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Appointments & Retirements

Baird, Michael

June 1, Michael Baird became manager at Edson (Alberta) and District Public Library.

September 1, 2020
Benedict, Jenny

July 6 Jenny Benedict started as director of Sawyer Free Library in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

September 1, 2020
Bivins, Joy

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at New York Public Library named Joy Bivins associate director of collections and research services June 23.

September 1, 2020
Boruff-Jones, Polly

Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, appointed Polly Boruff-Jones dean of university libraries, effective July 1.

September 1, 2020
Brassell, Emily

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries appointed Emily Brassell associate head of the software development department June 1.

September 1, 2020

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At ALA

Chapman, Monica

Monica Chapman was promoted to program coordinator for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards at the Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services June 22.

September 1, 2020
McGovern, John

Credit Manager John McGovern left ALA June 30.

September 1, 2020
Ortegon, Megan

Manager of Public Policy Megan Ortegon left the Public Policy and Advocacy Office (PPAO) June 26.

September 1, 2020
Wagner, Emily

Emily Wagner, deputy director of advocacy communications in PPAO, left ALA June 19.

September 1, 2020
Aleck, Nick

Nick Aleck, IT user experience manager, left ALA May 29.

July 13, 2020

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Cited

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
Hayes, Nichelle

Nichelle M. Hayes, leader of Indianapolis Public Library’s Center for Black Literature and Culture, received the Indianapolis Center for Leadership Development’s Achievement in Arts and Entertainment Award May 7.

July 13, 2020

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Obituaries

Li, Tze-chung

Tze-chung Li, 93, dean and professor emeritus of Dominican Unive rsity’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science in River Forest, Illinois, died April 22. Li served as founding president of CALA (1976-1980) and was active in ALA, the Chinese American Educational Foundation, and Phi Tau Phi.

September 1, 2020
Miller, Michelle

Michelle Marie Miller, 51, librarian at Gorham Intermediate School in Stanley, New York, died April 26. Miller was serving as New York LibraryAssociation Section of School Librarians (NYLNSSL) vice president for conferences,had been a member of the NYLNSSL board for more than 10 years, and served as 2017-2018 NYLNSSL president.

September 1, 2020
Spinks, Ola Mae

Ola Mae Spinks, 106, a retired librarian for the Pontiac, Michigan, school district, died June 16. In 1972, she volunteered to visit the Library of Congress to help organize Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936 to 1938, a collection of more than 2,300 first-person accounts ofslavery compiled during the Great Depression.

September 1, 2020
Brewster, Barbara

Barbara Brewster, 98, a librarian and media specialist for 24 years at Ossining (N.Y.) Union Free School District, died March 31. Brewster was an early advocate for introducing computers to students and served as president of the Ossining teachers union.

September 1, 2020
Caplan, Nora

Nora Caplan, 93, head librarian for Noyes Children’s Library in Kensington, Maryland, until her 1981 retirement, died April 25. She had previously worked at the Library of Congress, and she published articles and stories in The Saturday Evening Post, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and The Washington Post.

September 1, 2020

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

Latest Library Links

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On September 18, American Library Association (ALA) President Julius C. Jefferson Jr. called to order a special meeting of ALA Council, held outside of its regular meetings during ALA conferences. Jefferson acknowledged the unprecedented times for libraries and their effects on the Association’s finances and services. But he added that the conversations around ALA’s framework have been ongoing for several years to make the Association more modern.

AL: The Scoop, Sept. 18
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A three-year, $574,910 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program will fund a Montana State University program known as Indigenous Perspectives in School Librarianship. As part of the grant, MSU’s library media certificate program curriculum will be redesigned to be culturally relevant and prioritize Indigenous perspectives in alignment with Montana’s Indian Education for All initiative as well as Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools.

Montana State University, Sept. 17
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Jennifer Pearson, director of Marshall County Memorial Library in Lewisburg, Tennessee, and president of the Association for Rural and Small Libraries, spoke to Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal about the how her library has adapted its services to the pandemic-related needs of the community and how she is thinking about the library’s future.

Marketplace, Sept. 16
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On September 1 Dictionary.com announced major updates to more than 15,000 of its definitions, from capitalizing Black to updating entries about sexual orientation to revising language around suicide and addiction, saying its aim was to foreground people over “clinical language.” The website has more than 70 million monthly users and describes itself as the world’s leading digital dictionary.

The Guardian (UK), Sept. 1
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John Sargent, CEO of Macmillan, will leave the publishing company and its parent, Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, on January 1. Don Weisberg, president of Macmillan US Trade, will succeed Sargent as CEO of Macmillan Publishers, and Susan Winslow, general manager of Macmillan Learning, will head that division as president. In making the announcement on September 17, Holtzbrinck said Sargent’s departure is due to “disagreements regarding the direction of Macmillan.”

Publishers Weekly, Sept. 17
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Sarah Mangiola writes: “Each year, we celebrate Latinx Heritage Month—also referred to as Hispanic Heritage Month—between September 15 and October 15. These children’s and YA books written by Latinx authors provide the perfect way to mark the month. Featuring a wide variety of titles for kids of all ages, including picture books, middle grade & chapter books, and young adult reads, these stories recognize Latinx contributions to the world of children’s literature and are great for reading at any time of year. Share these books with little and big kids alike.”

Brightly, Sept. 15
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Before the COVID-19 pandemic, students at Montgomery County Public Schools in Christiansburg, Virginia, got books from their school library shelves. Now they’re getting them from the sky. Thanks to an idea from MCPS middle school librarian Kelly Passek and a partnership with Wing, the first commercial drone delivery service in the US, any student in the district who lives within Wing’s delivery zone can request a book through the school system’s library catalog. As the pandemic continues to make indoor library visits difficult for many (and impossible for some), Passek is just one of many librarians across the country who have turned to the outdoors as a means of putting books in the hands of readers.

AL: The Scoop, Sept. 14

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