YALSA announces 2010 symposium theme, opens proposals
Contact: Stephanie Kuenn
YALSA Communications Specialist
312-280-2128
NEWS
For Immediate Release
May 26, 2009
CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the fastest-growing division of the American Library Association (ALA), chose “Beyond Good Intentions: Diversity, Literature, and Teens” as the theme for its 2010 Young Adult Literature Symposium, sponsored in part by the William C. Morris Endowment. In addition, the division opened its call for preconference proposals, program proposals and paper presentations for the symposium. The symposium takes place in Albuquerque, N.M., Nov. 5-7, 2010.
“Beyond Good Intentions” recognizes that today's generation of teens is the most diverse ever and invites attendees to explore whether contemporary literature reflects the many different faces, beliefs and identities of today's teens. The conference will also examine the impact this diverse generation will have on teen literature in the future.
“To truly meet the needs of diverse teens, one needs to have more than simple good intentions of providing a few ‘diverse’ books,” said Sarah Cornish Debraski, YALSA president. “The concept of diversity isn’t new. And we’re looking forward to examining further what diversity means for teen audiences in 2010.”
YALSA invites interested parties to propose a half- or full-day preconference centering on the theme, as well as 90-minute programs and paper presentations offering new, unpublished research relating to the theme. Applications for all proposals can be found
www.ala.org/yalitsymposium. Proposals for programs and paper presentations must be sent electronically
yalsa@ala.org by Oct. 1, 2009. Applicants will be notified of their proposals’ status by Jan. 15, 2010.
For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos and audio books for teens. For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading, viewing and listening, go
www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists, or contact the YALSA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4390, or e-mail
yalsa@ala.org.
