“In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, as a Black man, I realized I had to do something,” the Fox Sports analyst and former National Football League (NFL) linebacker told attendees at a Featured Speaker session of the American Library Association’s 2021 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits Virtual on January 24. “It’s my job … Continue reading Uncomfortable Conversations
“This [past] year I personally took charge of looking at our donors and thinking, ‘How can we fundraise during this difficult time?’” said Lauren Trujillo, director of the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Public Library Foundation (SBPLF). Trujillo, along with Andrea Lapsley, president of Texas Library and Archives Foundation (TxLAF) in Austin, moderated “The Future of Library … Continue reading The Future of Fundraising
John Mack Freeman, manager of Gwinnett County (Ga.) Public Library’s Suwanee branch, opened with a clip that appeared to show former US President Barack Obama voicing support for Black Panther movie villain Erik Killmonger. (The clip was actually a BuzzFeed-produced PSA from director Jordan Peele, who imitated Obama’s speech patterns with cleverly synched video.) It … Continue reading Libraries and Invasive Technology
In “Small and Rural Libraries: A Candid Discussion,” Kathy Zappitello, executive director of Conneaut (Ohio) Public Library and president of the Association of Small and Rural Libraries (ARSL); Bailee Hutchinson, branch manager at Altus (Okla.) Public Library and ARSL vice-president; Jennifer Pearson, director of Marshall County (Tenn.) Memorial Library and ARSL past-president; and Kate Laughlin, … Continue reading Little Libraries, Big Problems
“Most of us are managing multiple stresses at once. Some are related to the pandemic, and some are related to normal life,” said Melissa Glenn, health and social services coordinator for King County (Washington) Library System (KCLS). “Working from home, witnessing racial violence, political tension—these are all things can cause distress, especially when they are … Continue reading Caring for the Caretakers
Morning all. Used the aeropress for some fresh ☕ and ready to kick off Day 3. See ya'll soon! #ALAMW21 — Josh R (he/him) (@WannabeTecLib) January 24, 2021 @TxASL @TXLA A quick breakfast before I start today’s sessions #ALAMW21 #thesaltydonut #bishopartsdistrict @HARLLEEDISD pic.twitter.com/Ta3ZJBGAMT — Dallas Association of School Librarians (@DASLORG) January 24, 2021 … Continue reading Midwinter 2021 Top Tweets—Day 3
“I think of those old traditions of poetry, like African and Indigenous traditions all over the world. The poets are the truthtellers,” Harjo said. “They tell the truth that has roots in the spiritual realms and has roots in the very earth itself, in the original teachings. I always like thinking of a poem like … Continue reading “Our Songs Came Through”
She spoke at the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits Virtual on January 24 with film historian and author Donald Bogle, an authority on African Americans in film and entertainment history. During the 30-minute conversation, Bogle asked about one memorable scene from Jane Pittman in which Tyson’s 110-year-old character makes a lengthy walk to desegregate a … Continue reading The Autobiography of Ms. Cicely Tyson
The minutes from the 2020 June, September, and December Virtual Council Meetings (CD#2, 2.1, 2.2) were adopted. ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall reviewed the Executive Board actions since the 2020 June Virtual Meeting (CD#15) and implementation of the 2020 Virtual Meeting Council Actions (CD#9). Patty Wong, chair of the Committee on Committees, presented the … Continue reading Council I: Forward Together Reports Presented
It’s a question that Matthew Stinchcomb, cofounder of the Lifeboats HV initiative and keynote speaker at the American Library Association’s 2021 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits Virtual on-demand session “Resilience: How Libraries Can Partner to Reshape the Future,” thinks about often. “If you look at the data on climate change and ecological destruction, there’s no doubt … Continue reading Partners for Progress
In a January 23 session of ALA’s Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits Virtual, the eight-time Grammy winner joined publisher Johnny Temple of Akashic Books for a conversation about venturing into children’s music, producing an album remotely, and seeking refuge in books and libraries. “I was a little bit conflicted about it, because a lot of things … Continue reading More Family Time with Ziggy Marley
“One of the great benefits of being an actor is, if you do it long enough you realize that what it truly is at its core is a celebration of writing,” he said. “There’s a feeling that you get when you read something beautiful, whether it’s a Wallace Stevens poem or a comic book, and … Continue reading The Power of Language
