Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)

CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has awarded Sheila Michaels, Library Media Specialist at Nixa High School in Nixa Missouri, its’ 2023 Margaret A. Edwards (MAE) Award for Best Literature Program for Teens for her Program BookBag, a community summer outreach initiative. Michaels will receive a $500 award for herself and an additional $500 for her library.

CHICAGO — Yvette Garcia, Assistant Director, Sulzer Regional Library, at the Chicago Public Library, has been elected as YALSA’s 2024 division president-elect. Garcia will begin her three-year term as president-elect in July of 2023, becoming president starting in July of 2024, and remain active on the board for one year as past president in 2025.

"I am both humbled and excited by the opportunity to serve and support YASLA members and the teens they serve,” said Garcia.

NUEVA ORLEANS — Adriana M. García, ilustradora de “Where Wonder Grows”; Claribel A. Ortega, autora de “Frizzy”; y Vincent Tirado, autore de “Burn Down, Rise Up” fueron seleccionados como ganadores de la edición 2023 de los Premios Pura Belpré al artista de ilustración; al autor de libros para niños; y al autor de libros para adolescentes, respectivamente. El premio rinde homenaje a los escritores e ilustradores Latines cuyas obras reflejan, afirman y celebran la experiencia cultural Latina en la literatura juvenil.

NEW ORLEANS — Taryn Beato for Simon & Schuster Audio, producer of the audiobook “Stuntboy, in the Meantime,” has won the 2023 Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production for Children. Melissa Ellard for Weston Woods Studios and Scholastic Audio, producer of the audiobook “The Honeys,” has won the 2023 Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production for Young Adults. The awards were announced today during the American Library Association’s (ALA) LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience, held January 27-30, in New Orleans.