When I arrived at ALA Annual this year, I had no idea that there would be such controversy about one of the time-honored traditions most valued by many of my closest colleagues: Best Books for Young Adults.

The YALSA Board had on their agenda an action item (later changed to a discussion item) proposal to sunset the BBYA committee. There was a lot of talk about what was happening, and a lot of misinformation by word of mouth and online (see this YALSA post and comments for more information). The YALSA Board rearranged their agenda so that most people would be free to come to the meeting at which they would have this discussion, and allowed for concerned YALSA members to make public comment. I live-tweeted it for a few folks who had asked me to let them know what was happening since they could not attend (read this from bottom to top for chronological order):

Debraski thanks all for comments and respectful discussion #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:55 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

ALAN uses bbya a lot! #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:54 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Walter Mayes: ducation of members is key - all other factors will fall into place #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:53 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Kim Paone (sp?): keep the teens in mind when deciding #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:51 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Cindy Dobrez: hope members can be part of process of figuring thisout #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:50 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Mik (sp?): want to hear more comments from teens #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:49 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Rolley (sp?): problem is reading load, lots of specific ideas #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:48 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Observation: few ppl are offering solutions #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:47 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Lynn Rutan: lots of solutions, need 2 figure out wht the problem rlly is. Wrong ppl 4 committee? 2 many books? #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:46 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Joni Bodart: divide list between teens and tweens #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:44 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Comments limited to 1 minute due to time constraints #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:43 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Judy Nelson: question of process not authenticity #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:42 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Silverman: if we can cut number of. Books, other issues may disappear #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:41 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Silverman: require observation of bbya before coming on committee #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:41 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Karyn Silverman: most critical issue is education of bbya members #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:40 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Debraski: Readers Choice List totally separate from this discussion #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:39 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Lisa Von Drasek: if we rely on someone else, we lose authority #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:38 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Patti Campbell: nf to Seibert, adult to Alex #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:35 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Saxton: complicate nomination process to reduce# of books #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:35 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Beth Saxton: use bbya for training tool for teen libns, to educate teachers, to reassure parents #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:33 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Hayes: bbya provides support for challenges #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:32 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Hayes, current chair of bbya: need to broaden field comments, 3 committees too much for any 1 yalsa member #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:31 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Little Brown publisher: pubs look to the list for the little book that could, to advocate for books #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:29 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member idea: send task force to all selection committees to educate #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:28 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Member Nick Buron - tweak and keep #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:27 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Observers limited to 2 minutes here, wiki comments welcome #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:25 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Observers lining up to comment #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:24 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Sense of frustration in the room that some observers didn't read publically available board docs #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:23 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Gorman: board is looking for member ideas for solutions, not just love for bbya #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:22 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Board has heard concerns about bbya for years #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:20 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Debraski: has bbya become so beloved that we're missing opportunity to improve? #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:20 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Braun: how do we balance what ppl love with what new members want? #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:19 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Braun urges thought about moving forward, how yalsa sees ourselves vs how external world sees it #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:18 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Hastler looking for way to respond to concerns about workload, conference attendance #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:16 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Rutherford and Schofer both leaning toward retaining bbya with changes #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:15 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Rutherford looks for how to keep bbya fandom while keeping it lithe useful tool #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:14 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Board member Rutherford notes importance of bbya's fandom - no other committees have that as yet #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:14 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Board member Welch thanks members observing, notes board is here as conduit #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:12 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Battisti also notes that yalsa is known for bbya #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:11 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Battisti also notes that discussion is also training ground and developmental benefit for comm members #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:10 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Battisti concerned about some statements in rationale, esp re: usefulness #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:09 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Board member Michele Gorman notes importance of education aspect #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:06 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Board members taking turns stating opinions first #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:05 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

#bbya changed to discussion item on agenda (was action item) #ala2009 #yalsa #bbya12:05 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

Discussion starting by #yalsa board on #bbya #ala200912:03 PM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

The #yalsa board is waiting until 11 to discuss #bbya so you have <10 minutes to get here. Room to sit on the floor or stand #ala200911:54 AM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

People trickling in to #yalsa board meeting. Not discussing #bbya yet #ala200911:43 AM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

At the #yalsa board meeting to find out the real story on #bbya controversy #ala200911:26 AM Jul 13th from UberTwitter

(my apologies to those folks whose names I misspelled or got wrong)

My personal feeling about what will happen is this: I think that BBYA will continue to exist but with some changes. The suggestions I heard that make most sense to me:

• Limit the potential nominations by leaving adult books to Alex, graphic novels to Great Graphic Novels, and non-fiction to the new YALSA Non-fiction Award.


• Increase the education/awareness of commitment for BBYA committee members. I support the concept of requiring a potential committee member to attend a year's worth of meetings as an observer before even being put on the list of potential appointees (e.g. make 1 year of observation a pre-requisite to volunteering for the committee).

Stay tuned for more updates on what happens next!

Originally published at LibrariAnne.