Fowler, Pennington receive YALSA’s 2018 Conference Scholarship Grants

CHICAGO – The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has awarded the 2018 Baker & Taylor/YALSA Conference Grants to Amy Fowler and Cherity Penington.

Each winner will receive up to $1,000 to attend the 2018 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans. There was no winner this year for The Dorothy Broderick Student Scholarship.

Fowler is the Teen Librarian at the Nevins Memorial Library in Methuen, MA.

"I am thrilled to have received the YALSA Conference Travel Scholarship," said Fowler. "I will be attending the ALA conference for the first time this summer where I will be participating on the Alex Award committee. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity."

Pennington currently serves as the Library Media Specialist at the Shawnee (Oklahoma) Middle School.

"Thank you to YALSA and Baker & Taylor for the opportunity to attend the ALA Conference for the first time," said Pennington. "This conference will be an invaluable experience for me as I improve my practice as a school librarian. I am excited to be able to meet and learn from all the library experts who will be in New Orleans."

The Baker & Taylor Conference Grant is awarded to first-time attendees of an Annual Conference. One grant is given to a school librarian and one grant is given to a librarian whose focus is public libraries. Recipients must be YALSA members and have between one to ten years’ experience working with young adults.

Applications for the 2019 Baker and Taylor Grant and Dorothy Broderick Student Scholarship can be found on Awards and Grants for Members page of the YALSA web site. Apply by December 1, 2018.

The YALSA Conference Travel Scholarships Jury members are: Chair Katie Richert, Bloomingdale Public Library, Bloomingdale, IL; Amy Estersohn, Hommocks Middle School, Scarsdale, NY; Sean Gilmartin, Elmwood Park Public Library, Elmwood Park, IL; Kelsey Socha, Boston, MA; Ivy Weston, Santa Monica Public Library, Santa Monica, CA.

The mission of Young Adult library Services Association (YALSA) is to support library staff in alleviating the challenges teen 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 email: yalsa@ala.org.