For immediate release | January 27, 2016

Miller, Roberts, Shapiro receive YALSA’s 2016 Conference Scholarship Grants

CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), awarded the 2016 Baker & Taylor/YALSA Conference Grants to Amy Miller and Samantha Roberts. The Dorothy Broderick Student Scholarship was awarded to Stacey Shapiro. Each will receive up to $1,000 to attend the 2016 ALA Annual Conference in Orlando this summer.

The Baker & Taylor Conference Grant is awarded to first-time attendees at an Annual Conference. Recipients must be YALSA members and have between one and 10 year experience working with teenagers. The Dorothy Broderick Student Scholarship is funded by YALSA's Leadership Endowment and is given to a graduate student attending the conference for the first time.

Applications for the 2017 Baker and Taylor grant can be found on the Awards and Grants for Members page of the YALSA web site. Apply by December 1, 2016.

Amy Miller serves as the Teen Librarian at the Multnomah County Library in Gresham, Oregon. Since 2014, she has been coordinating teen programs, collaborating with local community organizations, providing outreach to neighboring schools, and facilitating volunteer opportunities for teens.

“I feel strongly about helping teens reach their full potential and learning that it's okay to explore who they are before settling on one path,” Miller said. “As a teen librarian, I look for the opportunity to bring a community, filled with challenges and differences, together as a united front to build friendships and to make their communities a better place.”

Samantha Roberts has been the library media specialist at West Port High School in Ocala, Florida since 2014. She aims to be on the technological forefront, and works closely with other departments in the school and the public library to provide the best service to her students. “I am constantly talking to students to learn their passions, what they are interested in reading, and help them be as successful as possible in their coursework on campus,” said Roberts.

Stacey Shapiro is a graduate student at the Rutgers University School of Communication and Information. She is also gaining library experience as an intern at the South River Public Library in New Jersey where she does teen programming and collection development. “Attending a professional conference as a student means that I can expand on what I'm learning in class,” Shapiro said, “ALA would bring a national perspective on issues facing American libraries.”

The YALSA Conference Travel Scholarships Jury members are: Chair Jenna Friebel, Deerfield Public Library, Deerfield, Ill.; Meghan Cirrito, New York, NY; Allison Gray, Santa Barbara Public Library System, Goleta, California; Dr. Chantell L. McDowell, Worcester, Mass.; and E.M. Roublow, Los Angeles, California.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has worked to build the capacity of libraries and library staff to engage, serve and empower teens. For more information about YALSA or to access national guidelines and other resources go to www.ala.org/yalsa, or contact the YALSA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4390; or e-mail: yalsa@ala.org.

Contact:

Anna Lam

Communications Specialist

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)

alam@ala.org