In or around the second week of November each year, each school affiliated with ALA with an ALA Student Chapter will be invited to nominate one and only one student to participate in the Student-to-Staff Program (S2S). S2S provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for 40 students engaged in ALA Student Chapters both to attend an ALA Annual Conference and to work behind-the-scenes with ALA staff.
Calls for nomination will be sent to the Student Chapter business e-list. Faculty advisors are asked not to send nominations now or through regular e-mail. Instead, faculty advisors will be asked to complete a nomination survey. The link to that survey will be included in the November invitation.
To qualify for the ALA student-to-staff program:
- Each student must be a Student Chapter member.
- Each student must be a current ALA member and remain an ALA member through the ALA Annual Conference that he or she is nominated to participate in.
- Each student accepted cannot have previously participated in the program.
- Students are eligible if they graduate in May immediately before the conference.
- ALA supports student members through a wide array of programs and services. ALA Spectrum Scholars receiving funds to attend a Spectrum Leadership Institute through their scholarship are not eligible to participate in the Student-to-Staff program for the Conference in conjunction with the Leadership Institute. Required attendance at the Institute and conference events precludes the work requirements of the Student-to-Staff program. Incoming Spectrum Scholars and alumni are encouraged to apply.
Each school has its own selection process, and the chosen student’s name must be submitted to ALA by the group’s faculty advisor. One student from 40 ALA Student Chapters will be accepted. Only one student per each of these ALA Student Chapters is accepted.
Students participating in the program work with an ALA unit for 16 hours during Annual Conference. For those hours, each S2S student receives free registration, housing, and a per diem for meal expenses, and is given the opportunity to attend meetings, programs, and other ALA Conference events in their spare time.
S2S was established in 1973 and is coordinated by the Chapter Relations Office with support from Conference Services. For additional information about S2S, visit the official page.
Find Out More
If you’re interested, find out how you can participate in the Student-to-Staff Program at the 2018 Annual Conference in New Orleans by contacting your ALA Student Chapter for its selection criteria.
For information about the process, contact Don Wood in the Chapter Relations Office. Remember, this program is available only at the Annual Conference. Once again, there are no volunteer opportunities at ALA Midwinter Meetings.
This point cannot be emphasized enough! There are over 60 ALA Student Chapters. After the message soliciting students to participate is sent, the first 40 nominees meeting the criteria are chosen to participate. All other nominees meeting the criteria will be placed on a waiting list.
NOTE: Contact information found on the ALA Student Chapters Directory is used to contact the ALA Student Chapters each year about the Student-to-Staff Program. Each is responsible for helping ensure its own information is correct. Help ensure this information is correct by submitting corrections to Don Wood, Chapter Relations Office.