ALA’s Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., June 24-29, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (WWCC) and surrounding hotels offers a full program agenda and an array of guest speakers culminating with members converging on Capitol Hill to express their support for library-friendly funding and policies to the U.S. Congress. The effort is designed to … Continue reading Annual Conference 2010 Preview
In addition to a record snowfall, something else fell upon the inside-the-beltway community in the winter of 2010: The National Broadband Plan. For technology policy wonks, even the name of the plan makes your mouth water. And, yes, here in Washington there was a kind of crazed anticipation leading up to the plan's release. But … Continue reading Why Librarians Should Care about the National Broadband Plan
“Wisconsin Libraries Say Cheese! A Day in Pictures” is part of the ongoing Campaign for Wisconsin Libraries, a statewide effort to create a collective voice for Wisconsin academic, public, school, and special libraries. The campaign focuses on developing and communicating effective messages about the importance of all types of library service in Wisconsin. Inspired by … Continue reading Wisconsin Says “Cheese!”
The last several years have seen a boom in Washington restaurants. D.C. is attracting both top talent and celebrity chefs. Couple that with some legendary institutions and you can get yourself some good eats. A word about getting around: The city is broken up into four quadrants: Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast. Most of the … Continue reading Dining in the District
“What makes this initiative different from previous advocacy initiatives is that it engages and empowers frontline library staff to work on advocacy at a different level than how library administrators, trustees, friends, and grassroots users operate,” says Alire. “The traditional focus has been on how to interact with elected officials and decision makers. Frontline advocacy … Continue reading Frontline Advocacy Is Everybody’s Job
A headline in the November 12, 2009, issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education tells what is becoming a familiar story: “In Face of Professors’ ‘Fury,’ Syracuse U. Library Will Keep Books on Shelves.” Pressed by economic realities, hurting for space, and seeing the opportunities offered by existing and emerging information technologies, the director of … Continue reading The Myth of Browsing
As a public library director I spend a great deal of time searching out ways to keep my library relevant in today’s fast-changing environment. I’ve found that one method to do this is to keep myself current about societal trends and to strategize regularly about how my library might ride the wave of those trends … Continue reading 10 Tips for Tracking Trends
Face it: Teaching is hard. It’s hard from any angle, using any technology, to any learner. Even for those enviable (and few) “natural teachers,” being an educator is as at least as challenging as it is rewarding. Not only does teaching take skills, preparation, and diligence; it demands bravery, humor, and self-awareness. Now more than … Continue reading Build Your Own Instructional Literacy
Five 2nd-graders stand before a group of 20 preschool children sitting on the rug in the library’s story area. Each of them is holding a hardback copy of Eric Rohmann’s picture book A Kitten Tale (Knopf, 2008). After the name and author of the book have been announced, the children begin to read: (Nar): Once … Continue reading From Children’s Literature to Readers Theatre
Library workers and supporters nationwide are turning to social media to spread the word about proposed funding cuts and recruit advocates. Despite what looks to be a very bleak FY2011, social media blitzes to stave off cuts for the current fiscal year may have laid some groundwork toward influencing budgetmakers. In March, the Charlotte (N.C.) … Continue reading Will Social Media Activism Rescue Besieged Libraries?
In April 2009, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) released its updated Federal Depository Library Program Strategic Plan, 2009–2014 (PDF file), which summarizes the current condition of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and posits a future for the program in which depository libraries will be significant providers of current and historical government information. Many … Continue reading Fixing the Federal Depository Library Program
The world is in fiscal meltdown, with libraries feeling the heat. Layoffs and budget cuts in Philadelphia, threatened branch closings in Boston, reduced hours and services in Charlotte, North Carolina: These big stories overshadow how commonly we simply lose staff without being able to afford to replace them. According to a survey conducted last fall … Continue reading Those Who Can, Do. Those Who Can Do More, Volunteer
