As of July 1, 2024, the Children's Services Division of the Maryland Library Association is the Youth Services Division. Please be patient as we transition to the new division name.

Attend our next monthly meeting!

Who Are We?

The Youth Services Division (YSD) is open to any Maryland Library Association member with an interest in library services, programs, and materials for children and teens. We’re children’s librarians, teen librarians, media specialists, generalists, paraprofessionals… and we all love kids and libraries.

What does YSD do?

Professional development programs! YSD organizes many events throughout the year for members and others to learn from both “outside” experts and each other, (and earn CEU’s!).

Programs and Pre-conferences at the MLA/DLA Annual Conference- YSD joins all the MLA divisions in planning program sessions at the annual conference in May.

BEST- The Black-Eyed Susan Tapestry program is a celebration of the best children's and teen books of each year, and a marvelous opportunity to polish your readers’ advisory. BEST is broken into Spring and Fall online sessions

Kids Are Customers- Our annual full-day conference.

Webinars and one-time training events- Brief, timely training on all kinds of topics related to children’s services and literature. 

The Blue Crab Young Reader Award- YSD administers this annual award “to identify and promote the best fiction and nonfiction books” in the early-reader and transitional-reader categories. (Learn more here)

Advocacy- YSD and its members advocate at all levels for high-quality library services to children, and for libraries large and small to have the resources to make those excellent services happen.

Newsletter- YSD's quarterly newsletter highlights recent library programs, upcoming events & opportunities, tips and ideas, and trends in children’s library services in Maryland. (current & past issues here) 

Networking & Peer Support- YSD meetings, publications, and programs help us connect with our colleagues across the state to share ideas, successes, lessons learned, and encouragement.

How Can You Get Involved?


Attend a meeting! YSD meetings are held monthly via Blackboard on the second Monday of each month (or the first Monday is the second one is a holiday!) at 12:00. We also hold hybrid meetings twice a year, in the spring and the fall, at different locations throughout the state. Meetings are where we plan our many programs, decide the focus of our activities as a Division, and share ideas.

Write for the newsletter! Dip your toe into professional writing by contributing an article, program recap, book or media review, captioned photos… It’s a low-stress way to share with colleagues. Email submissions to editor Mina Pincus at mpincus@carolib.org. 

Join a YSD Committee! Interested in getting even more involved? Watch out for opportunities to join the Kids Are Customers conference planning committee or the Blue Crab awards committee.

Run a session at Black Eyed Susan Tapestry! Watch out for calls to run book discussion sessions at one of the Black Eyed Susan Tapestry conferences. We do this twice a year si there are lots of opportunities to participate.

Join our mailing list! Get the newsletter, meeting and event announcements, and occasional updates from YSD. We never spam, and only YSD officers post to it (in other words, it's not a typical listserv that will fill up your inbox). Send an email to ysd.mdlib@gmail.com with the subject "Join Mailing List" and we'll add you! Read the list archives here.

Attend a YSD program or webinar! Learn from experts of all kinds, as well as experienced colleagues, in programs planned especially for library staff.

Present a YSD program or webinar! Most of the presenters of our conferences, workshops,  and webinars are from right here in Maryland. YSD wants members to grow professionally, and one powerful way to do that is to step up and teach what you know.

Contact Us! Have an idea, question, or message for YSD? Email us at ysd.mdlib@gmail.com.