Become a Committee Member

GOLDEN SOWER COMMITTEE MEMBER CRITERIA & GUIDELINES

● Committee members must be current members of the Nebraska Library Association.

● Members should have experience in the library, school library, literature, or education fields.

● Members must show a dedication to the promotion of reading for enjoyment and literature that benefits all of Nebraska’s youth.

● Members of the committee will have defined roles, but work together as one to achieve the vision and mission of the award, as well as uphold its values. Decisions that affect the award will require consensus from the majority of committee members.

● The committee will take minutes at every meeting and submit them to the NLA executive board.

● Committee members must attend required committee meetings, consisting of at least four per year. Non-committee members may attend meetings by invite-only.

● Committee members will use professional knowledge of the field of children’s literature to make decisions that are best for the good of all the youth of Nebraska.

● Committee members will rotate out on a schedule designed by the committee unless approved by the committee as a whole or a majority vote.

● Committee meetings will be held at least four times a year electronically via videoconferencing software in order to encourage committee participation from across the state.

● Duties of the committee members are as follows:

○ Chair - Official spokesperson, sets meetings, acts as the committee representative to the NLA board and Executive Board, communicates with volunteers and the general public

○ Vice Chair - Coordinates voting, assists the chair as needed, assumes the duties of the chair as needed, coordinates activities designated by the chair,

○ List Chairs - Coordinate titles for the Selection Group on Goodreads (and if necessary via email), runs the Selection Group meeting for the designated list, checks Selection Group nominees for eligibility and professional review alignment

■ Little Bluestem - aimed at grades K-2

■ Honeybee - aimed at grades 3-5

■ Meadowlark - aimed at grades 6-8

■ YA - aimed at grades 9-12 (To be implemented in 2025-2026)

○ Social Media Manager - Runs the social media accounts announcing special events and promoting the award

○ Award Ceremony Chair - Plans, coordinates, and promotes the Awards Ceremony either virtually or in-person

○ Publisher Liaison - Contacts publishers (authors and illustrators as needed) to ensure availability of the titles, obtains permission to use cover images on the GS website and media to promote the titles and the award

○ Treasurer - Maintains the financial account of the GSA, keeps track of the revenue and expenditures of the award, reports at each committee meeting

○ Manual Director - Coordinates efforts to obtain volunteers to create manual pages, reads and edits submissions, compiles submissions into a full document, prepares manual for electronic distribution, handles any content concerns on TpT

○ Store Manager - Fills orders, maintains inventory, facilitates booth sales, maintains online store if necessary

○ Webmaster - Maintains the Golden Sower website updating content as needed

○ Secretary & Historian - The secretary attends all committee meetings or arranges for an acting secretary to step in if unavailable. The secretary takes notes at each meeting that the Chair will share with the NLA Executive Board. The secretary maintains the historical files of the organization and will work with the webmaster to add necessary content (winner lists, new documents, etc.) to the website.

○ Member(s) At Large - Members-at-large will attend board meetings and assist the rest of the committee in varying tasks based on need

●The Committee will review these guidelines once every two years to consider additions

or revisions.