From mariachi performances to quinceañera fashion shows, libraries around the country found inventive ways to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which takes place from September 15 to October 15 in recognition of the contributions of people whose ancestors come from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. ¡Viva la diversidad!
John Chrastka, ALA’s director of membership development from 2003 to 2011, didn’t leave library advocacy behind when he resigned from ALA to devote more time to his start-up consulting agency. First, he was already on the Berwyn (Ill.) Public Library board (where he has served for six years). Now, in characteristically maverick fashion, Chrastka has … Continue reading An Interview with John Chrastka
Before Google, before Amazon, before Netscape, IE, or Bing, before the New York Times ever printed the phrase World Wide Web, there was the Michigan eLibrary. Known as MeL for short, this pioneering statewide information network is celebrating its 20th anniversary in October. The milestone was marked by a gala event October 4 that gathered … Continue reading MeL Turns Twenty
If I were to write “What American Libraries Did This Summer,” it would be more roller-coaster ride than mai tais on the beach. Such is the nature of juggling several media streams, especially when tied to news and deadlines. At the top of the hill were the twin peaks of the ALA Annual Conference and … Continue reading Our Roller-Coaster Summer
Has your library ever thought about using technology and communitywide projects to connect with customers? It’s not easy to pull off, but if you’re successful, your library can make new friends and contacts and can provide useful knowledge or entertainment for the community along the way. Topeka, where David works, has done a number of … Continue reading Community Connections
What prompted me to return to Gregorian chants? A novel, naturally: The Beautiful Mystery, by Louise Penny, the latest in her wildly popular series starring Armand Gamache, chief inspector of the Sûreté de Québec. That I am an unabashed fan of this series is itself a little surprising. Usually, I prefer my crime fiction to … Continue reading Gregorian Chants Meet Thelonious Monk
In March, the National Information Standards Organization adopted RFID in US Libraries (RP-6-2012), establishing ISO 28560-2 as the recommended practices for coding data on the RFID tags used in libraries for shelving, circulation, sorting, inventory, security, and interlibrary loans. The final adoption of this data model is a big step toward standardization and interoperability among … Continue reading The RFID Opportunity
Have you ever seen something in your work that you wanted to change but did nothing about it? What stopped you? Maybe you didn’t do it because you were too busy, but maybe you also felt that creating change was too daunting and you didn’t feel capable of making it happen. So many talented people … Continue reading Let’s #makeithappen
The tweet announcing the formation of the EveryLibrary.org campaign came a day earlier than its founder and executive director John Chrastka had intended, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Within four hours of Kate Tkacik’s post to Tumblr, donors had contributed $400 toward EveryLibrary’s goal of raising $50,000 by November 7 with the interests … Continue reading The Campaign Is On to Form the Nation’s First Library PAC
I look forward to this year in which I have the privilege of serving as ALA president. To prepare for this important role I acted on the very good advice of a number of our past presidents and took advantage of every opportunity in my president-elect term to lay a strong foundation for what I … Continue reading The Year Ahead
About 10 years ago I had an experience with a small group of teen girls that taught me a lot about the impact of a facility’s use of space on young people. We were at the Mount Holyoke College library and I wanted to show the teens the college’s information commons. To get there, we … Continue reading Space: The New Frontier
This old Irish joke is as old as the sod: “It’s always puzzled me,” said the Irishman, looking up from his newspaper, “how every time the Lord gets it right. People always seem to be dying in alphabetical order.” The other Irishman responds, “I guess that means God is a librarian.” I was reflecting the … Continue reading Is God Really a Librarian?
