Page 840 | American Libraries Magazine

Behind the Awards

Rachel Yoke | January 25, 2010

Each year, the American Library Association seeks to honor those who have rendered distinguished service to libraries and librarianship. Such recognition is made for individual achievement of a high order in some area of librarianship. The winners of ALA awards for individual achievement constitute a "hall of fame" for librarianship. But the men and women … Continue reading Behind the Awards →

Branch-Closing Threat Galvanizes Northwestern University’s Neighbors

By Beverly Goldberg | January 24, 2010

The determination of grassroots activists in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois—home to Northwestern University—has motivated the city council to put off shuttering two beloved public library branches as of March 1, and to agree instead to study the efficacy of creating a third branch in an underserved part of town. “This is an unofficial … Continue reading Branch-Closing Threat Galvanizes Northwestern University’s Neighbors →

Al Gore at ALA Midwinter 2010, part 9

January 21, 2010

Al Gore presents the Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture, discussing his book Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston January 16, 2010. Part 9 of 9. Due to the end of tape, the final minute or so was filmed on a Flip camera. More ALA videos at … Continue reading Al Gore at ALA Midwinter 2010, part 9 →

Al Gore at ALA Midwinter 2010, part 8

January 21, 2010

Al Gore at ALA Midwinter 2010, part 7

January 21, 2010

Al Gore at ALA Midwinter 2010, part 6

January 21, 2010

Al Gore at ALA Midwinter 2010, part 5

January 21, 2010

Al Gore at ALA Midwinter 2010, part 4

January 21, 2010

Al Gore at ALA Midwinter 2010, part 3

January 21, 2010

Al Gore at ALA Midwinter 2010, part 2

January 21, 2010

Al Gore at ALA Midwinter 2010, part 1

January 21, 2010

Washington Office Update, Part Two

January 21, 2010

The ALA Washington Office is asking librarians and library supporters to urge the Obama Administration and the Senate to support jobs for libraries as part of the Jobs for Main Street Act. According to Director Emily Sheketoff, $650 million is being requested from this stimulus bill that will fund up to 13,000 jobs nationwide at public libraries. … Continue reading Washington Office Update, Part Two →

Latest Library Links

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Victoria Cox writes: “LaRue County (Ky.) Board of Education heard both criticism and praise last week when members were asked to remove 14 books from the high school library. Although the vote was split, the board ultimately refused to ban the books, citing the need to uphold the constitutional rights of students” by a 4–1 vote. Books the board considered include The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood; Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi; Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

LaRue County (Ky.) Herald News, June 25
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Jennifer A. Keach, Jenne M. Klotz, and Galen J. Talis write: “Library leaders at all levels are well-placed to create opportunities for joy in their organizations and to model how to do so with nuance and balance. Toward that end, we explored the multidisciplinary literature and compiled an annotated bibliography for leaders who wish to support joy within groups, organizational change agents who want to create equitable conditions for joy in the workplace, and readers seeking to develop their personal practice of joy. We provide a guide exploring five themes: defining joy, finding individual joy, work and organizational joy, empowering change with joy, and joy-adjacent emotions.”

Library Leadership and Management, June 30
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David Vickers Loertscher and Michelle Young write: “This tutorial introduces school librarians to the use of data visualization tools for documenting and communicating their impact on teaching and learning. By leveraging accessible platforms like Google Forms and Google Sheets, the authors demonstrate how librarians can build dashboards and real-time visual reports to showcase co-teaching, instructional collaboration, and student engagement. The tutorial features real-world examples, highlights common data sources already available to librarians, and argues that dynamic visual storytelling is a powerful alternative to traditional library statistics.”

Learning Hub, June 25
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Robin Camille Davis writes: “It wasn’t until seven years into my career as a user experience librarian that I realized I’d been accidentally excluding a sizable segment of users from my user research. Interviews, surveys, and usability studies favor people who are gifted at oral and written communication. What about people who are more gifted at visual communication? In the context of user research, this participatory design invites participants to design their own response to a given prompt.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, June 30
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Stories from communities nationwide come to life on ALA’s new Show Up for Our Libraries interactive site map. The stories illustrate the real-life consequences of potential funding cuts to rural, research, city, state, and university library programs and, in turn, to the hundreds of millions of library users across the country. Services such as summer reading programs, telehealth resources, interlibrary loan, and ebooks have all been affected. ALA collected the stories in conversation with patrons, library professionals, and advocates across the country to better understand the impact of federal funding cuts since the President’s executive order to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, June 25
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On June 27, the Supreme Court upheld the Universal Service Fund, which funds the E-Rate program. ALA issued a statement regarding the ruling that reads, in part, “The ALA applauds the Supreme Court’s 6–3 decision to uphold the Universal Service Fund. The system of telecommunications subsidies administered by the Federal Communications Commission includes the E-Rate program, which provides libraries and schools billions of dollars each year for broadband access and connectivity. More than half of all public libraries apply for funding to subsidize the cost of internet connectivity through E-Rate each year.”

AL: The Scoop, June 27
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On June 27, ALA announced its new executive director, Daniel J. Montgomery. ALA’s announcement read, in part, “Montgomery has worked on behalf of public education and the rights of workers for more than two decades. He was elected to a three-year term as president of the 103,000-member Illinois Federation of Teachers in October 2010 and has been unanimously reelected every three years since then. He will start at ALA on November 10. The steering committee chose Montgomery because of his commitment to public institutions, his comfort working across diverse and difficult political situations, his service to both cities and rural areas, and his experience managing a complex, member-driven organization.”

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