YALSA opens proposals for 2018 Symposium

CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is seeking program proposals and paper presentations for its 2018 Young Adult Services Symposium. The theme of the symposium is “Zeroing In: Focusing on Teen Needs,” and is to be held Nov. 2-4, 2018, in Salt Lake City, UT.

Many school and public libraries are being asked to do more with less. Identifying and honing in on teens’ greatest needs can help prioritize service and mobilize resources. While teen needs often vary from community to community, all teens can benefit from building social and emotional skills that will help them succeed in school, college, careers and life. Libraries can leverage collections, services, programs, community partnerships and more to help teens build skills around self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationships, and social awareness. At this symposium, school and public library staff, educators, researchers, young adult authors and other teen advocates will explore how libraries can best support teens’ social and emotional learning to help them effectively navigate a challenging world.

Now as an annual event with an expanded focus, programs at the symposium will cover the entire spectrum of topics related to providing services for and with young adults. YALSA is seeking proposals that highlight best or emerging practices for libraries of all sizes and capacities in the following categories:

• Programs and services (including planning, implementing and evaluation)
• Collections and content curation
• Digital and Print Literacies
• Youth Participation
• Partnering/Collaborations
• Equity and inclusion
• Outreach

Interested parties are invited to propose 90-minute programs centering on the theme, as well as paper presentations offering new, unpublished research related to the theme via the program proposal or paper presentation online forms found on the symposium site.

Proposals for programs and paper presentations must be completed online by February 1, 2018. Applicants will be notified of their proposals’ status the week of April 1, 2018.

Registration for the 2018 YA Services Symposium will open in April. Sign up for updates here. To learn more about the symposium, visit www.ala.org/yalsa/yasymposium.

The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is to support library staff in alleviating the challenges teens face, and in putting all teens ‒ especially those with the greatest needs ‒ on the path to successful and fulfilling lives. 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.