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Advocacy I Fund & Partner Development I Leading the Transformation of Teen Services I Organizational Re-Alignment

YALSA's Board of Directors adopted a new, three year in 2021. Each of the three sections below represents a goal area in the plan. Keep up to date on the latest projects and issues via the .

Advocacy

YALSA supports 91´«Ã½ and other Division advocacy efforts and provides teen services specific resources via our . Please of the Standing Board Committee on Advocacy if you'd like to contribute to this work. Currently YALSA is working on:

• Conducting an as a first step to streamlining and enhancing what we provide to members to support their advocacy efforts.
• Two member taskforces are working to support members in their advocacy efforts: and .

Putting Teens First

Given the events that followed the 2016 election, YALSA is working to provide information and resources to help members support teens in this uncertain climate, including:

• These resource pages: and
• The winter 2018 issue of features a youth activism theme, and the spring 2018 issue focuses on serving teens through small, rural and tribal libraries
• Check out this to help guide your work and share it with supervisors and coworkers, and this companion document,
• In June 2017 YALSA published

Fund & Partner Development

Fund and partner development work is in the planning stage. Please of the Standing Board Committee on Fund and Partner Development if you'd like to contribute to this work.

Leading the Transformation of Teen Services

Case Studies: YALSA is collecting examples of innovations that libraries are doing that support the vision for teen services as outlined in YALSA's . If you have a case study to share, please . An updated collection of Case Studies is now available as a free .

Collection Development & Content Curation:

• In January 2017, was expanded with the addition of a database that will include all of YALSA's book and media award winners and selected lists in a fully searchable format. Content on the Hub will continue to expand to include YA materials of all formats and genres.
• In January 2018, YALSA completed the process for transitioning YALSA's selected lists from standing committees to virtual blogging teams on the Hub. Read a January 2017 (pdf) that outlines the transition process as well as an to the transition.
• In the fall of 2018, YALSA, with funding from 91´«Ã½, expanded the database and app to include recommended teen titles from 91´«Ã½'s affiliates and round tables, including AILA, BC91´«Ã½, REFORMA, and more.

College & Career Readiness:

• With $305,000 in funds from the, YALSA will provide training and resources to small, rural and tribal library staff around college and career readiness. Learn more on our web page.
• With a $500,000 sponsorship from Google, YALSA is administering a grant program for libraries to design computational thinking and computer science programs for and with underrepresented youth. YALSA is partnering with 91´«Ã½'s Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP), AASL, and ALSC on this effort, which runs from July 2017 through June 2018. This effort is a continuation of OITP's project. Use this short to submit your email to receive updates, including a notice when the application opens. Learn more on .

Community Connections: A YALSA compiled existing and created new resources to help members forge and maintain successful community partnerships in order to better meet the needs of all the teens in their community. The resulting work was compiled into a free (pdf).

Continuing Education: From June 1, 2017 through May 31, 2018 YALSA partnered with COSLA to host a . The result of this project is a with recommendations for improving CE for all library staff so that teens are better served through libraries. State library agencies, graduate schools, trainers and others can use the report's recommendations to plan and deliver effective learning programs for all library staff. As a follow-up to this project, COSLA and YALSA are implementing a three year, beginning in July 2018.

Cultural Competence: Visit to access a compilation of resources. At 91´«Ã½'s 2018 Annual Conference in New Orleans, YALSA will co-host a workshop with 91´«Ã½'s Office for Diversity, Literacy & Outreach Services on this topic, then make the materials publicly available online after the event. Additional work in this area is in the planning stages. Please of the Standing Board Committee on Leading the Transformation of Teen Services if you'd like to contribute to this work.

• Findings and recommendations from the Advancing Diversity Taskforce based on seeking feedback from both members and potential members and by researching industry best practices in diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to explore the challenges and opportunities library staff of diverse backgrounds face when connecting with YALSA, including barriers to YALSA membership. by To learn more about this report, please read the .

Leadership: In 2018 YALSA launched an aimed at helping members prepare for the next level in their career.

: Last updated in 2014, a new version of the agenda is now available that aligns with YALSA’s recent report, “The Future of Library Services for and with Teens: a Call to Action.”

STEAM Toolkit: The ™ Committee expanded YALSA’s STEM Toolkit into a (pdf).

and : these are meant to help graduate schools, library administrators, and library staff guarantee that all teens receive high quality service from their public and school libraries, regardless of whether the library has the capacity to dedicate a full-time position to serving teens.

Organizational Realignment

In addition to working on the three goal areas listed above, a key first step for YALSA in implementing the new plan is restructuring the organization so that it is better positioned to carry out the new work needed to support the plan. For an overview of the re-alignment, check out these PowerPoint slides. Activities related to this effort include:

Creating short-term, virtual, opt-in opportunities for members: In mid-2016 the board began the process of evaluating all 50+ YALSA member groups, including advisory boards committees, juries and taskforces. The board also approved transforming many other member commitments from 1 and 2 year appointments to shorter term and opt in opportunities. The logistics of this change are being planned out in 2016 - 2017, with actual changes taking place in phases, beginning in Feb. 2017. Check out the of the YALSAblog for more background as well as for updates.

• Moving to short term appointments for juries: As a part of this reorganization, YALSA's board approved a pilot plan to transform juries from 12 month appointed groups to 3 month appointed groups, beginning with groups that are appointed in fall 2016. The pilot was well recieved, so juries now operate under a 3 month term of appointment
• Leveraging Resource Retreats: just prior to the 2017 Midwinter Meeting a small group of YALSA members met in person to create a for members. The Resource Retreat concept is being piloted as an alternative to appointing 1 - 2 year taskforces. Instead of doing a little work over an extended period of time, the Retreat will enable members to complete their task with minimal pre-work and a full day, intensive work session.

Governance reorganization: the board agreed that the mission and scope of the Executive Committee needed refocusing, and is working throughout the fall of 2016 and winter of 2017 to hammer out a new vision for this group. The board also agreed to expand the focus of the traditional Governance Nominating Committee to also encompass board training/development. The logistics of this change are being planned out in 2016 - 2017, with actual changes taking place beginning in Feb. 2017. Lastly, the board also agreed that more diverse representation on the board was needed, including representatives from beyond the library community. The logistics of this change are being planned out in 2016 - 2017, with actual changes taking place some time in 2017. Check out the of the YALSAblog for more background as well as for updates.

Staff reorganization: the board is leveraging interest from YALSA's endowments to fund a part-time position that will support literacies related projects, including book and media awards, Teen Read Week, the Teens' Top Ten, and the Teen Book Finder app. Other staff positions are being adjusted to support the work of the new plan.