“Sandy’s willing to take a look at anything, from mending pants to replacing zippers to sewing buttons on a shirt or pants,” says Director Jennifer Tallman of Sandra Vardell (pictured), a former board member who volunteers one Saturday per month to tackle the town’s toughest tailoring. JMML, at the suggestion of Vardell, started its garment … Continue reading Bookend: Tailor-Made Fundraising
“They’re not just a bloc of black girls who went missing and nobody cares to know their names,” said Sesay. “One of my biggest wishes with this book is that people see them as individuals.” Sesay, the former CNN anchor who broke the news of the kidnappings and won a Peabody Award for her coverage, … Continue reading Isha Sesay: “We need to care”
“The book that beats mine [in sales] all the time is the guidebook to Disney World,” Steves told attendees of his Auditorium Speaker Series talk at the American Library Association’s 2019 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Seattle on January 27. “That’s la la land—I’m into gaining a better understanding of humanity.” Steves, who recently released … Continue reading Travel As a Political Act
“These are the new shiny things for [teens and 20-somethings],” Betha Gutsche, WebJunction program manager at OCLC, told attendees at “Return to the Real: The Library As Social Connector,” a Symposium on the Future of Libraries session at the American Library Association’s 2019 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Seattle on January 26. Analog objects give … Continue reading Getting Real Again
Phil Morehart, host of the Dewey Decibel podcast and senior editor of American Libraries, assembled a panel of librarian podcasters to tackle this question and others at “So You Want to Podcast…,” a PopTop Stage program at the American Library Association’s 2019 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Seattle on January 26. Joining moderator Morehart in … Continue reading Podcast Pros
“[It’s remembering that] the people most affected by the problem have the best ideas on how to solve the problem,” said Sarah Studer, assistant director of the Arthur W. Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business. Studer shared with library professionals her philosophy on collective action and using business … Continue reading Innovating with Creativity and Empathy
Steves will appear as an Auditorium Speaker at the American Library Association’s 2019 Midwinter Meeting in Seattle on January 27 to talk about the third edition of his book, Travel as a Political Act (Hachette Book Group, 2018). This month he releases Rick Steves Classroom Europe, a searchable resource of video clips that he hopes … Continue reading Newsmaker: Rick Steves
How do you make networking effective and meaningful for your career and community? Library professionals affiliated with the American Library Association’s (ALA) New Members Round Table (NMRT) share their strategies for connecting with colleagues and building relationships. 1) Get in the mindset. “You have to go in looking for a positive interaction,” says Athanasia Fitos, … Continue reading 11 Tips for Meaningful Networking
Have you always been an avid reader? Do you have any fond book or library memories from childhood? I always have been an avid reader. It was encouraged in our household. I remember an 18-hour car ride to Colorado from Houston, and reading Lonesome Dove [by Larry McMurtry] for like 17-and-a-half of those 18 hours. … Continue reading Newsmaker: Andrew Luck
“We must construct a moral pathway to the future,” he said. “It’s the library that pushes back. We must be truth protectors.” Miller—who has written 12 books and two memoirs, and was director of Howard University’s African-American Resource Center for more than 40 years—was the keynote speaker at the Closing General Session of the third … Continue reading Protectors of Culture
At “Proceed with Care: Steps Toward Building Trust with Marginalized Communities,” a September 29 session at the third National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color in Albuquerque, New Mexico, two former Escondido (Calif.) Public Library (EPL) employees shared with attendees how they created a participatory archives to engage marginalized communities and put “justice-seeking, caregiving, and … Continue reading Archive with Care
“We are all familiar with what happened in Flint,” said Cassandra Allen, outreach librarian at the National Library of Medicine. So what part can libraries, universities, and other organizations play in making sure people of all races, cultures, and income levels are treated fairly when it comes to environmental development, implementation, and policy? At “Environmental Justice … Continue reading The Path to Environmental Justice
