Keith Michael Fiels

Advocacy School Is in Session

September 1, 2016

With a sustained national advocacy campaign our first priority, the Libraries Transform public awareness program launched last year. More than 3,000 libraries and supporters have already signed on to be part of the campaign. Last year we saw 144,001 page views of LibrariesTransform.org, 12,387 downloads of the library toolkit, 22,000 #LibrariesTransform mentions on Twitter, 65,000 … Continue reading Advocacy School Is in Session


Keith Michael Fiels

A United Effort

May 2, 2016

Thanks to the American Library Association’s new public awareness campaign Libraries Transform, it has never been easier to spread the word about the transformative and critical role libraries play in the digital age. Since the October 2015 launch, more than 1,600 libraries have registered to participate in the campaign, and that number is growing daily. … Continue reading A United Effort


Keith Michael Fiels

Every Student Succeeds

March 1, 2016

Examples of these changes include new provisions in the ESSA regarding local education agencies assisting schools in developing effective school library programs to provide students the opportunity to develop digital literacy skills and other ways to improve academic achievement. The bill also authorizes states and local educational agencies to use these federal funds to support … Continue reading Every Student Succeeds


Keith Michael Fiels

The New ALA Strategic Directions

October 30, 2015

It begins with our core values. These statements define our deepest aspirations and how we approach our work together. They are: extending and expanding library services in the US and around the world promoting all types of libraries—academic, public, school, and special supporting all librarians, library staff, trustees and other individuals and groups working to … Continue reading The New ALA Strategic Directions


Keith Michael Fiels

Support School Libraries!

September 4, 2015

In some communities, we see that testing pressures and budget decisions have led to the elimination of school libraries and school  ­librarians. In some districts, we see that school libraries are seen as a “frill”—nice to have but not essential to student learning. Yet school libraries and school librarians are among the most effective and efficient … Continue reading Support School Libraries!


Keith Michael Fiels

The Advocacy Continuum

May 8, 2015

Over the last year and a half, we have been talking a lot with members about advocacy and the strategic direction of the Association for the coming years. In dozens of kitchen-table conversations, chapter forums, virtual town hall meetings; in conversations with divisions, round tables, committees, and affiliates; and in discussions with Council and the … Continue reading The Advocacy Continuum


Keith Michael Fiels

Welcome to the Future—at Your Library

March 6, 2015

In other words, libraries need to be the community hub where people can come to see the new and ­exciting—to see the future. And by communities, I mean all the communities we serve as libraries: municipalities and counties, colleges and universities, elementary and secondary schools. Libraries were once the place where community members gathered to … Continue reading Welcome to the Future—at Your Library


Keith Michael Fiels

Who Will Shape the Future?

December 23, 2014

  In May, then-President Barbara Stripling brought together a hundred individuals—and about half from outside the library community—at the Library of Congress to discuss the future of libraries. In the process, these individuals also helped launch a new ALA Center for the Future of Libraries. Later that month, Miguel Figueroa was named director of the … Continue reading Who Will Shape the Future?


Keith Michael Fiels

A New Vision of Advocacy

June 2, 2014

In any conversation with ALA members, advocacy consistently emerges as a number one priority. This coming year, we’re taking a fresh look at advocacy, and our vision for advocacy going forward. Our new vision of advocacy needs to reflect both what I would describe as “upstream” and “downstream” advocacy. “Downstream” advocacy is what happens when … Continue reading A New Vision of Advocacy


Keith Michael Fiels

Libraries Transforming Communities

May 5, 2014

All around us, libraries are transforming as they adapt to broader changes in the communities they serve and the environment in which they now operate. In the process, librarians have discovered that as they better understand their communities and their aspirations, the more deeply they are “engaged”; the more impact they can have on their … Continue reading Libraries Transforming Communities


Keith Michael Fiels

The “Kitchen Table” Conversations and ALA

January 8, 2014

Over the next several years, ALA will be leading a major initiative to help libraries of all types utilize proven community engagement tools and techniques to better understand their communities and to encourage community-based innovations in library service. This effort, which is part of the Association’s strategic goal of assisting in the ongoing transformation of libraries, … Continue reading The “Kitchen Table” Conversations and ALA


Keith Michael Fiels

Who We Are

August 27, 2013

Each year, I spend a good deal of time speaking to various groups about libraries and the Association. Often, I talk about library myths. One of the most widespread and persistent myths is that younger people are not joining the Association. Data, however, shows that this is just not true. In a 2009 study conducted … Continue reading Who We Are