ALA Conference 2009: Will Best Books for Young Adults List Get the Axe?

By Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 7/10/2009 12:47:00 PM

Librarians may soon say goodbye to the popular Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) list. Those attending the American Library Association’s annual conference in Chicago this weekend are all abuzz, blogging and tweeting about the possible demise of the 79-year-old list, which is expected to be replaced with a teen choice list.

YALSA Sarah Cornish Debraski.

Sarah Cornish Debraski, president of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is expected to present a document at a board of directors meeting asking to phase out the Best Books for Young Adults list and committee by the end of January 2011.

The rationale? There’s been a noticeable overlap between BBYA and other lists, and for the past several years there’s been a concern about the committee’s increased workload.

In addition, YALSA past president Paula Brehm-Heeger and president-elect Linda W. Braun are proposing the creation of a YALSA Best Books for Teens: People’s Choice, which would involve members voting for their favorite books virtually through Web sites, blogs, and social networks.

Each year the BBYA committee selects and annotates a list of significant adult and young adult books, as well as chooses a list of top 10 titles from the full list to provide a general list of fiction and nonfiction titles that have proven or potential appeal for young adults.

The proposal to eliminate the BBYA list has taken many YALSA members by surprise. Jennifer Hubert Swan, library department chair at the Little Red School House and Elizabeth Irwin High School in New York City, was the first to tweet the news.

“YALSA Board proposal to phase out BBYA is rocking my world (and not in a good way) as a former BBYA member.”

Liz Burns, the blogger behind A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy, was in favor of revamping the list but was surprised by the newproposals. “We get a Reader's Choice award, which is not about opening up committee slots for virtual members but about organizing a popular vote with anyone voting to create a short list, then YALSA members voting for a top 5. (I'll let the math/statistics among you realize that smaller, quieter books and small publishers won't have a chance in this type of arrangement).”

John Sexton of the Westchester Library Association said, “I've long thought that the "Best" in BBYA had become diluted by the sheer numbers of titles included. But I hadn't thought to eliminate the list!”

Authors also are upset about the proposed change. Alex Flinn, whose novel Breathing Underwater (HarperCollins, 2001) was on the BBYA list in 2002, in an online post said, “That was the best thing that could have happened to the book. It was a small novel which received a $10,000.00 advance and which was published with little fanfare by its large publisher.” She worries how new authors will get that kind of recognition.

When contacted by SLJ about the controversy, YALSA President Debraski said the proposals to get rid of the BBYA list and create a YALSA Best Books for Teens: People’s Choice list are two separate proposals and what the YALSA board decides will be “what is best for the association and all of its members.”

Debraski adds that she’s happy to see all the chatter among YALSA members in response to the proposals.

The YALSA board will meet to discuss the BBYA issue on Monday, July 13th. Stay tuned.
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