One thing that has helped the 3D printing business take off is the availability of freely shareable models for just about anything. The most popular online library of 3D models is Thingiverse, a free resource owned by MakerBot Industries. Thingiverse allows anyone who has created a model to upload it to the website and make … Continue reading 3D: A Status Report
Haley Tricycles Book Bikes Haley Tricycles has been building book bikes for libraries and literacy organizations since 2008, when the company designed the bike for Gabriel Levinson’s Chicago Book Bike project, arguably the first modern book bike. The Haley Book Bike is based on a display bike format: It has two fold-out side tables with … Continue reading Pedal Power
In some ways, the Framework was a major departure from ACRL’s previous Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education. Organized around six information literacy threshold concepts, the Framework is not an exhaustive list of threshold concepts or dispositions and practices. Instead, its developers encouraged libraries to determine their own programmatic learning outcomes based on local … Continue reading Framework Freakout?
Even my amateur lexicographic interest ill prepared me for a world in which one of the more trenchant voices of political observation belongs to the Merriam-Webster Twitter feed (@MerriamWebster). If you don’t follow it yet, do so immediately, for its largely straightforward Word of the Day feature as well as its often wry and acerbic … Continue reading Using Our Words
These questions have been on my mind since I attended Power Up: A Conference in Leadership for Youth Services Managers and Staff at the Information School of the University of Wisconsin–Madison in March. This amazing event had a dynamic array of presenters who talked about topics such as empowering teens to be leaders, finding your programming style, … Continue reading Leadership in Librarianship
The 120,000 libraries of all types across the US—public, school, academic, government, special—are an essential component of the national information infrastructure, and library workers are critical leaders in their communities. We stand for individual rights, democracy, diversity, intellectual freedom, and social responsibility. We are trusted, helping to address community concerns and needs, and championing our … Continue reading Our Shared Responsibility
In conjunction with its November 2017 biennial conference in Phoenix, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) will be issuing the updated National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. These are evolutionary standards that build on philosophical foundations and familiar elements of previous standards and the streamlined AASL Standards Integrated Frameworks. … Continue reading The Librarian as Educational Leader
At Georgia Tech, we knew that using words to explain and defend would not accurately demonstrate the impact we have on inspiring and accelerating the intellectual achievements of faculty and students. So we set out on a library renewal project. When we started four years ago, the project largely centered on building renovations. Over time … Continue reading Radical Restructuring
In addition to the many remarkable speakers and presentations that made the conference a rich educational experience, the work of the Association is also noteworthy: The Conference Accessibility Task Force issued recommendations for accessibility improvements at upcoming conferences. The Chapter Relations Communications Task Force issued a report to help improve chapter engagement with ALA. A … Continue reading Leaders in the Library
ValueIT Selling donated and weeded materials can be an important revenue stream for libraries, but it is often limited by the staff or volunteer time required to properly sort, price, and sell items. Tech Logic’s new ValueIT software automates the process of sorting and pricing donated and discarded books, turning a new or existing automated … Continue reading Save Staff Time
Here’s an organization with: 57,000 members, representing an incredibly wide range of backgrounds, communities served, types of libraries, and interests a new president every year an Executive Board a 185-member Council 11 divisions (each with its own board) 20 round tables 56 state and regional chapters membership in 96 countries 1,266 online communities 1,272 discussion … Continue reading My ALA Journey
I continue to be honored to represent our profession in our ongoing and successful challenge to federal funding issues. And we continue to communicate and educate stakeholders about our work, its value, and the very need for our existence. Many libraries face similar challenges more regularly, and I have a newfound appreciation and respect for … Continue reading At the Heart of Our Work
