[LM_NET] Best Books for Young Adults award being eliminated?

[Diane Roberts <diane77401@GMAIL.COM>]

I am a current member of the Best books for Young Adults committee,
packing as I speak for ALA in Chicago. I just received an email that
YALSA has on its agenda the elimination of the BBYA committee,
possibl;y to replaced by a readers' choice sort of award. I sort of
think that the NYTimes bestseller list fills that need, as well as the
recommendations by readers votes on Amazon.

The committee has a huge workload, that took me completely by surprise
when I joined the committee three years ago. The first year I received
about 1000 books from generous publishers, and read about 250 or 300
of them. I have never had the opportunity to actually read and examine
so many current YA books in my life. I am sure there were more
qualified librarians than me out there that could have sat on the
committee, but I believe that a committee that actually reads and
discusses 100's of books fills a need.

It's true that the big publishing powerhouses send BBYA members the
most books for examination, but it is also true that many small
publishing houses and first-time authors would be overlooked except
for committee members nominating and selecting their books.

So what do you think about the possibility of this committee being
eliminated? Be frank now - as I know you will!

Regards,

Diane

-- 
Diane Roberts
Best Books for Young Adults Committee 2010
Saint Thomas High School
4500 Memorial Drive
Houston, TX 77007
www.sths.org         diane.roberts@sths.org

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