost your password, you can recover it through the ALA website. Once logged in, head to the YALSA area (it’s http://connect.ala.org/yalsa or you can navigate there within Connect by choosing “YALSA” from under “My ALA Groups”) and then click “Chats.”

Can’t make it? The transcript will be posted on the YALSA Blog on Thursday.

For the past few months, YALSA has been holding informal online chats in ALA Connect on the first Wednesday of each month. Beginning in December, we’d like to encourage YALSA members to connect with each other in person as well as online.

We’re thrilled to announce First Wednesdays with YALSA — a chance for our members to use our monthly chats as a tool for gathering with other members in their area to socialize, exchange ideas, network, and exchange news and tips about YALSA and the profession as a whole.

The next chat (focusing on teens and technology) takes place Dec. 2 – read on to find out how you can be part of First Wednesdays with YALSA!

Begin by hosting an event. Use the tips from this WikiHow manual or from YALSA’s First Wednesdays tip sheet to start planning. Find a place to host the event, make sure you have Internet access, and start inviting YALSA colleagues. List your event on the YALSA Wiki.

Invite YA library workers in your area! Think about who you’d like to attend:  school librarians, public library staff, grad students, YALSA members, etc. YALSA can help you find members in your area to invite. Contact the YALSA Office at [email protected] or 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4390, and ask for a list of members in your area. Be sure to specify if you’d like email addresses with your request.

Distribute YALSA stuff. YALSA has a new page of downloadable flyers, handouts, and other tools that you can print out and share at your event. Members can also order up to 100 copies of most of these handouts and other swag. Visit www.ala.org/yalsa/handouts for more details.

Hold your event. Get there early, make a point to welcome everyone personally, and make sure to answer questions about YALSA (or write them down to send to the office, if you don’t know the answers!). Test your Internet access beforehand and make sure you can log in to YALSA’s ALA Connect space.  When you join the chat, let us know about your event! Find more tips on YALSA’s First Wednesdays tip sheet.

Future planning. Take notes and let us know what worked and what didn’t at [email protected]. Talk to attendees and see if you can make this a rotating event, with a different person chairing each month’s session.

Questions? Contact us at [email protected]!

Congratulations! YALSA named its two 2010 Emerging Leaders! Anna Koval, teacher-librarian at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma, California, and Amy Barr, youth services librarian and assistant director at Kilgore Memorial Library in York, Nebraska. Both will attend the 2010 Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference. The Emerging Leaders are funded through the Friends of YALSA.

E-Chat Next Week! Mark your calendars! YALSA’s monthly online chats return next week in ALA Connect. On Nov. 4, we’ll be discussing inexpensive programming and ways to stretch your programming dollars with Jenine Lillian, editor of the new YALSA book, Cool Teen Programs for under $100. To join us, visit YALSA’s area in ALA Connect. YALSA members should use their login for the ALA website. If you’ve lost your password, you can recover it through the ALA website. Once logged in, head to the YALSA area (it’s http://connect.ala.org/yalsa or you can navigate there within Connect by choosing “YALSA” from under “My ALA Groups”) and then click “Chats.”

Lit Blog Applications and CE Proposals Due 10/30! Interested in editing YALSA’s new blog, focused exclusively on teen literature? Read the announcement to see the qualifications and find out how to apply. The deadline to propose new continuing education (online courses and face-to-face institutes) is tomorrow as well; see our announcement for topic ideas and the proposal form. Applications for the new blog manager and the CE proposals are both due to Beth Yoke at [email protected] tomorrow.

After the jump, find out how you can sign up for special events at ALA’s Midwinter Meeting, apply for $40K in grants and awards, promote the Teens’ Top Ten at your library, or receive a stipend to attend the 2010 Young Adult Literature Symposium.

Register for YALSA’s pre-Midwinter events Registration is now open for YALSA’s pre-Midwinter events! Sign up for the Midwinter Institute, “Libraries 3.0: Teen Edition” (featuring Cory Doctorow and others) and Midwinter Social Event, ”Games, Gadgets & Gurus.” Register for both and save! Register through Midwinter registration or, if you only want to attend these two events, by downloading this form (PDF; skip section I) and following the directions at the YALSA wiki. Want to add these events to an existing registration? You can add events two ways: (1) By phone: Call ALA Registration at 1-800-974-3084 and ask to add a workshop to your existing registration.; (2) Online: Add an event to your existing registration by clicking on this link. Use your log in and password to access your existing Midwinter registration and add events in the “Your Events” section (screen 6). Then simply check out and pay for the events you’ve added. You can see all of YALSA’s plans for Midwinter at the YALSA Midwinter Wiki, http://bit.ly/yalsamw2010.

Apply for $40K in awards & grants from YALSA YALSA members can apply for more than $40,000 in grants and awards! This year, we will award up the YALSA/Baker & Taylor Conference Grants, theYALSA/BWI Collection Development Grants, the YALSA/Greenwood Publishing Group Service to Young Adults Award, the MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens, the Frances Henne/YALSA/VOYA Research Grant, and the Great Books Giveaway. Applications for all YALSA member awards are due by Dec. 1. Details on all the awards and grants are available online at www.ala.org/yalsa/awards&grants.

Promote the Teens’ Top Ten with bookmarks! By now, you’ve read that teens cast more than 11,000 votes for the 2009 Teens’ Top Ten and seen that John Green’s Paper Towns topped the list. YALSA created bookmarks (PDF) to promote this year’s ten winning titles; you can customize and distribute them at your library.

Apply for a YA Lit Symposium travel stipend! Join YALSA in 2010 for the Young Adult Literature Symposium, Nov. 5-7, 2010, in Albuquerque, N.M, with a theme  of “Beyond Good Intentions: Teens, Literature and Diversity.” We’re also giving away two stipends to offset travel costs, one for someone whose worked directly with teens in a library setting for ten years or less and one for a student in an ALA-accredited MLS program (you must be enrolled in an MLS program at the start of the symposium); stipend applications are due by Jan. 4, 2010. Details on both are available at www.ala.org/yalitsymposium.

That’s it for this week’s update! To stay up to date on the latest from the YALSA Office, sign up to follow YALSA on Twitter or become a fan of YALSA on Facebook!

YALSA’s monthly online chats continue tomorrow night at 8 p.m. Eastern! Join us in YALSA’s space in ALA Connect to discuss advocacy for teen services, hosted by Beth Gallaway (chair of YALSA’s Advocacy Taskforce). Come ready to discuss the importance of advocating for teen services (particularly in difficult times), how you can be an advocate, and tools that YALSA offers to help you in your advocacy efforts.

To join us, visit YALSA’s area in ALA Connect. YALSA members should use their login for the ALA website. If you’ve lost your password, you can recover it through the ALA website. Once logged in, head to the YALSA area (it’s http://connect.ala.org/yalsa or you can navigate there within Connect by choosing “YALSA” from under “My ALA Groups”) and then click “Chats.” Starting at 8 p.m. Eastern, we’ll be there.

Can’t make it? Check the blog on Thursday afternoon to see the transcript.

Last night, YALSA members met in YALSA’s ALA Connect space for the division’s monthly online chat. This month, participants discussed Teen Read Week—exchanging programming ideas, discussing the economic crisis’ effect on Teen Read Week plans, talking about the Teens’ Top Ten and more. Read the transcript (PDF) for inspiration!

Our thanks to Carla Land for hosting and to all the participants for their contributions.

Join us for the next chat, Oct. 7, on advocacy for teen services, hosted by Beth Gallaway, chair of YALSA’s advocacy task force.

Teen Read Week is right around the corner! Whether you’re looking for inspiration or you’re about to finalize your plans, we want to hear from you! Come to the monthly YALSA online chat tonight in ALA Connect and be prepared to talk about how you’ll be encouraging teens to Read Beyond Reality @ your library. Your host will be Carla Land, chair of YALSA’s Teen Read Week committee.

To join us, visit YALSA’s area in ALA Connect. YALSA members should use their login for the ALA website. If you’ve lost your password, you can recover it through the ALA website. Once logged in, head to the YALSA area (it’s http://connect.ala.org/yalsa or you can navigate there within Connect by choosing “YALSA” from under “My ALA Groups”) and then click “Chats.” Starting at 8 p.m. Eastern, we’ll be there.

Can’t make it? Check the blog tomorrow afternoon to see the transcript.

YALSA is now hosting online chats every month in our space in ALA Connect! It’s an easy, inexpensive way to be more engaged in YALSA and talk with other librarians about topics that matter in teen services. Chats take place the first Wednesday of each month from 8-9 p.m. Eastern and each one has a specific theme. Our next chat will be on Sept. 2, with Carla Land, chair of the Teen Read Week committee, moderating a discussion on Teen Read Week.

In our last membership survey, members indicated overwhelmingly that they sought more opportunities for virtual participation. The monthly online chats are one way that we are providing our members with what they want from us.

After the jump, find out topics for future chats – we’ve chosen themes through January – and how to log in and participate. Have a suggestion? Leave it in the comments.

Our scheduled chats are:

Oct. 7: Advocacy in Teen Services, moderated by Beth Gallaway, chair of YALSA’s Advocacy Task Force

Nov. 4: Inexpensive Teen Programming, moderated by Jenine Lillian, editor of the forthcoming Cool Teen Programs for under $100

Dec. 2: Teens and Technology

Jan. 6: Getting Involved with YALSA

How do you participate? At 8 p.m. Eastern on the day of the chat, log into ALA Connect at http://connect.ala.org. YALSA members should use their login for the ALA website. If you’ve lost your password, you can recover it through the ALA website. Once logged in, head to the YALSA area (it’s http://connect.ala.org/yalsa or you can navigate there within Connect by choosing “YALSA” from under “My ALA Groups”) and then click “Chats.”

If you can’t make it, visit the YALSA blog the next day, as we post all chat transcripts.

Last night YALSA’s monthly chat was on the topic of risk in teen services. A pdf file of the transcript is now available.

It was quite an invigorating discussion with a variety of risky topics covered including:

• Risks of librarians friending teens on Facebook and other social networks
• Differences that exist in risk-taking in school libraries and public libraries
• Importance of having support in risk-taking in the workplace
• Importance of being able to talk with others about risky situations, decisions, etc.
• Need to assess levels of risk and when to take risks in library services to teens
• Categories of risk
• Connections between fear and risk
• The need to be able to access stories of librarian risk-taking

And that’s just a few of the topics covered.

One of the areas that jumped out for me during the discussion was the difference between planned risk-taking and on-the-fly risk-taking. For example, it’s possible to plan to take a risk in a new program, but it’s not possible to plan for the spontaneous discussions librarians have with teens on topics that might require saying something risky as part of the discussion. (For example conversations that might lead to discussion of sexual orientation, religion, health, politics, etc.)

On-the-fly risk-taking is something I want to consider more. I definitely want to talk to other librarians about this topic. Perhaps readers of this blog have thoughts about on-the-fly risk-taking. If you do, feel free to post them in the comments. (Actually, any thoughts about the topic of risk feel free to post in the comments.)

As a reminder, YALSA will publish a book, titled Risky Business, in summer 2010. If you have stories about risk in your career and/or your library, you can send a message to [email protected]. One of the book’s authors will get in touch with you to talk more about your story and its possible inclusion in the book.

The next YALSA chat is scheduled for Wednesday, September 2, 8PM Eastern. The theme is Teen Read Week. You can participate by going to YALSA’s space in ALA Connect and clicking on the chat link on the right side of the page.