Dewey Decibel Podcast: Insider’s Guide to Philadelphia

Episode 46 looks at things to do during the 2020 Midwinter Meeting

January 17, 2020

Dewey Decibel Insider's Guide to Philadelphia

On Thursday, January 23, thousands of librarians and library workers will begin to descend on Philadelphia for the American Library Association’s 2020 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits. And they’ll be searching for the best places to eat and things to do while visiting the City of Brotherly Love.

In Episode 46, Dewey Decibel explores what to see and where to eat during Midwinter. First, American Libraries Senior Editor and Dewey Decibel host Phil Morehart speaks with Linda August, reference librarian and curator of art and artifacts at the Library Company of Philadelphia, the oldest independent research library in the US cofounded by Benjamin Franklin in 1791, about Philadelphia’s must-see cultural sights.

Next, American Libraries Managing Editor Terra Dankowski talks with Sarah Levitsky, marketing director at Reading Terminal Market, about where to find the best meals and hidden treasures at one of the largest public markets in the US.

For more events and speakers at the 2020 ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits, check out the conference preview in American Libraries’ January/February issue.

If you have feedback for the Dewey Decibel team, email deweydecibel@ala.org. Tell us what you like, what you don’t like, or what you’d like to see us cover. Follow us on Twitter and leave us a review on iTunes.

Tagged Under

Photo: A street in Philadelphia, site of ALA's 2020 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits

2020 Midwinter Preview

Prepare for a knockout meeting in the City of Brotherly Love

Reading Terminal Market. Photo: Visit Philadelphia

The Philly Food Scene

Where to dine during Midwinter

Latest Library Links

11h

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Time: Made By History, Nov. 13
15h

Many members know Bill Ladewski as executive director of the Reference and User Services Association, an ALA position he has held since 2019. In early September, Ladewski added another title to his CV: director of Member Relations and Services. In this role, he and his team are charged with providing service and information to the Association’s nearly 50,000 members. Ladewski answered our 11 Questions to reintroduce himself to the ALA community.

AL: The Scoop, Nov. 19
1d

John Warner writes: “I understand what people mean when they invoke the term ‘institutional neutrality,’ but I don’t know how it’s workable in today’s world. Higher education institutions are built upon a foundation of actual values, values that are, by definition, not neutral. The Kalven report, the Rosetta Stone of institutional neutrality produced by a faculty committee at the University of Chicago in 1967, is not a call to make all work emanating from an institution ‘neutral,’ but is instead a call to make the atmosphere for scholarly inquiry and debate as free as possible.”

Inside Higher Ed, Nov. 15
2d

Angela Hursh writes: “Ever wondered how your library’s email performance compares to others? Benchmarks help you understand how well your emails perform in key areas and identify opportunities for improvement. They also allow you to compare your email marketing performance, set goals, and stay on top of trends. However, the lack of industry benchmarks for email marketing metrics specific to libraries has been bugging me. Metrics from similar industries don’t fully capture the unique aspects of promoting a library. To help libraries accurately measure their email effectiveness, we’ve created the first-ever library email benchmark report.”

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Rachel Hendrick writes: “Students and library vendors are pushing artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in higher education, but there are very few resources that help librarians and scholars separate the wheat from the chaff. Luckily, we here at Choice love a good assessment rubric. (In fact, we made a PDF of our assessment rubric.) Even the least tech-savvy of us can use a very simple AI literacy framework to think critically about whether an AI application is worth your time.”

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3d

Rowana Miller writes: “In my experience, many young library-goers identify as storytellers but not writers. These are the kids who draw Captain-Underpants-style cartoons, who craft meticulous Minecraft universes, and who plot elaborate Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, but who believe that ‘writing’ is limited to five-paragraph essays. But when children draw the connections between their natural storytelling proclivities and the written word, they can become self-motivated to develop the communication skills that will help them for the rest of their lives. Libraries, I believe, are uniquely positioned to help children make this connection.”

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3d

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