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CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) will host its monthly YA Forum discussion this week on Defending and Stretching Your Budget in its space in . Throughout the week, YALSA members are encouraged to check in to the discussion forum and ask questions and contribute to the ongoing discussion. The forum will open at 10 a.m. EDT on May 2 and will close at 3 p.m. EDT on May 6. You must be a YALSA member to access this discussion.

Working with a budget is an important issue for every young adult and school librarian. Talking about and asking for money can be challenging, but having the skills to advocate for and defend your budget is an important part in supporting and growing library services to teens. YALSA will discuss tips and tricks for reviewing your contracts to make sure you are getting the most for your money, as well as how to communicate the importance of financially supporting teen services and where to locate financial support for teen programs and financial success stories. This discussion will be moderated by Monique Delatte, a 2010 Library Journal Mover and Shaker and successful author and co-author of nearly $90,000 in grants.

YA Forum is a monthly discussion just for YALSA members. Each discussion will focus on a specific topic and will be moderated by an expert in the field. YA Forum is hosted in YALSA’s space in 91´«Ã½ Connect at .

Starting at 10 a.m. EDT, members can join the conversation by logging into and choosing “YALSA” under “My 91´«Ã½ Groups,” then selecting “Discussions” on the upper right.

For more information about YA Forum, please contact Eve Gaus, YALSA’s program officer for continuing education, at egaus@ala.org or 1 (800) 545-2433, ext. 2128.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos and audiobooks for teens. For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading, viewing and listening, go to , or contact the YALSA office by phone, (800) 545-2433, ext. 4390, or e-mail, yalsa@ala.org.