Feeling in a rut with your job? Want to find a way to make professional connections outside of your own library? Need a new challenge? Give ALSC a chance! You may be saying, but I can’t afford the time or cost of attending ALA. There are so many ways to get involved and they do not all require conference attendance or even regular meetings. What they do need is YOU!
My path to greater involvement began not very long ago, in 2020. Despite being a children’s librarian for several decades, I had only dabbled here and there in making professional connections outside of my workplace. A librarian book club here, a storytelling group there. Nothing that stuck. My younger child was a senior in high school and off to college in the fall (Yeah, Covid did quite the number on all the rites of passage for her) and I was ready to take the leap into doing something more. In addition to ALA, I also belong to the Association of Jewish Libraries, and I applied to join the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee, named in honor of Sydney Taylor, author of The All-of-a-Kind Family books, which are considered to be the first books with Jewish characters that had universal appeal. To my surprise, I was selected! From that initial experience, I started to review books for the quarterly newsletter, then to an editor of reviews, something I continue to do.
Following up on this experience, I filled out the ALSC volunteer form and was selected for the 2023 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award committee. I learned so much about how others read and evaluate what is in a book. I remember leaving our final deliberations on a total high, proud of what we’d done. Being in the room the next day, when we called the authors, was something I’d never even thought about, and the YMA announcements on Monday was the closest I will ever get to a Nobel announcement ceremony. I don’t think the excitement ever gets old. I am currently the co-chair of my state’s beginner and transitional book award committee and what I learned from the Sydney Taylor and Sibert committees is helping me lead our group to select the best fiction and nonfiction for these ages.
But book award committees aren’t the only thing to do with ALA or ALSC. There are many committees and task forces that are vital to our work supporting and promoting free access to all readers, to all materials. There are youth media list committees, organizational support ones, and ones that support professional development. Not ready for the time commitment of a committee? Write up a great program for Programming Librarian. Have something you are passionate about? Write for this blog! Check out the ALSC Engagement Center for more ideas. Check out this blog post “Want to Write for the ALSC Blog? and give blogging a try!
ALA isn’t the only place to get involved: check out your state or regional library association or try your hand at reviewing. The more you do, the more invitations you’ll get. Every one of us started where you are, wondering how to get involved, wondering how to share what we know, in order to make youth librarianship even better through connections and collaborative work.
Judy Ehrenstein is a children’s librarian in Maryland and a member of the ALSC QuickLists Consulting Committee. She enjoys baking for others, knitting and sometimes finishing things, and petting any dog who comes her way.
This blog post relates to ALSC Core Competencies of: VII. Professionalism and Professional Development.
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.
If you are interested in submitting a guest post, please read and fill out our Guest Blogging Interest Form. We would love to hear from you!
The post Say Yes to ALSC! Ways to Get Involved appeared first on ALSC Blog.
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