This winter, I had the chance to explore an entirely new teaching experience, at least new to me. Along with my good friend Mike Eisenberg, I co-taught a large undergraduate course to 160 sophomores and juniors, many of whom are intending to apply to our baccalaureate informatics program. It’s very different from my usual 20–30 … Continue reading None of Your Beeswax
Staff members launched a crowdfunding campaign in 2013 through the website Indiegogo to raise $30,000 to buy a statue of the Incredible Hulk, a stack of new graphic novels, and new technology, including a 3D printer and an iMac with a drawing pad. Did the library hit its funding goal with a legendary Hulk smash? … Continue reading Libraries Find Success in Crowdfunding
The era of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in American education carries both promise and peril. Pundits readily discuss varied perspectives about CCSS in everything from traditional journals to social media. While it is vital for school librarians to participate in this discussion, many are realizing how important it is to work with fellow educators … Continue reading Knowing What Readers Need
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
This issue (May 2014) we invited Marshall Breeding to give us a status and trends report on strategic products of the library technology industry. His detailed investigation begins here. He has been reporting on technology in the industry for more than a decade and regularly provides updates for us and on his own site. Breeding … Continue reading Now Trending: Tech and People News
Above all, every library director with a standard seven-member board of trustees knows one fact of life: the rule of four. It takes only four votes to get you fired. If you’re unlucky, your board has only five members. Things can get very dicey when it takes only three votes to get you fired. So … Continue reading Fired Up for Retirement
Easter eggs of every description, some 5,000 in all, are being exhibited as a fundraiser for Schoharie (N.Y.) Free Library every weekend in April through Easter Sunday. The Mildred Vrooman Easter Egg Exhibit in Schoharie includes elaborate egg-based scenes that feature backdrops and accessories made of materials such as costume jewelry, fur, shell, ribbons, and … Continue reading An Egg-ceptional Exhibit Benefits Hurricane-Ravaged Library
I’m in a meeting as I write this. (It happens; don’t tell anybody I work with, okay?) Don’t get the wrong idea … all of our meetings are vital and gripping, and everybody looks forward to them. Just like yours, right? In all seriousness, though, as I sit here, I’m struck by the various roles … Continue reading Leading from All Sides
Can you provide excellent readers’ advisory without reading widely yourself? This question, posed to my Twitter followers (whose replies shared a refrain of “No way”), led me to rethink the way I train my staff on readers’ advisory. Of course there are ways to become familiar with books without actually reading entire works—reviews, first chapters, reliance on … Continue reading Reading Wildly
Every March, the National Women’s History Project announces a new theme to celebrate Women’s History Month; this year, the theme is “Celebrating Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment.” As part of this national celebration, libraries around the country are honoring women and their contributions to history with lectures, movie screenings, and art shows. Here is … Continue reading Libraries Celebrate Women’s History Month
Terry Winograd, professor of computer science at Stanford University, is one of the top leaders in human-computer interaction. For a dozen years, he has collaborated with the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the D School) at Stanford University to present a course on the design of computer- and telecommunication-based applications. All of its courses are … Continue reading One Product, Many Users
ALA is in the process of reimagining itself. We have engaged in conversations with members, Council, the Executive Board, and division leadership to understand what we, as a profession, want from our Association. In a nutshell, we have found that we want a welcoming, inclusive, engaged, and supportive organization. Taken at face value, these attributes do not … Continue reading Creating a Participatory ALA
