Author Archive: Amy Carlton

Misty Copeland. Photo: Gregg Delman

Newsmaker: Misty Copeland

February 1, 2018

Copeland is author of Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina (Simon and Schuster, 2014); Firebird (Putnam, 2014), with illustrator Christopher Myers, which won the 2015 Coretta Scott King Book Illustrator Award; and Ballerina Body: Dancing and Eating Your Way to a Leaner, Stronger, and More Grateful You (Grand Central Life and Style, 2017). She spoke with … Continue reading Newsmaker: Misty Copeland


Dolly Parton

Newsmaker: Dolly Parton

January 2, 2018

There are so many ways to promote reading and literacy. How did you decide to set up Imagination Library this way so that children get free books in the mail that they can keep? It started out with a simple dream, and a very personal one, 22 years ago. My father was a brilliant man, … Continue reading Newsmaker: Dolly Parton


Emil Ferris

Newsmaker: Emil Ferris

November 1, 2017

You worked on this story for several years while recovering from West Nile virus, getting a master’s at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and raising your daughter. Then this nearly 400-page book comes out, and cartoonist Art Spiegelman is calling you “one of the most important comics artists of our time.” How … Continue reading Newsmaker: Emil Ferris


Librarians Go to Juvie

June 27, 2017

In Monday’s session “Librarians Go to Juvie,” Susan Warner, head of youth services at Kalamazoo Public Library (KPL), explained that 85% of juveniles involved with the court system are functionally low-literate, and involvement with the court system dramatically increases the high school dropout rate. In addition, 70% of all incarcerated adults cannot read at a … Continue reading Librarians Go to Juvie


2017 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition logo

Council III: Memorials and Tributes

June 27, 2017

Memorials were read for Eric Moon (M#10), Marija J. Sanderling (M#11), Robert Henry “Bob” Rohlf (M#12), Dorothy Evans (M#13), Joy L. Lowe (M#14), Pauline Manaka (oral acknowledgment), and Amanda Rudd (oral acknowledgment). Tributes were offered for Harry Bruce (T#2), Keith Michael Fiels (T#3), and the 20th Anniversary of Victory in the Communications Decency Act Case … Continue reading Council III: Memorials and Tributes


Katie McLain (left), reference assistant, and Amanda Civitello, marketing and communications manager, Waukegan (Ill.) Public Library.

Fighting Sexual Harassment in the Library

June 27, 2017

That’s when she decided to say something. In the session “It’s Not Just ‘Part of the Job’: Breaking the Silence on Sexual Harassment in the Library,” McLain and her colleague Amanda Civitello, marketing and communications manager at WPL, defined sexual harassment, identified the behaviors associated with it, discussed how libraries can empower staff, and offered … Continue reading Fighting Sexual Harassment in the Library


Funny Books for Funny Girls

June 27, 2017

November asked panelists first to weigh in on why funny books are important, and why we should take them seriously. As Williams-Garcia explained, “Humor gets us through dark times, like when someone cracks an inappropriate joke that lets us keep going.” Humor can also be subversive. When people object to what younger kids are reading, … Continue reading Funny Books for Funny Girls


Council II: Tribute to Keith Michael Fiels

June 26, 2017

Councilor Vivian Bourdeaux, chair of the Council Election Tellers Committee, reported on the election of new representatives to the Committee on Committees (COC) and the Planning and Budget Assembly (PBA) (CD#12.3). Elected to 2017–2018 COC are Ismail Abdullahi, Roberto Carlos Delgadillo, Martin L. Garnar, and Eboni Henri. Elected to the PBA as chapter councilors for … Continue reading Council II: Tribute to Keith Michael Fiels


2017 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition logo

Council I Tackles Climate Change

June 25, 2017

The minutes from the ALA Midwinter Meeting (CD#2.1) were adopted. ALA President-Elect Jim Neal presented the nominations for the ALA Committee on Committees (COC) (CD#12): Ismail Abdullahi, Lauren Comito, Roberto Carlos Delgadillo, Martin L. Garnar, Mel Gooch, Eboni Henri, Jenna Nemec-Loise, and Kimberly Anne Patton. Neal then presented nominations for the 2017–2018 Planning and Budget … Continue reading Council I Tackles Climate Change


Gene Luen Yang

Graphic Novel Friday Forum

June 24, 2017

The sessions were hosted by Pop Culture Classroom, the Children’s Book Council, and the French Comics Association (FCA). Yang, a MacArthur fellow and graphic novelist who also taught high-school computer science, used to tell his students that he also drew comics because he thought it would make him cool. It did not. But it did … Continue reading Graphic Novel Friday Forum


Roxane Gay

Newsmaker: Roxane Gay

May 1, 2017

You have published work in so many formats: novels, books of essays and short stories, a comic book (Marvel’s Black Panther: World of Wakanda, with Ta-Nehisi Coates and Yona Harvey), plus an upcoming memoir and a screenplay. What are the different challenges and rewards of working in each medium? Storytelling is storytelling, I have learned, … Continue reading Newsmaker: Roxane Gay


Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden delivers the closing address at the Association of College and Research Libraries conference in Baltimore on March 25, 2017.

ACRL Closes with Carla Hayden

March 27, 2017

Social justice and information literacy The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions has declared that information literacy is a human right. If it’s a human right, what does this look like in practice? That question fueled the Social Justice and Information project discussed in “What’s Social Justice Got to Do with Information Literacy?” a … Continue reading ACRL Closes with Carla Hayden