Paula Brehm-Heeger YALSA: Leading the Way June 2008

My last month as YALSA President was a busy one, to say the least. I worked with Executive Director Beth Yoke and YALSA’s Board members, particularly President-Elect Sarah Debraski, to prepare for the annual conference in Anaheim, California. It was a great conference that capped off an amazing year. It has been a true honor to serve as the President of YALSA and I am looking forward to continuing to contribute to our Division as the Past-President. Thanks to YALSA staff, leaders and members for everything!

Accomplishments

  • Filled unexpected vacancies on committees as necessary.
  • Sent final messages to Committee Chairs with information to help them prepare for the ALA annual conference.
  • Completed appointments to YALSA’s new Award for Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction selection committee
  • Presided over two executive committee sessions, three board meetings, the leadership development meeting for committee chairs and the all-committee meeting during the annual conference.
  • Set up a new wiki space dedicated to information for and about YALSA’s Past-Presidents.
  • Provided feedback from the YALSA Board to the YALSA Intellectual Freedom Committee Chairperson to share with the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee regarding proposed changes to the ALA Intellectual Freedom Manual.
  • I had the great honor of participating in the Margaret Edwards Award Luncheon and the Michael L. Printz Award reception, introducing speakers and helping to host these important events at the annual conference.

In Progress

  • Transitioning to my new role as Past-President, providing help and support to the new President, Sarah Debraski, and new President-Elect, Linda Braun.
  • Writing thank-you letters to YALSA chair people with terms that expired at the end of annual conference, 2008.
  • Writing thank-you letters to YALSA’s promotional partners who provided support for members during the annual conference.

Media

  • Spoke with a reporter from the
    New York Times about the many activities offered for teens as part of summer reading programs at libraries across the country.

Additional Important News


Housing and Registration are now open for YALSA's first-ever Young Adult Literature Symposium. You can find more information about the Literature Symposium at:
www.ala.org/yalitsymposium. The 2008 Teen Read Week web site has been launched and registration is now open at
www.ala.org/teenread

President-Elect Linda Braun will be making appointments to selection committees in the fall and process committees in early 2009. YALSA members interested in serving on a YALSA committee should be sure to fill out a volunteer form at
http://ala.org/ala/yalsa/joinus/committeevolunteer.cfm