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CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) will host its monthly discussion forum next week on communicating with key stakeholders. 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 Aug. 1 and will close at 3 p.m. EDT, Aug. 5.

Librarians are frequently under pressure to demonstrate the value of the library and measure the library’s effectiveness, whether to their principal, school board, mayor or community. Join YALSA for a discussion how to communicate the value of your library through data. We’ll cover why collecting data is necessary and effective when communicating with key stakeholders, and how it is something all librarians can do. We’ll show simple ways, such as the use of infographics, to communicate this data to supervisors, students, patrons and policy makers. This discussion will be moderated by Priscille Dando, head librarian at Robert E. Lee High School in Virginia and chair of the Strategic Planning committee.

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

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 . To access the discussion, you must be a YALSA member.

For more information about YA Forum, please contact Eve Gaus, YALSA’s program officer for continuing education at egaus@ala.orgor 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5293.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos and audio books 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.