Happy Hour? When what we do is different than what we say we do
In case you missed it, Heather, Karen, Robin and I were on Twitter on Thursday night (and on email too but you can’t see the emails, poor you because they had way more sarcasm and snark) discussing the YALSA Happy Hour that will be going on in Chicago.
Disclaimer: Heather and I are members of YALSA and have been since library school. Karen is an on again and off again member as finances allow. We have worked on a variety of YALSA committees. We are BIG YALSA supporters here on Teen Librarian Toolbox!
The problem we’re having is not the Happy Hour. Meeting and mingling and drinking with YALSA people is awesome and should be done more often – let’s start local meet-ups! Our problem is with the evening’s “entertainment.”
(Screen capture from the YALSA blog as of 6/22/2013 8:15am CDT):
Filed under: ALA Annual 2013, Fashion Show, Self Image, Teen Librarians, YALSA

About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 32 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
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This might keep me from attending. I'd be afraid I would decide to attend, and not “dress up” and then I'd win a prize or something. How embarrassing!
This also reinforces the ridiculous idea that being a teen librarian is somehow about being cool. It's a close cousin of the “tattooed librarians are innovative” bullshit. We are adults, teens don't think we're cool 99% of the time. What a good teen librarian is about is listening to, advocating for, and providing information and literacy related services to teens.
Adding to this, I don't wear conference clothes. I wear my every day clothes to conferences (not even work wear). I would probably be put up for What Not To Wear or those other weird dress shows. If you're curious to find me, I'll tweet a picture of the shirt of the day (it's usually literary or sarcastic), and since it's going to be warm in Chicago, I'll have shorts on with it. @mz_christie
All good points but hopefully the list of alternative suggestions were sent to YALSA for consideration in implementing the changes? Otherwise, I'm not sure what real affect it will have to reach the decision makers if change is what's really wanted.
Hi Kelly – I was a part of the YALSA Local Arrangements committee this time around, and I took my concerns to the Chair of my committee, who in turn took them to our YALSA Board representative. Since the event had already been planned and publicized, and has now passed, I never expected the Happy Hour to change format, but I'm glad that the Board has always been responsive to hearing member feedback. I hope they take seriously our concerns, and those of others who have spoken to us individually as they plan social events in the future. That's the kind of change I'm hoping for.