“Writing is a way for me to engage these questions profoundly through story,” Alvarez said. “What I love about stories, the best ones, is that they allow for competing truths, for complexity and nuance, for exploring the gray areas of life.” As an author whose work has been challenged by schools and libraries, Alvarez is … Continue reading Migrant Narratives and Gray Areas
This year’s recipients include three academic, three public, and four school librarians, each nominated by peers and patrons and chosen from nearly 2,000 submissions. The event was livestreamed on Facebook. ALA President Wanda Kay Brown opened the event with a tribute to the honorees. “Their stories are a testament to the profound leadership, compassion, and … Continue reading I Love My Librarian Awards
Moore—author, social entrepreneur, and US Army combat veteran—detailed the events of that day, the subsequent five days of rioting, and the circumstances that led to it in his Opening Session talk at the American Library Association’s 2020 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Philadelphia on Friday. It’s a story that he chronicles in his forthcoming book, … Continue reading Five Days That Changed a City
First, you need to pack and make sure there are enough cardigans and room for ARCs. Okay, I like…sort of packed for #ALAMW20. There are clothes in a suitcase. pic.twitter.com/5WBlqAFWl1 — Jennifer Iacopelli (@jennifercarolyn) January 24, 2020 Packed up for American Library Association Midwinter conference! Not pictured is my big empty suitcase I’m taking to … Continue reading Midwinter 2020 Top 10 Tweets—Day 0
Featured Speakers Opening Session Friday, January 24, 4–5:15 p.m. Author and social entrepreneur Wes Moore will open ALA’s Midwinter Meeting. Raised by a single mom in Baltimore and the Bronx, Moore overcame childhood challenges to become a Rhodes Scholar, decorated captain and paratrooper with the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, and White House Fellow to … Continue reading 2020 Midwinter Preview
6 Number of years since the American Library Association last held its Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Philadelphia. 6 million Number of visits the Free Library of Philadelphia’s (FLP) 54 locations receive annually. 130,000 Number of current and historical maps in the Map Collection at FLP’s Parkway Central Library. $1,975 Amount that collector A. S. … Continue reading By the Numbers: Literary Philadelphia
The Emerald City played host to more than 9,200 attendees (as compared with 8,036 in 2018 and 8,995 in 2017), who came to soak up the words of big-name speakers, learn from the practices of their peers, and network around subjects practical and theoretical. As with recent Midwinters, many sessions focused on the empowerment of … Continue reading 2019 Midwinter Wrap-Up
Memorials were read for Amber Clark, Wanda V. Dole, Leroy Hommerding, James Ray Jarrell, Merlyn Miller, and Carlton C. Rochell. A tribute resolution was read for ALA Round Tables Program Manager Danielle M. Ponton (Alderson), and a standing ovation was given in honor of JoAnne Kempf, director of the Office of ALA Governance, who is … Continue reading Council III: Resolutions, Tributes, and Memorials
We started the day bright and early with the Youth Media Awards. My 2nd time hearing the announcements in person and just as thrilling! #caldecott #newbery #alayma19 #alamw19 pic.twitter.com/KBozSWatjE — Julie Hembree (@mrs_hembree) January 28, 2019 https://twitter.com/agentpenfold/status/1089999113280782343?s=21 Forget the Super Bowl, we have the @ALALibrary Awards!!!! Congrats to all the winners and thank you to … Continue reading Midwinter 2019 Top 10 Tweets—Day 4
Estelita’s Library opened only eight months ago in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood with a goal to be a community space where people feel at home enough to have the kinds of tough conversations that typically don’t happen in coffee shops—on social justice topics like race, poverty, and gentrification. Edwin Lindo, the library’s founder, spoke about … Continue reading A Tiny Space for Big Issues
“They’re not just a bloc of black girls who went missing and nobody cares to know their names,” said Sesay. “One of my biggest wishes with this book is that people see them as individuals.” Sesay, the former CNN anchor who broke the news of the kidnappings and won a Peabody Award for her coverage, … Continue reading Isha Sesay: “We need to care”
Johnson, who won the National Book Award in 1990 for his novel Middle Passage, wrote the series with his daughter, the artist and poet Elisheba Johnson. He said he has had the idea for several decades to write about a black, scientific, funny child prodigy—a character not reflected anywhere else. His daughter wanted to tackle … Continue reading STEM Books for Children of Color
