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United for Libraries is seeking trustees, Friends groups, foundations, library directors, library staff, and others to complete a survey by April 30 about its resources and what is needed by those who govern, support, or fundraise for their libraries. Survey results will assist United for Libraries in identifying areas for resource and training development. Two names from completed survey responses will be randomly selected to each win a set of bestsellers.
Bohyun Kim, associate director for library applications and knowledge systems at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, has been elected as the 2018–2019 LITA president. Kim will serve as vice-president/president-elect during 2017–2018 and will assume the presidency in July 2018. Kim has served as a member-at-large on the LITA Board of Directors since 2014.YALSA has launched its 2017 Teen Read Week website. The division encourages libraries to connect with teens around the theme “Unleash Your Story” during Teen Read Week, October 8–14. Library staff are encouraged to join the free Teen Read Week website for full access to a variety of resources for help planning Teen Read Week activities.
33 members have been elected as councilors-at-large on the ALA Council for three-year terms. The terms begin at the close of the 2017 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, and extend through the end of the 2020 ALA Annual Conference in Philadelphia. One member was elected to complete a one-year term beginning at the close of the 2017 Annual Conference in Chicago and extend through the 2018 Annual Conference in New Orleans.
A bill that prohibits the use of video cameras in bathrooms and locker rooms in state and local government buildings was approved by the Iowa Senate on April 11. Senate File 499 passed on a 49-0 vote. The measure now heads to the Iowa House. The bill applies to public libraries, public schools, and other government offices open to the public. The legislation was introduced after the ACLU of Iowa asked the Iowa City Public Library to remove security cameras from its bathrooms over privacy concerns raised by a patron.
Phil Mistry writes: “The Library Book is a lavish creation of sweeping 360° panoramic photography of US libraries by Thomas R. Schiff and published by Aperture. The book beautifully captures the shifting architectural styles through 120 images from the earliest American libraries to modernist masterpieces. Schiff in his afterword writes, ‘I usually get to photograph for an hour before the public comes in. The librarians want to preserve the privacy of library patrons, which suits me because I want to picture the library as a space without people.’”
Loida Garcia-Febo, international library consultant and president of Information New Wave in Brooklyn, New York, has been elected president-elect of the American Library Association. Garcia-Febo received 3,278 votes. Her opponents, Scott Walter, university librarian at DePaul University in Chicago, received 3,209 votes, and Terri Grief, school librarian at McCracken County High School in Paducah, Kentucky, received 2,636 votes. Garcia-Febo will step into her role as president at the close of the 2018 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.
2015 National Humanities Medal recipient and bestselling author Ron Chernow will keynote the awards ceremony at ALA Annual Conference in Chicago on June 25. His books have won many awards, including the 1990 best nonfiction National Book Award for his first book, The House of Morgan, now considered a modern classic. Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton inspired the Broadway musical Hamilton on which Chernow worked as historical consultant with the show’s creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the ALA Washington Office, will be retiring May 2 after 17 years of service. We look back at her career with ALA and her contributions to the success of our profession’s legislative agenda. We invite you to share your memories of working with her in the comments section. These comments will be compiled into a special booklet to be presented to her at National Library Legislative Day. To have your remarks considered for inclusion, please post them by noon on April 23.
The ALCTS Cataloging and Metadata Management Section has announced a new $1,000 award honoring the career and influence of Lois Mai Chan, distinguished leader, author, and mentor in the field of metadata creation and standards. The Lois Mai Chan Professional Development Grant is awarded to provide librarians and paraprofessionals from underrepresented groups new to the metadata field with the opportunity to attend an ALA Annual Conference. The first grant will be awarded in 2018.The ACRL Rare Books and Manuscripts Section has selected five winners and one honorable mention for its 2017 Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhibition Awards. The awards recognize outstanding printed exhibition catalogs, guides, and electronic exhibitions, produced by North American and Caribbean institutions. The winning catalogs will be on display at the 2017 RBMS Conference Booksellers’ Showcase in Iowa City.
Award-winning and “crazy about stories” author Jason Reynolds will present the Saturday general session during the AASL National Conference and Exhibition, November 9–11, in Phoenix, Arizona. Reynolds’s books have received numerous awards including the Coretta Scott King Honor, the Walter Dean Myers Award, and the Kirkus Award. The first book in his middle grade series Ghost was a 2016 National Book Award finalist.
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