YALSA names 2010 Emerging Leaders
Contact: Stephanie Kuenn
YALSA Communications Specialist
(312) 280-2128
skuenn@ala.org
NEWS
For Immediate Release
November 3, 2009
CHICAGO —The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) chose Anna Koval and Amy Barr as its 2010 Emerging Leaders. Each will receive funding to attend the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference in 2010. YALSA’s participation in the Emerging Leaders program is through the Friends of YALSA.
Barr is a youth services librarian and assistant director at Kilgore Memorial Library in York, Neb.
“For me, the core of what it means to be a YALSA Emerging Leader is the opportunity to learn and grow as a librarian,” Barr said. “The Emerging Leaders program is an amazing opportunity to learn about new ideas and possibilities from a variety of different libraries, then to tweak the ideas until they can be applied to my own library. I am excited to have this amazing opportunity to collaborate with a diverse collection of librarians and hopefully to keep these connections throughout my career.”
Koval is a teacher/librarian at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma, Calif.
“Being an Emerging Leader, to me, means an opportunity to network with librarians from all over the nation, to be exposed to other philosophies of teen librarianship and to join the ranks of ALA leadership,” Koval said. “But, as a California school librarian, working with YALSA means so much more. California school and public libraries are facing serious staffing and budget cutbacks, and I look forward to learning how to defend programs and people back home.”
The Emerging Leaders program enables newer librarians from across the country to participate in workgroups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA's structure and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity. Emerging Leaders receive up to $1,000 each to participate in the Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference, and each participant is expected to provide  years of service to ALA or one of its units. More than 100 librarians will get on the fast track to leadership in ALA and the profession in the 2009 program.
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 to
www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists, or contact the YALSA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4390, or e-mail,
yalsa@ala.org.
