Midwinter Miscellany

January 22, 2009

With the start of Midwinter imminent, I've got a few related announcements and hopefully amusing oddments to share:

Watch this blog for our Midwinter coverage. American Libraries Editor in Chief Leonard Kniffel and I will both be blogging from Denver. Also, I'll be filming the ALA Presidential Candidates Forum on Saturday and posting the entire event on AL Focus that evening.
Also, AL is now on Twitter. Thus far, it's primarily resyndication of Inside Scoop postings, but that's likely to change as…
…in Denver, American Libraries will be welcoming new Associate Editor Sean Fitzpatrick. Sean will, among other things, be posting to Inside Scoop—possibly at Midwinter, although orientation will be his first priority. Sean is also a Twitter enthusiast and will probably be taking the lead on our efforts there.
My Midwinter schedule is pretty book-heavy. The Youth Media Awards will feature prominently in AL Focus this year; In addition to the Monday morning press conference where the awards will be announced, I'm also going to film the actual author notification calls that will be taking place at various times throughout Saturday and Sunday. I'll also be working on a feature and associated video on the ALA book award winners (youth and adult) for the May issue of AL so interviews for that will dot my schedule. Events I'm planning to be at include are:

Friday 1:30-3: Forum on Library Education 5:30-7:30: Exhibit Reception

Saturday 8-9: Sunrise Speaker Series 11:30-12:30: Presidential Candidates Forum 1:30-3:30: American Libraries Advisory Committee Meeting 3-4:30: Membership Town Hall Meeting: What We Want President Obama to Know

Sunday 8-10: LITA Top Tech Trends 4-5:30: RUSA Book Awards Reception 5:30-8:30: OCLC Blog Salon

Monday 7:45-9:00 Youth Media Awards Press Conference 10-1:10: Exhibits Technology Showcase

What equipment does it take to cover an event like this? Most of the editors will have their own still camera and a Flip video camera, and some will also bring laptops. Since I've got additional video responsibilities, I'll be boarding the plane with: Three video cameras (Two full-size, one Flip), one still camera (not counting the one in my phone), one to two laptops (I definitely will be bringing the office laptop for editing video; my personal laptop isn't strictly necessary, but it does have nice things like Word for writing and Scrabble for airport delays), and an external hard drive for the office laptop. Fortunately, I don't generally have to carry it all around at the same time.
The weather in Denver is looking okay. Weather.com says we'll be missing the record warmth, which is leaving today, but highs generally in the 40s.

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Latest Library Links

12h

Brittany Adams writes: “The digital landscape of libraries is expanding rapidly, with an increasing shift towards electronic resources and online services. As members of the library community, we’re witnessing a transformative era where physical collections are complemented—and sometimes replaced—by digital ones. This transition offers new opportunities for enhancing accessibility and engagement, but it also presents challenges, especially for young patrons and their families. It is essential to equip children and their caregivers with the tools and knowledge they need to navigate this evolving space confidently.”

ALSC Blog, Dec. 9
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Karen O’Grady writes: “I am the embedded librarian for the Hahn School of Nursing at the University of San Diego. I am surrounded by nursing faculty, staff, and students rather than by librarians. This has proven to be an incredible gamechanger for the way I see things. Every student in my school knows me by name. I am often stopped in the hallway to answer questions. Every correct answer I give increases my authority and builds trust. Through these casual mini-lessons, this foreign animal called ‘librarian’ slowly becomes an approachable, knowledgeable person.”

College & Research Libraries News, Dec.
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ALA has selected 46 participants for its 2025 class of Emerging Leaders (EL). The EL program allows library staff and information workers to participate in project planning work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure, and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity early in their careers. ELs will take part in a day-long session during the 2025 LibLearnX conference in Phoenix this January and work for six months, culminating in a poster session at ALA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia, where they will highlight results of their project planning work.

ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment, Dec. 4
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On December 9, ALA announced a $25 million bequest by James W. Lewis, of Washington, D.C. The gift, the largest individual bequest in ALA’s history, will fund scholarships for aspiring librarians with demonstrated financial needs. Throughout Lewis’s career at Merrill Lynch, where he leads the Lewis Group as senior vice president and senior relationship manager, he has demonstrated his commitment to libraries and their communities by generously volunteering his time, including as a member of the Board of Visitors at the library of his alma mater, Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He also served as a Library Trustee Board member at District of Columbia Public Library for 10 years.”

AL: The Scoop, Dec. 9
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Tess Prendergast writes: “I will never forget the surprised look on one mom’s face during storytime when I dropped a tip—technically called an aside—about how rhyming helps babies differentiate sounds and prepares them for reading. “You mean that all this singing will help her in school?” she asked. “I thought we were just doing this for fun!” Early literacy activities are certainly fun—but also valuable. Many parents and caregivers aren’t aware that simple, everyday activities can benefit their child’s early language and literacy development and have a lasting positive impact on their learning.”

American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.
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Joel Thornton, associate dean, collections and scholarly communication at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, has withdrawn his candidacy for 2025–2028 treasurer of the ALA. Larry Neal, director of Clinton-Macomb (Mich.) Public Library, is the remaining nominated candidate for ALA treasurer. Members who are interested in running by petition for ALA treasure may do so by completing a petition form with the signatures of no fewer than 200 current personal ALA members, and a Candidate Biographical Information Form, by December 13.

ALA Governance Office, Dec. 9
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Catherine Savage, Roz Topolski, and Ashley Johnson write: “In a healthy democracy, voters have confidence in the electoral process, are well informed about the issues, and know that their voice matters. Unfortunately, rampant misinformation and disinformation have left voters unhappy and confused these days about what to believe and whom to trust. Providing a space for civic engagement is an important part of what public libraries do. To that end, the community engagement team at Vernon Area Public Library District in Lincolnshire, Illinois, retained a political scientist in residence as a key component of a yearlong series of election-related offerings.”

American Libraries Trend, Nov./Dec.

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