Chelton receives YALSA’s 2018 Outstanding Achievement Award

CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has selected Mary K. Chelton as the recipient of its 2018 Outstanding Achievement Award.

Dr. Chelton is a retired professor of the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at Queens College, CUNY, YALSA Past President, co-founder of the Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) publication, as well as an author who has published numerous articles and books on young adult services and reader’s advisory. Chelton has received multiple recognitions for her significant contributions to the profession, most recently NoveList's Margaret E. Monroe Library Adult Services Award.

“Mary K. Chelton has been and continues to be a strong advocate for young adult library services,” said nominator Crystal Faris. “Mary K. has never been afraid of challenging pre-conceived notions of library service and we who have followed her are better for it.”

The $2,000 award, given every other year, is funded by Friends of YALSA (FOY) and recognizes a YALSA member who has demonstrated unique and sustained devotion to young adult services through substantial work across the trajectory of their career. Learn more.

Friends of YALSA was created in 2005 to ensure excellence in the Association's traditional programs and services to library workers serving teens and to support growth in new directions as our profession meets the exciting challenges of the 21st century. Each year, FOY donations fund over $14,000 in member awards, grants, scholarships, and stipends. Learn more or donate at http://www.ala.org/yalsa/givetoyalsa/foy.

Members of the 2017 Outstanding Achievement Award Jury are: Chair Meghan Cirrito, Long Island City, NY; Joie Formando, Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Country Day School; Christopher Lassen, BookOps/NYPL/BPL, Long Island City, NY; Elsa D. Ouvrard-Prettol, Natomas Charter, Sacramento, CA; Elizabeth Portillo, Easton (Connecticut) Public Library; and Heather Sparks, Free Library of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania).

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.