As seen on ALA blogs at #alamw12:
Business, Book Haziness, and Brainstorming–ALSC Blog
“What’s the difference between ALA Annual and Midwinter?” ponders emitnick. “In general, I think of Annual as being all about celebration and inspiration. There are publisher and vendor parties galore, the Awards Banquet, and plenty of juicy programs and sessions from which to glean ideas to take back home. Midwinter, on the other hand, is all about business and books. This is when the committees, boards, and councils meet—and of course we’re all walking around in a Book Haze, drunk on the thought of the awards about to be announced and on the prospect of those luscious 2012 titles to be published over the coming year. Oh, the Youth Media Awards! Oh, the publisher previews (with snacks)! But despite the lack of programs at Midwinter, I’ve found plenty of inspiration this weekend as well.”…
Watch the Youth Media Awards…at your school–AASL Blog
Wendy Stephens writes: “While thousands of librarians at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting will crowd into the Theater at the Dallas Convention Center for the live announcement, there are a number of terrific ways to share the excitement of the event with your students in real time…”
Networking at #alamw12–ALSC Blog
Amanda Ellington shares, “At Midwinter, my days have been filled with committee meetings, exhibits and programs…typical conference stuff. While all of those have been great I have also had some great interactions networking with people from all over the country. Midwinter is a great place to meet others and share ideas. Today, while riding in the elevator I learned some awesome ideas for improving a teen space. While waiting for a table at lunch I discussed Educator loan policies with a Librarian from California. Walking to the exhibits, I met someone who shared my love a early literacy centers, we swapped ideas and even brainstormed new ones. Getting together with so many amazing library professionals is exciting and invigorating.”…
John Green Did Not Forget To Be AWESOME–ALSC Blog
“I heard him speak this morning,” gushed Becky White. “This man makes me T-H-I-N-K. His talk in the Convention Center Theater was sponsored by Penguin Young Readers. John is on a book tour for his latest YA novel, The Fault In Our Stars (Dutton)—he’s traveling with his brother Hank in a distinctively decorated van. Watch for it! There’s an Xbox inside but no beds.”…
I Hacked John Green’s Web site–YALSA Blog
“Well, not really, but kind of,” admits Kelly Czarnecki. “If you’ve ever read Paper Towns, you might catch a few things in this screenshot that don’t seem quite right. Did Margo and Q REALLY switch places-and he becomes the enigma and she the one to follow his clues? Did Paper Towns REALLY debut as #1 on the NY Times Bestseller list AND appear on Oprah? In my world it did but I’ll share a secret. I put on my X-Ray Goggles and they helped me see John Green’s site in a whole new light. (John can thank me later of course for not sharing EVERYTHING I saw)
“Okay, joking aside, YALSA shared these online tools early this morning at the Midwinter Hack Jam. Jack Martin, YALSA President-Elect, said that Hackasaurus started as a project about two years ago with the New York Public Library, YOUmedia with Chicago Public Library, Hive Learning Network NYC, the MacArthur Foundation, and Mozilla.”…
Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool at #alamw12–ALSC Blog
Kiera Parrott wrote: “After settling into my hotel last night, my coworker and I decided to hit the town! After sharing a delectable banana split at the Omni Hotel, we headed over to the YA Lit Trivia Night FUNraiser put on by our friends over at YALSA. Allow me a moment of true confession: In the past, I had been just a teeny, tiny bit intimidated of YALSA events. They just seemed so cool and flawlessly edgy- like your glamorously punk older sister who always kicked you out of her room when her friends came over. Well, I’m happy to report that the YALSAites I’ve had the pleasure to meet were incredibly welcoming, super fun, and just as dorky as the rest of us. But a note of warning—they know their trivia something fierce. I got my tush handed to me on that count.”…
ALA President Molly Raphael speaks up for Dallas libraries–Visibility @ your library
Molly Raphael wrote: “The recession has forced Americans to seek creative ways to stretch our dwindling dollars. The situation is no different for libraries, which have been affected by funding cuts all across the country. A majority (60 percent) of libraries report flat or decreased operating budgets in FY2011; and 17 state library agencies (34 percent) report they were aware of public library closures in their states in 2010. Yet the demand for library service continues to increase significantly, as thousands flock to libraries everyday for essential services such as free access to computers, job-seeking and small business resources, literacy programs, lifelong learning, and much more.”…
Notable Notables at #alamw12–ALSC Blog
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Notables is awesome,” says Kiera Parrott. “If you have the opportunity to sit in the audience and listen to the open discussion, you must do it! I’ve learned more about art, design, plot structure, critique, and artful ways to agree to disagree from attending Notables than from almost any other professional experience.”…