Yalsa

What Yalsa does

YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), founded in 1957 and headquartered at 225 N Michigan Ave, Suite 1300, Chicago, Illinois, alongside its parent organization. It serves library workers — primarily in US public and school libraries — who work with teens aged 12 to 18, providing professional development, curated book and media recommendations, awards, grants, scholarships, and advocacy resources specific to young adult library services. Its primary constituents are individual library professionals and the institutional libraries that employ them, rather than enterprise buyers, and it positions itself as the preeminent authority on library services for and with teens within the broader ALA framework.

YALSA's core offerings include the award-winning peer-reviewed journal Young Adult Library Services (YALS); two content platforms — the YALSA Blog and The Hub (a teen collections curation guide); the Teens Top Ten "teen choice" book list; the YALSA Book Finder Database of curated book and media lists; continuing education webinars via ALA eLearning; and annual conference programming within the ALA Annual Conference. Its book and media awards (Best Fiction for Young Adults, Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, and other selected lists) influence collection development at member libraries and shape teen publishing decisions. The organization is not a technology company: it operates no public APIs, no proprietary platforms, and no AI/ML systems, and its digital properties are conventional web content rather than algorithmic products.

Revenue is generated through four streams: ALA membership dues (YALSA is accessed via ALA membership on an annual billing cadence); donations and fundraising via the 2005-founded Friends of YALSA (FOY) initiative, which disburses over $16,000 annually in scholarships and grants including the Spectrum Scholarship and Emerging Leader programs; advertising in YALS and on YALSA media kits sold to publishers and vendors; and corporate/nonprofit sponsorships. Resources are distributed digitally through the ALA-hosted website, blogs, e-learning portal, and social channels (Facebook, X/Twitter, YouTube), with the ALA Annual Conference as its primary in-person engagement channel.

Name

Yalsa

Legal name

Young Adult Library Services Association

Website

https://yalsa.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1957

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) is a division of the American Library Association that supports US library workers serving teens aged 12-18 through professional development, awards, grants, scholarships, peer-reviewed publications, and advocacy for young adult library services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Library Professional Association Services

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Young Adult (YA) Publishing (MPAJAFAD)

Keywords

• Library professional association
• Young adult library services
• Teen literacy programs
• Professional development webinars
• Book and media awards

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: YALSA generates revenue through ALA membership divisions. Library professionals join YALSA as part of their ALA membership to access professional development, awards, grants, and networking opportunities specific to young adult library services.
2. Donations and Fundraising: Friends of YALSA (FOY) was created in 2005 to ensure excellence in the Association's traditional programs and services. FOY funds support scholarships, grants, and stipends exceeding $16,000 annually.
3. Publications and Advertising: YALSA publishes the award-winning journal Young Adult Library Services, maintains The Hub blog, YALSA Blog, and offers advertising opportunities through media kits to vendors and publishers.
4. Corporate Sponsorships: YALSA offers corporate and nonprofit sponsorship opportunities and receives support through partnerships with publishers and vendors interested in reaching library professionals serving teens.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

YALSA is a division of the American Library Association that delivers professional development, publications, awards, grants, and curated resources to library workers serving teens ages 12-18. Its core offerings include the Young Adult Library Services eJournal, the Book Finder Database of curated book and media lists, the Teens Top Ten teen-choice list, Book & Media Awards, Continuing Education webinars, TeenTober, and member scholarships/grants funded by Friends of YALSA.

Product overview

YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) is a division of the American Library Association that provides a collection of publications, databases, and professional development resources for library workers serving teens. The offerings include award-winning journals (Young Adult Library Services eJournal), blogs (YALSA Blog and The Hub for teen collections), the Teens Top Ten book award program, the Book Finder Database of curated book and media lists, and continuing education opportunities. These resources work together to support collection development, readers' advisory services, and professional growth for librarians serving young adults aged 12-18.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Friends of YALSA (FOY): A fundraising initiative created in 2005 to support YALSA's programs and services including scholarships, grants and stipends

Products and services

• Young Adult Library Services (YALS) eJournal

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• American Library Association (ALA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYALSA is a division of the American Library Association, operating within the broader ALA framework. ALA provides organizational infrastructure, membership systems, conference organization, and administrative support, while YALSA focuses specifically on young adult library services.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Public Library Association (PLA): PLA is an ALA division serving public library staff and directors. While its scope is broader than YALSA's YA-only focus, it overlaps significantly on the public library side of YALSA's audience and shares the same ALA membership, professional development, and conference infrastructure.
• Association of Library Service to People with Disabilities (ASPPD): ASPPD is another ALA-affiliated organization with a similar professional association model (memberships, awards, continuing education) targeting a specific library practitioner niche. Comparable in structure and target member type, though focused on disability services rather than age.
• American Association of School Librarians (AASL): AASL is another ALA division serving school librarians across K-12 grades, with overlapping adolescent (ages 12-18) coverage with YALSA. It shares the membership-based GTM, journal publication, awards, and conference model, and competes for the same member dues pool within ALA.
• Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC): ALSC is a sibling division of the American Library Association focused on library services for children (typically birth to age 14). It is the most direct peer to YALSA, sharing the same parent organization, similar membership and revenue model, and the same awards/journal/community structure. Recent YALSA/ALSC reunification news signals these two are the closest comparable entities.
• REFORMA (National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking): REFORMA is an ALA-affiliated affiliate association with a similar membership-based, community-led, awards-and-grants model. While its focus is on Latino/Spanish-speaking communities rather than YA specifically, it operates as a peer-type organization within the ALA ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• American Library Association (ALA): ALA is YALSA's parent organization and a broader incumbent in the US library association space. While YALSA specializes in YA services, ALA is the umbrella organization that owns the membership system, conference, and infrastructure YALSA depends on.
• National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE): NCTE is a broader education professional association for English teachers that intersects with YALSA's audience at the secondary school level. It overlaps on YA literature advocacy, awards, and adolescent literacy, but its scope is broader (teaching, not library services).

Emerging players

• Junior Library Guild (JLG): JLG is a book curation and distribution service for school and public libraries that intersects with YALSA's readers' advisory and collection development mission. It competes for the same audience attention on curated YA book recommendations and selections.
• Children's Book Council (CBC): CBC is a trade association of children's book publishers that overlaps with YALSA through YA/children's book promotion, awards, and author engagement. It serves a partially overlapping audience (library and school readers' advisory) but on the publisher side rather than the library practitioner side.

Regional players

• Young Adult Library Services Association of Canada (YALSAC) / Canadian Library Association: Canadian counterpart organizations serve Canadian library workers focused on young adults, with comparable award programs, publications, and continuing education offerings. They represent the closest regional peer to YALSA outside the US.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/yalsa
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/YALSA1957
• Facebookfacebook.com/yalsa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yalsa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Yalsa