With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), they challenged the climate of surveillance and government overreach that followed the September 11 attacks, showing the nation that librarians would stand by the rights of patrons and civil liberties. Here, the four share their memories of the experience and its resonance today with American … Continue reading Defenders of Patron Privacy
Woodson joined CSK Book Award illustrator winner Frank Morrison (for R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul) and several honorees at the 52nd annual CSK Book Awards virtual celebration, part of the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2021 Annual Conference and Exhibition Virtual on June 27. At last year’s event during ALA Virtual, many of the … Continue reading Literature, Opportunity, and Revolution
“Show up, speak up, stand up,” the 39-time Grand Slam winner told attendees during her nearly hourlong talk. “Everyone is an influencer.” Best known for her 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match—and victory—against Bobby Riggs, King said the event “was about tennis, but not really. It was about social change.” More than 90 million … Continue reading Billie Jean King Gets in the Zone
“Stories shape how you look at the world,” de la Cruz said at the American Library Association’s 2021 Annual Conference and Exhibition Virtual on June 24. “They shape how you look at yourself.” Whether communicating with friends or family or finding entertainment in books, TV, and film, we use stories for “empowerment and enrichment in … Continue reading The Power of Fairytales
Three ALA member leaders who have helped blaze the trail for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander library workers discussed with American Libraries their goals for the Association, their experiences with bigotry, and what libraries and library workers can do to counter hate. The three leaders are: Maria Taesil Hudson McCauley, director of libraries, … Continue reading Countering Anti-Asian Hate
Drawing parallels between the 1967 speech and the current realities of a divided America, the event’s cochair, LaJuan Pringle, cited in his introduction the tumultuousness of the previous year, including a global pandemic, increasing awareness of police brutality, and an economic crisis. Pringle, who is manager of Charlotte Mecklenburg (N.C.) Library’s West Boulevard branch, also … Continue reading The Other America
She spoke at the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits Virtual on January 24 with film historian and author Donald Bogle, an authority on African Americans in film and entertainment history. During the 30-minute conversation, Bogle asked about one memorable scene from Jane Pittman in which Tyson’s 110-year-old character makes a lengthy walk to desegregate a … Continue reading The Autobiography of Ms. Cicely Tyson
Describing everything since the pandemic as “The After,” KCLS Executive Director Lisa Rosenblum moderated “Rising to the 2020 Challenge” at the 2021 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits Virtual on January 23. With all the crises 2020 presented—including COVID, political unrest around ongoing systemic racism, economic turmoil—what lessons and future practices can libraries and library workers glean? … Continue reading Shaping “The After”
He and author-illustrator Christian Robinson appeared on the virtual PopTop Stage at the 2021 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits Virtual on January 22. The two began their 30-minute discussion by talking about the artistic process behind Last Stop on Market Street, for which de la Peña won the Newbery, and Robinson won a Caldecott Honor. The … Continue reading A World You Want to See
In a June 26 session at ALA Virtual, two panelists discussed the challenges and strategies of doing just that. As part of the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) Chair’s Program, the session, “Promoting Multicultural Library Services in Virtual Spaces,” was moderated by EMIERT Vice Chair Andrea Jamison, librarian and lecturer at Valparaiso (Ind.) University. … Continue reading Moving Multicultural Collections Online
At the June 25 ALA Virtual session “The Frontiers of Library Dementia Services,” three panelists shared what library workers can do to better serve people with dementia—and help them thrive. The first step, said Timothy J. Dickey, adult services librarian at Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Libraries, is to learn more about dementia, which includes diseases such … Continue reading Serving Patrons with Dementia
Brown prefaced the main event—a conversation between Abrams and ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall—by noting how both COVID-19 and police brutality disproportionately affect African Americans and other communities of color. “The coronavirus is new, unlike racism, which is as old as time,” she said. Brown asked if deaths like George Floyd’s could have been … Continue reading An Act of Persistence
