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FYI,

Sharon Rawlins, Youth Services Consultant, NJ State Library

Get involved! YALSA Seeks Volunteers for Selection Committees, Award Committees and Taskforces!

 Hello Everyone,

This fall, YALSA will be making appointments to the following selection committees and taskforces! Put your passion for young adult literature to work! If you have experience in evaluating and selecting young adult materials, as well as time to volunteer your skills, please consider serving on a YALSA selection committee. We'll be appointing members to the following committees and taskforces:

 How do I get on a committee or taskforce?

To serve on a committee or taskforce, you must be officially appointed by YALSA’s President-Elect, Jack Martin.  YALSA is collecting volunteer forms from now through Sept. 30 for members who would like to serve on selection and award committees as well as taskforces that begin work on Feb. 1, 2012.  If you are currently serving on a selection or award committee and you are eligible to and interested in serving for another term, you must fill out a volunteer form. This is the only way the President-Elect knows for certain that you’re interested in continuing on the committee.  Also, please note that selection committee members are required to attend both Midwinter and Annual conferences. Please ensure that you can travel to both conferences before you volunteer.

 What Do I Need to Know to Volunteer?

Before you volunteer to serve on a committee or taskforce, you’ll want to learn what the group does and what your responsibilities will be.  YALSA has created a free webinar with information about what it’s like to serve on a selection or award committee.  Be sure to take the time to view it at http://tinyurl.com/5s9g5uy.  You can also contact the chair directly to let him/her know you're interested in serving and to ask questions about what your involvement will entail.  Names and contact information for all the committee chairs are available from the “Governance” link on YALSA's homepage.  From the Get Involved link on YALSA’s home page you’ll also find information about each of the committees’ functions, size, etc.  Lastly, be sure to read through YALSA’s Handbook, especially the sections that list responsibilities for committee members.  It’s online at www.ala.org/yalsa.  Just click on “Handbook” from the left menu. 

 Where do I volunteer?

In order to be considered for a selection or award committee, you need to fill out a Selection Committee Volunteer Form by Sept. 30.  It is online at:

http://yalsa.ala.org/forms/selectionvolunteer.php

 If you’d like to be considered for one of the taskforces, please fill out this form:

http://yalsa.ala.org/forms/process_com.php

 What else? What’s next?

To learn more about volunteering for committees and taskforces as well as the appointments process, please visit http://wikis.ala.org/yalsa/index.php/Get_Involved_in_YALSA

Jack Martin

YALSA President-Elect