Get ready to vote! The YALSA election runs from March 19 through April 25, and to help you be an informed voter, we’re sharing interviews with each of the 2014 YALSA Governance candidates.
We will start with the candidates for Board Director-at-large. YALSA Board members serve three-year terms, during which they jointly determine YALSA’s policies, programs, and strategic direction, in accordance with YALSA’s bylaws. They attend both virtual and in-person meetings and serve as liaisons to YALSA’s committee chairs and members. A full description of Board duties and responsibilities can be found here.
Candidates, who will be presented in alphabetical order, were asked to craft “Twitter-length” responses (i.e. around 140 characters). Full biographical information on all of the candidates can be found on the sample ballot.
Today we have an interview with Rachel McDonald.
Name and current position: Rachel McDonald Teen Librarian, King County Library System.
Why did you decide to run for a YALSA office? What excites you about serving on YALSA Board?
After getting to know YALSA by serving on task forces & selection committees, serving on the board is the logical & exciting next chapter.
What areas of YALSA’s Strategic Plan do you think you can best contribute to? Why?
Having served on the YA Advocacy Benchmarks Task Force, I’m excited to educate and empower our members to do more advocacy.
What is the most pressing issue facing YALSA today?
Advocating for our members whose positions, whether in school or public libraries, are often in jeopardy. Let’s show everyone how much we’re needed!
What priority activities should YALSA take on to address the “paradigm shift” as described in The Future of Library Services for and with Teens report?
We need to encourage librarians to facilitate connected learning with teens and provide opportunities for them to connect with mentors.
What attributes have helped you succeed professionally?
I welcome the opportunity to collaborate and learn from others, but still do my research so I can back up the positions I hold.
What do you see as the primary role of the Board?
Using the strategic plan as a guide, the primary role of the board is to help our members better serve teens in their communities.
If elected, how will you help YALSA members (in their daily work, in their careers, other)?
I look forward to helping library staff & teen advocates connect by sharing research, best practices, & advocacy tools.
What else would you like voters to know about you?
I believe my collaborative skills & vision will help move YALSA forward as we continue to look for ways to engage & support our members.
In February we are posting interviews with each of the 2012 Candidates for YALSA Award Committees. This week we are focusing on Michael L. Printz Award Committee. Each day this week we’ll post an interview with one of the candidates for that committee. We are posting alphabetically by candidate’s last names.
The YALSA Nominating Committee for 2012 has been working hard to select candidates for this year’s election. The Printz Committee is charged with selecting from the previous year’s publications the best young adult book (“best” being defined solely in terms of literary merit) and, if the Committee so decides, as many as four Honor Books. The Committee will also have the opportunity for input into the oversight and planning of the Printz Awards Program. Committee size: 9, four to be elected, plus a consultant from the staff of Booklist, and an administrative assistant if requested.
This is your chance to get to know this year’s candidates that have been nominated to serve on the Printz Award Committee. Polls are open from March 19 to April 27.
Today we have an interview with Rachel McDonald.
What experience do you have that makes you a good candidate for the award position for which you are running?
Since becoming a teen librarian in 2007, I have served on multiple YALSA book selection committees, including Best Books for Young Adults, Morris, and beginning in 2012, the Alex Awards committee. In addition to my YALSA commitments, I have been active in the Washington State Young Adult Review Group (WASHYARG), which meets quarterly to review both fiction and nonfiction titles for young adults. My participation in WASHYARG has exposed me to a wide variety of title beyond what I might normally read, as has my involvement in my library system’s Mock Printz Award.
Why do you want to be a member of this awards committee?
The Youth Media Awards have been described as the “Oscars” of the children’s and teen literature community, and since its inception in 2000, the Printz Award has stood at the pinnacle of those honors. As a teen librarian who each year is consistently impressed and amazed by the quality of teen literature and its willingness to tackle life’s difficult questions, I would be honored to help choose the next Printz Award winner and honor books, and, more importantly, learn from other committee members about how they determine literary excellence in a young adult novel.
What are you most looking forward to in being a part of this award decision process?
I’m excited to work with advocates for teen literature across the country to choose the winner of the Printz Award. My favorite moments from previous committees have been when one person believes very strongly in the attributes of a particular book that s/he has fallen in love with. The debates that result are eyeopening and often reveal people’s assumptions about what makes a good book.
What do you feel are the key factors for decision-making for this award?
When considering titles for the Printz Award, I feel that the committee must come to a consensus on how it will define excellence in young adult literature. I feel it’s helpful to have a discussion as a group before getting too focused on the nominations process, as we did during my tenure on the Morris Award committee. Since the parameters for the award are narrower that many other selection committees (literary excellence and not popularity), I would expect myself and other committee members to read and re-read carefully, keeping in mind our discussions about our charge. Because our face time is minimal, using email and ALA Connect to discuss nominations is a must.
The reading load for awards committees is very high, how do you plan on managing the work load of award committee life?
Since I’ve already served on t
.jpg?picon=590)
