About YALSA

Outreach to Young Adults with Special Needs Committee Description

Type : Standing

Date of Establishment: Annual, 1991

Date of Completion: Continuing

Membership: 10 members, including Chair

Qualifications: YALSA members who must be able to attend the Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference of ALA.

Term of Ofice: Two years

Function: To address the needs of young adults who do not or cannot use the library because of socioeconomic, legal, educational, or physical factors; to serve as a liaison between these groups and their service providers; and to identify and promote library programs, resources and services that meet the special needs of these populations.

History: The Outreach Committee was recommended by the Task Force to Explore Establishment of a YALSA Committee on Outreach at the 1991 Annual Conference. The YALSA Board merged the Special Needs Committee with the Outreach Committee at the 1997 Annual Conference to form the Outreach to Young Adults with Special Needs Committee. The function statement of the merged committee was also changed.

The Econo-Clad Award for a Young Adult Reading or Literature Program was also assigned to this committee at that time. The name of the award was changed to the Sagebrush Award for Young Adult Reading or Literature Program in 2000 when Econo-Clad was purchased by the Sagebrush Corporation. The recipients for the Award during the period the Outreach committee judged it are as follows:

1997 - Susan R. Farber
1999 - Donna McMillen
2000 - Keith Hayes
2001 - Phyllis Saunders
2002 - Patricia Suellentrop
2003 - Paulette Goodman
2004 - Diane Tuccillo
2005 - Amelia Shelley

See the Media Selection and Usage Committee and the Econo-Clad Committee for previous award winners.