Standing for Election: 2025-26 New-to-ALSC Board of Directors

In an effort to help ALSC members make an informed decision before they vote, today’s’s blog post consists of statements from the two candidates standing for election to the ALSC New-to-ALSC Board of Directors. In this position, there are two candidates; one to be elected.

Manuela Aronofsky is standing for election as a New-to-ALSC Board of Directors candidate.

I would be honored to offer my expertise, experience, and ideas to the ALSC board.

Having served for the past five years as both an ALSC co-chair (Children + Technology) and committee member (2025 Pura Belpré Selection; Organizational Effectiveness) I have a range of actionable ideas and feedback as to how our organization can ensure their volunteers feel supported and purposeful.

My belief only grows stronger that ALSC must continue to advocate for the freedom of information, and fight the censorship of books, information, and digital materials that is currently impacting our youth and our profession.  My work as a youth librarian, technology integrator, and organizer with the Prison Library Support Network are concrete examples of my passion and advocacy for information access. 

I work daily to help my middle school students navigate the digital world – through authentic research support, social-emotional conversations around digital citizenship, and the teaching of 21st century technology skills. I have a drive for community building, as well as holistic, culturally competent integration of EDI into our practice. I consider each of these interests to be priorities for the youth library world at large, and I believe they are reflected throughout my personal and professional life. 

I am grateful for this opportunity of continuing to grow and learn with ALSC.

Manuela Aronofsky

Valerie Tohom is standing for election as a New-to- ALSC Board of Directors candidate.

I am honored to be considered for the new-to-ALSC board member position. Since beginning my librarianship journey, I have experienced being involved in ALSC and other ALA divisions as an MLIS student, library support staff, and now as a librarian. I have dedicated my efforts to becoming involved in professional organizations to support others, as I have been supported by ALSC mentors in my professional development and career. I have always wanted to bring forth the perspective, experience, and voice of library support staff, MLIS students, and early career librarians passionate about youth services.

I am a messenger clerk with the Los Angeles Public Library and an Adult/Teen Librarian with the Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library. As an early career librarian, I bring knowledge and experience to the challenges, concerns, and hopes of current and recently graduated MLIS students and early career librarians in the industry. I want to bring my knowledge and experience to ALSC to support those beginning their careers or starting a career shift to youth services and those involved in the organization, community, and library industry that impact the current youth.

I am on various committees with the California Library Association and the American Library Association. I have leadership experience with the California Libraries Learn librarian leadership development program, Catalyst. I have attended various conferences and summits where I had the opportunity to connect with library workers and professional organization members in person and hear their stories. One of my proudest accomplishments was working in the California Library Association Youth Services Interest Group, where we developed California’s first-ever Youth Services Summit in 2024. I had the fantastic opportunity to work on this committee, which shared current issues and topics, networking opportunities, and brought together a community of California youth library workers.

I have been an ALSC member for three years, since starting my librarianship journey. When getting my MLIS, I knew the importance of continuing to grow and develop within the organization and supporting myself and other developing leaders, changemakers, and new librarians who do fantastic work in youth services in their state, across the country, and worldwide. The more I learn about ALSC, the more amazed I am by the number of resources, support, and mentors available, and I would like to continue to share their message and commitment to ALSC members.

I strive to continue using my experience and voice to support those new to ALSC and ALA.

Thank you for reading my statement. If elected to this role, I want to represent and support everyone to the best of my ability.

Valerie Tohom

The 2025 ALA Election opens Monday, March 10th and closes Wednesday, April 2nd. One New-to-ALSC-Board candidate will be elected to the 2025-26 ALSC Board of Directors Don’t forget to vote!

The post Standing for Election: 2025-26 New-to-ALSC Board of Directors appeared first on ALSC Blog.

 In an effort to help ALSC members make an informed decision before they vote, today’s’s blog post consists of statements from the two candidates standing for election to the ALSC New-to-ALSC Board of Directors. In this position, there are two candidates; one to be elected. Manuela Aronofsky is standing for election as a New-to-ALSC Board of Directors candidate. I would be honored to offer my expertise, experience, and ideas to the ALSC board. Having served for the past five years as both an ALSC co-chair (Children + Technology) and committee member (2025 Pura Belpré Selection; Organizational Effectiveness) I have a range of actionable ideas and feedback as to how our organization can ensure their volunteers feel supported and purposeful. My belief only grows stronger that ALSC must continue to advocate for the freedom of information, and fight the censorship of books, information, and digital materials that is currently impacting our…
The post Standing for Election: 2025-26 New-to-ALSC Board of Directors appeared first on ALSC Blog.  Read More

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