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Appointments & Retirements

Bennett, Natalie

In August Natalie Bennett joined Auburn (Ala.) University Libraries as electronic resources and discovery librarian.

November 4, 2020
Budhathoki, Milan

August 3 Milan Budhathoki became GIS librarian at the University of Maryland Libraries in College Park.

November 4, 2020
Collogan, Jessica

Jessica Collogan was appointed dean of library services at University of North Carolina at Pembroke effective September 8.

November 4, 2020
Jones, Jennifer

September 1 Jennifer Jones started as executive director of Mattapoisett (Mass.) Free Public Library.

November 4, 2020
Kirk, Mike

July 1 Mike Kirk became director of Galion (Ohio) Public Library.

November 4, 2020

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At ALA

Barac, Ligia

Ligia Barac left ALA’s Finance and Accounting department August 7.

November 4, 2020
Cai, Julie

Julie Cai left ALA Graphics August 7.

November 4, 2020
Figueroa, Miguel

Miguel Figueroa, director of the Center for the Future of Libraries, left ALA September 4 to become president and chief executive officer of Amigos Library Services.

November 4, 2020
Macikas, Barbara

Barbara Macikas retired as executive director of the Public Library Association August 31.

November 4, 2020
Murphy, Hannah

Hannah Murphy left eLearning Solutions August 7.

November 4, 2020

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Cited

Rhodes, Angela

State University of New York at Morrisville presented Angela Rhodes, associate systems and electronic resources librarian, with its Distinguished Librarian Award in August.

November 4, 2020
Buljung, Brianna

Brianna Buljung, teaching and learning librarian at Colorado School of Mines in Golden, has been awarded a Fulbright US Scholar Grant to lecture at China University of Mining and Technology in Xuzhou in spring 2021.

September 1, 2020
Koscielski, Roberta

Roberta Koscielski, deputy director of Peoria (Ill.) Public Library, was named Librarian of the Year by the Illinois Library Association in July.

September 1, 2020
Thompson, Santi

Santi Thompson, head of digital research services at University of Houston Libraries, is the inaugural recipient of the Eva Digital Research Endowed Library Professorship.

September 1, 2020
Hutchens, Chad

Chad Hutchens, associate librarian and head of digital collections at University of Wyoming Libraries in Laramie, received the university’s 2020 Agnes Milstead Distinguished Librarianship Award April 27.

July 13, 2020

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Obituaries

Grodecki, Patricia Ann

Patricia Ann Grodecki, 88, a longtime librarian at Detroit Public Library, died August 24.

November 4, 2020
Lockwood, Betty DeYeide

Betty DeYeide Lockwood, 92, assistant librarian at Terrebonne Parish (La.) Library 1945–1949, died in August. In her retirement, she returned to volunteer as a storyteller for children and to contribute to adult literacy efforts with the library’s Friends group.

November 4, 2020
Morgan, Heather Catherine

Heather Catherine Morgan, 75, director of Mark Twain Library in Redding, Connecticut, for 10 years until retiring in 2011, died August 13.

November 4, 2020
Plotnik, Arthur

Arthur Plotnik, 82, editor of American Libraries for 15 years, died August 28. During his time at ALA, totaling 22 years 1975-1997, he also served as editorial director for ALA Editions, produced a monthly video magazine, and oversaw cooperative book projects with trade publishers. Prior to joining ALA, Plotnik was a press and public relations assistant and newsletter editor in the Librarian’s Office of the Library of Congress, and he served as associate editor of the Wilson Library Bulletin. Plotnik wrote eight nonfiction books, including the noted titles on writing Spunk & Bite: A Writer’s Guide to Bold, Contemporary Style; The Elements of Editing; and The Elements of Expression. His most recent book was the YA novel Aaron Schmink’s First Crazy Love. He also taught in the journalism department at Columbia College in Chicago and was a charter board member of the American Book Awards.

November 4, 2020
Shulin, Sarah

Sarah Shulin, 31, children’s programmer at Beaufort County (S.C.) Library System, died August 9.

November 4, 2020

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Send notices and photos to Amy Carlton, acarlton@ala.org.

Latest Library Links

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Hundreds of families received food packages after Cobb County, Georgia, residents donated produce and shelf-stable food items to help those in need. The items were distributed to 370 families a drive-through pantry at the Stratton branch of Cobb County Public Library System. Agencies including Atlanta Community Food Bank, the teamwork of CCPL staff with colleagues from Cobb Parks, Cobb Water, Cobb State Court, and Cobb County Sheriff’s Office assisted with organizing the donations.

WGCL-TV Atlanta, Dec. 2
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Librarian Abby Johnson writes: “A few years ago, our library restructured and created our first collection development librarian position. I was hired for the position of doing all collection development for my library. Children’s, adult, teen, print, digital, periodical—you name it, it was my job. In June, while our library’s doors were closed due to COVID, I started our Grab Bag program and began taking patron emails myself and filling the grab bags. And it completely changed how I was doing collection development.”

ALSC Blog, Nov. 30
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Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” is one of America’s most popular holiday tunes. That recording, along with more than 3,000 record albums and CDs, are part of the Bing Crosby Collection recently acquired by the University Library System’s Center for American Music, housed at the Stephen Foster Memorial.

PittWire, Dec. 1
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A former city library has been tentatively declared historic—which could stop plans to demolish it for a new Children’s Wisconsin clinic on Milwaukee’s south side. The city Historic Preservation Commission voted November 30 to permanently designate the former Forest Home Branch Library. The petition to designate the building was filed after plans surfaced for a $5.4 million medical office building at the site.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nov. 30
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A crowdfunding campaign has been started to purchase and restore the longtime home of author J. R. R. Tolkien and turn the property into a museum. Project Northmoor, as the group effort is called, began a three-month campaign on December 2 to raise at least $5.3 million to buy the house on the outskirts of Oxford, England, where he wrote The Hobbit and much of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

New York Times, Dec. 2
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Star Wars fans, book lovers, and collectors from around the universe can use their powers to help libraries this holiday season. The Child (a.k.a. Grogu or Baby Yoda), the breakout star of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, is featured in a new poster and bookmark from ALA Graphics. All proceeds will fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide.

ALA Graphics, Dec. 3
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Sarah Schwartz writes: “As students search for news online, it’s increasingly likely that they’ll come across the steady stream of disinformation on the web: conspiracy theories like QAnon, manipulated images and videos, false claims that the coronavirus is a hoax. Online spread of disinformation and rumor like this has posed new challenges for civics teachers. Confronting it requires a different kind of news literacy education in the social studies classroom, experts say—one that goes beyond the common practices of encouraging students to see both sides of an issue and provide evidence to back up their claims.”

EdWeek Teacher, Nov. 25

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