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Appointments & Retirements

Akinde, Victoria

June 28 Victoria O. Akinde became head of organizational development and diversity at Northwestern University Libraries in Evanston, Illinois.

November 1, 2021
Baxter, Isabella

Isabella Baxter joined University of Maryland in College Park as STEM/agriculture librarian August 23.

November 1, 2021
Bredeson, Stevie

In August Stevie Bredeson became librarian for St. Alphonsus School in Langdon, North Dakota.

November 1, 2021
Callegari, Catherine

Catherine Callegari started as assistant director of patron services at Scarsdale (N.Y.) Public Library June 21.

November 1, 2021
Cumbo, Piper

July 8 Piper Cumbo joined Auburn (Ala.) University Libraries as instruction librarian.

November 1, 2021

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At ALA

Day, Emily

Emily Day, conference content manager for Conference Services, left ALA July 30.

November 1, 2021
Diaz, Ellie

Office for Intellectual Freedom Program Officer Ellie Diaz left ALA July 14.

November 1, 2021
Jamison, Carla

July 19 Carla Jamison joined the Young Adult Library Services Association as program officer.

November 1, 2021
Malone, Robert

Robert “Jay” Malone became executive director for the Association of College and Research Libraries September 7.

November 1, 2021
Ostman, Sarah

Sarah Ostman was promoted to deputy director of the Public Programs Office in March.

November 1, 2021

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Cited

Alvino, Jennifer, and Garcia, Ed

Jennifer Alvino, director of Windham (Maine) Public Library, and Ed Garcia, director of Cranston (R.I.) Public Library, received the New England Library Association’s Emerson Greenaway Award for distinguished service in librarianship in October.

November 1, 2021
Bouwsma, Julia

Julia Bouwsma, director of Webster Library in Kingfield, Maine, was appointed the state’s poet laureate in August.

November 1, 2021
Alford, Larry

Larry Alford, chief librarian at University of Toronto Libraries, received the Canadian Association of Research Libraries Award for Distinguished Service to Research Librarianship May 18.

September 1, 2021
Kear, Robin

Robin Kear, liaison librarian in research and educational support at University of Pittsburgh, became the first librarian elected university senate president, effective July 1.

September 1, 2021
California Library Association

The California Library Association has inducted Michael Buckland, professor emeritus and former dean of University of California, Berkeley; the late poet and former librarian at San Francisco Public Library Hiroshi Kashiwagi; and Bonny White, retired deputy director of Marin County Free Library, into the California Library Hall of Fame.

July 19, 2021

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Obituaries

Travillian, Maurice

J. Maurice Travillian, 83, former state librarian of Maryland, died July 14. He previously worked for the state’s Division of Library Development and Services in the Department of Education for two decades, as library consultant, chief of public libraries, and, ultimately, state librarian. In the early 1990s, he envisioned and led the development of Sailor, a statewide network that brought internet access to underserved populations, which received the James Madison Award from the Coalition on Government Information in 1995. He also led development of MILO, the statewide interlibrary loan system. He had previously served as state librarian of Iowa; director of Marshalltown (Iowa) Public Library; a librarian at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa; and bookmobile driver at Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia, Missouri.

November 1, 2021
Wood, Lisa

Lisa Harper Wood, 64, director of Keller (Tex.) Public Library from 1987 to 2007, died April 27. She also served as director of Richland Hills (Tex.) Public Library for five years. The Texas Municipal League named her Library Director of the Year in 1994.

November 1, 2021
Adcock, Donald

Donald C. Adcock, 86, director of library services at Glen Ellyn (Ill.) School District 41 from 1963 to 1989, died July 15. He served as coordinator for program support of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and later as interim director. After leaving AASL, he became university supervisor and then interim director for the school library media program at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.

November 1, 2021
Hines, Richard

Richard “Rich” Hines, 74, librarian emeritus at University of Portland in Oregon and dean for information services until his 2006 retirement, died May 11. Hines worked in academic libraries for more than 20 years at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge; Duke University in Durham, North Carolina; and Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

November 1, 2021
Muir, Patricia

Patricia Muir, 91, longtime executive secretary at the American Library Association (ALA) until her 1997 retirement, died February 12.

November 1, 2021

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

Latest Library Links

4d

MLIS student Paige Szmodis writes: “Though the field of the digital humanities has been steadily growing in popularity in the past decade or so, it still has a bit of an ambiguous definition—the intersection between the humanities and technology. One of the best ways to learn about the field is to explore examples of digital humanities projects, as well as the programs and technologies that can be used for digital curation, digital publishing, textual analysis, data visualization, mapping, and more.”

Hack Library School, Nov. 29
4d

Cass Balzer writes: “Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, libraries have served both informally and officially as public health partners, from 3D-printing personal protective equipment to serving as vaccination sites. Now, as the country continues to ease masking and social-distancing restrictions, libraries are again stepping into the role as a point of care—this time by helping to distribute rapid, at-home COVID-19 test kits.”

American Libraries feature, Dec. 1
4d

Librarian Allison Escoto writes: “Intellectual freedom is now—and will likely always be—a necessary topic for librarians to examine. If every book has its reader, most books will also have a challenger. In addition to considering banned books in schools and libraries, intellectual freedom issues are so closely tied to social justice that librarians often need both a foundational understanding of the topic as well as practical guides, and perhaps a standout example of a banned book, to navigate the often-muddy waters of intellectual freedom in libraries.”

American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.
4d

With the holidays happening and the looming supply chain issues, Literary Hub’s Book Marks blog pulled together a backlist bookish gift guide with suggestions from some of its favorite writers. From poetry collections and illustrated novels to guides for young writers and classic works in translation, there’s something for everyone.

Lit Hub, Nov. 30
4d

With an expanded definition to reflect the times, Merriam-Webster has declared an omnipresent truth as its 2021 word of the year: vaccine. “It really represents two different stories,” Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor-at-large, told The Associated Press. “One is the science story, which is this remarkable speed with which the vaccines were developed. But there’s also the debates regarding policy, politics and political affiliation. It’s one word that carries these two huge stories.”

AP News, Nov. 28
4d

Andrew Egan writes: “Newspapers and print journalism in general have been dying a slow death for more than 20 years now. While causes and the current state of the industry are very much in debate, there is little argument that print journalism is currently in a dire state. The Hussman School of Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill counted some 1,800 American newspapers that have closed since 2004. What happens to these archives once the business is no longer profitable?”

Tedium, Nov. 24
4d

On November 29, the Executive Board of ALA and the boards of directors for ALA’s eight divisions issued a joint statement regarding the increase in book challenges and removals from libraries and schools around the US. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom is actively involved in providing confidential legal guidance and strategic support to libraries and library professionals in communities across the country impacted by the recent surge in book challenges. Since June 1, OIF has tracked 155 unique censorship incidents and provided direct support and consultation in 120 of those cases. A clearinghouse of resources is available on ALA’s Fight Censorship page.

AL: The Scoop, Nov. 29

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