Davis is branch manager at San Diego Public Library. An excerpt from his book was published in the July/August issue of American Libraries. What made you want to write this book? When I first saw what Contra Costa County (Calif.) Library was doing with its Discover and Go ticketed pass program, it seemed like such a big … Continue reading A Conversation with Author Jeffrey T. Davis
Weir detailed his road to the writer’s life during his United for Libraries President’s Session talk at the 2017 American Library Association Annual Conference and Exhibition. It was an upbeat, hilarious affair. Weir is a youthful, relaxed, self-deprecating everyman who seems to be genuinely amazed by his luck and success. Pacing the stage with energy, he … Continue reading To Mars and Back
A standing room-only crowd gathered Sunday at the 2017 American Library Association Annual Conference to learn how to combat fake news and teach truthful media literacy. Joanna Burkhardt, professor and director of the University of Rhode Island branch libraries and author of Teaching Information Literacy Reframed: 50+ Framework-Based Exercises for Creating Information-Literate Learners (ALA-Neal Schuman, … Continue reading Navigating Fake News
At age 10, Uwiringiyimana witnessed the murder of her younger sister, several family members, and scores of others at the hands of rebels who mercilessly slaughtered 166 refugees living in a camp in Gatumba, Burundi. Thirteen years later, she’s chronicled that night and its continued effect on her life in the book How Dare the … Continue reading How Dare the Sun Rise
What made you want to write this book? Through my teaching and consulting work, I meet library staffers from all around the country, and quite frequently I end up talking to them about their careers. What I hear quite often is that, while they love working at libraries, they feel there’s something missing—something they really … Continue reading A Conversation with Author Catherine Hakala-Ausperk
Where did the title Choose to Matter come from? It comes from a summer leadership academy we’ve been doing for 10-plus years, which is a combination of sports and leadership woven together for a weeklong residential camp. Our tagline is “Choose to Matter” with the kids, because our message is that leadership is personal, not … Continue reading Newsmaker: Julie Foudy
Kowalsky is a librarian and professor at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, where she teaches and supervises undergraduate learners and graduate students in their research endeavors. Woodruff is director of the Academic Success Center and Disability Resources at Rowan University. He coordinates campus services for students with disabilities and manages transitions for students entering … Continue reading A Conversation with Authors Michelle Kowalsky and John Woodruff
Initiated in 1997 as a one-year program under former ALA President Mary R. Somerville and revived in 2006 under former ALA President Leslie Burger, Emerging Leaders recognizes the best and brightest new leaders in our industry. It’s open to librarians new to the library profession of any age with fewer than five years of experience … Continue reading Emerging Leaders 2017
Looking at the scope of your career, from stand-up to a one-man show to podcasts to TV, what led you to write a book? I grew up in a house with bookshelves to the ceiling, and in every room there were books. Books were an aspirational thing. When I was in high school, my mom … Continue reading Newsmaker: W. Kamau Bell
2017–2018 ALA President-Elect James G. “Jim” Neal introduced CD #35–35.2 and CD #37, which amended the 2015 ALA Strategic Directions by adding a fourth Strategic Direction: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. The motion to amend passed with no objections. Bill Sudduth, chair of the Council Tellers Committee, presented a report (CD #10.3) on the election of two … Continue reading Council II Defines ALA Executive Director Search Criteria
Catherine Murray Rust, dean of libraries at Georgia Tech University, detailed how her library undertook such an endeavor in Reimagining the Research Library for the 21st Century, an ALA Masters Series session at the 2017 ALA Midwinter Meeting. It was an extensive project, with some elements still ongoing, but it boiled down to three basic … Continue reading Research Libraries Transform
W. Kamau Bell exclaimed that phrase often during his Opening Session talk at the 2017 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Atlanta. His candor was necessary. The stand-up comic and host of the CNN program The United Shades of America and the Politically Re-Active and Denzel Washington Is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period podcasts was … Continue reading Building Strength Through Laughter
