On Thursday, September 28, YALS held their annual Conference at the Local Government Center in Concord. A brief business meeting was held, the August meeting minutes were accepted as amended and new Officers were voted in. Ann Hoey, our amazing Children's and Youth Consultant at the New Hampshire State Library was honored with flowers and gifts in recognition of her upcoming retirement.
We will miss you greatly, Ann!
A Mental Health discussion was led by Rebecca DeHass, Psychologist at Change Direction NH. Tanya Ricker (Flume chair), Julia Lanter and Katherine Bollenbach (Isinglass Chair) updated us on the changes with our teen book awards. The Featured Speaker, Lisa Bunker, author of Felix YZ, spoke about her new book and how to make libraries a safer place for LGBTQ teens. A Safe Spaces panel – Lisa House (Rye Public Library) and Heather Ouellette-Cygan (GLSEN – NH Chapter) continued the conversation of how libraries can be safe spaces for teens. Staff members of the Portsmouth Public Library, Laura Horwood-Benton, Mollie Mulligan and Andrew Greenlaw-Houldsworth, shared how they currently use Social Media and how we can effectively reach teens with social media.
Conference Handouts – click here.
Quite a full day and definitely one of the best conferences we have ever held. If you missed this one, I hope you will consider joining us next year. Also, please consider coming to a YALS meeting. The next one is Thursday, November 9 at the local Government Center in Concord. Networking at 9:30 am, meeting begins at 10 am.