Monday, October 19, 2020

YSS Ballot Candidates: YSS Chair Elect and WLA Board Liaison

Check out who is running for YSS Chair Elect and WLA Board Liaison!  

We asked our candidates to give us a statement about themselves and we also asked each candidate to describe herself using 3 children's or YA lit characters.


YSS Chair Elect Candidate
Claire Parrish
Rice Lake Public Library


Candidate's Statement

Hi everyone, I’m the Public Services Director at the Rice Lake Public Library and I’m so thrilled to be considered for the position of Chair-Elect on the Youth Services Section Board. I love YSS and all the professional development and social opportunities it provides!  I’ve been involved with the group since the start of my career, through everything from webinars to regional meet-ups.  I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to serve as a Director at Large from 2018-2020, where one of my main roles was working with the WLA Conference Planning Committee to coordinate the YSS sponsored programming. I’m ready to jump back into the wonderful world of YSS leadership and believe that my knowledge of how the group functions will be an added advantage to my leadership.

There are lots of important discussions for the profession to be having, particularly in the areas of diversity/inclusion and how we move forward through the challenges that the COVID-19 global pandemic has brought to light. I strongly believe YSS is the perfect place to dig into these complex areas of our work, serving as a sounding board and resource for all library staff.  As your Chair-Elect, I would strive to continue the tradition of excellent service and support to librarians throughout the state.  I would be honored to serve, thanks again for considering me!  

Three Characters

Bruce, from the Mother Bruce series by Ryan T. Higgins

Claudia Kincaid from From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler 

Alanna from the Lioness Quartet books (this might be more who I WISH I was like...but I'm still using it!)


WLA Board Liaison Candidate
Linda Jerome
LaCrosse Public Library

Candidate's Statement

Linda Jerome is the teen librarian at La Crosse Public Library where she has worked for almost 30 years. She has been an active member of YSS for more than 10 years and has served as the chair of the Children’s Book Award committee and the chair of the YSS board. She also recently started teaching a continuing education course on teen services for UW-Madison’s iSchool. She states, “Being part of the WLA board as the YSS liaison would provide the opportunity to share the awesome work being done by our section with our larger library community while also utilizing my experience and enthusiasm to help our organization successfully move through this unprecedented time in our profession.”

 Three Characters

Hermione Granger: Unsurprisingly, I'm a lover of knowledge (especially random stuff) and a big reader who strongly believes that knowledge is power

Iko from the Lunar Chronicles: No, I'm not a robot but I am a pretty enthusiastic human being who is outgoing and very loyal to my friends!

Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh: Like Rabbit, I'm an organizer and I like to be put in charge of things 😀


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