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CHICAGO —The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) awarded the to Amelia Anderson and Abigail Phillips. This $1,000 grant will provide seed money for their research project, “Youth with Autism and Digital Citizenship in the Library: What They Need and What Brings Them In.” The grant is administered by YALSA and generously funded by VOYA Magazine.

“This project seeks to understand what type(s) of public library based digital citizenship programming would be receptive to youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD),” explained Phillips in her application. “This project is an extension of an earlier study conducted by the researchers that investigated current and potential digital citizenship programming for youth on the spectrum through interviews with public librarians across the United States.”

Anderson is currently a Postdoctoral Scholar in the School of Information at Florida State University.

Phillips is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences at Utah State University.

“We are grateful to the Frances Henne jury, YALSA, and VOYA Magazine for recognizing the value in our work and giving us the opportunity to pursue this study over the next year,” said Phillips. “Our preliminary work indicates a great need for support for teens on the spectrum in public libraries; and we’re hopeful that our findings will inspire librarians who, too, provide supports for teen as they engage in online environments. As former public librarians, we are excited to combine both our practitioner and researcher skills in this project."

The for the Frances Henne Grant can be found on the page of the YALSA website. Applications are due by December 1, 2018.

The YALSA Frances Henne Award Jury members are: Chair Dr. Cindy C. Welch, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN; Catherine Boddie, Arapahoe Library District; Heather Colby, Homer Township Public Library District, Homer Glen, IL; Molly Dettmann, Pioneer Library System, Moore, OK; Lisa Morgan, Pasco County Library System, Zephyrhills, FL; and Kate Denier, Public Library of Cincinnati (OH) and Hamilton County.

The mission of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is to support library staff in alleviating the challenges teens face, and in putting all teens ‒ especially those with the greatest needs ‒ on the path to successful and fulfilling lives. For more information about YALSA or to access national guidelines and other resources go to , or contact the YALSA office by phone, 800-545-2433, ext. 4390; or e-mail: yalsa@ala.org.