The second meeting of the ALA Council in San Francisco opened with a moment of silence for Cynthia Hurd, a victim of the June 17 shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Hurd was the manager of the John L. Dart branch of the Charleston County Public Library. The resolution … Continue reading Council II Honors Charleston Victim
Art historian, curator, and Harvard professor Sarah Lewis began her keynote to the roomful of librarians by saying that at age 8, she and her sister “Dewey decimaled” the entire collection of books at their apartment while their mom had stepped out. Lewis, author of the acclaimed debut book The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of … Continue reading Sarah Lewis: The Art of Striving
Anthony Doerr and Bryan Stevenson talk with American Libraries about winning the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction. Anthony Doerr: Bryan Stevenson:
The four panelists, representing authors, editors, and publishers, emphasized the importance of timelines. “Time management and project management is a big deal,” said Brad Eden, dean of library services at Valparaiso (Ind.) University. A timeline for editing a book needs to factor in calls for proposals, giving authors deadlines, and establishing the editor’s own deadline … Continue reading Get Published
It’s day three of conference already? As conference edges closer to its end, reflections on the weekend hit the Twitterverse. The day was packed with award ceremonies and great speeches. We love you, #alaleftbehind! Keep up with Annual news with #alaac15!
The session featured three other speakers: Dale McNeill, assistant director of public services, San Antonio Public Library; Elisa Topper, director, McCook (Ill.) Public Library; and Tiffany Allen, director of library human resources, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. To begin, each panelist offered quick tips for salary and benefits negotiation, and then Geraci directed … Continue reading How to Ask for More: Tips on Salary Negotiation and Beyond
So when Vowell and Offerman learned that they were each scheduled to deliver talks on Saturday during the Auditorium Speaker Series, they decided to combine forces and moderate each other’s talks. It was a win-win decision: The pair was able to let their hair down and discuss their work informally and comfortably, while the capacity … Continue reading Tag-Team Laughs from Vowell and Offerman
The apps were evaluated on numerous criteria, including innovation, engagement, user-friendliness, cost-effectiveness, minimal (or no) advertising, a clear connection to education, and being geared to the individual learner. Apps were also divided into categories—a book app has different qualities and requirements from a STEM app, for example. The panel acknowledged that the categories may evolve … Continue reading Best Apps for Teaching and Learning
On Sunday, ALA Council met for its first session, with ALA President Courtney L. Young presiding. President-Elect Sari Feldman, chair of the 2014–2015 Committee on Committees, presented the nominations for the 2015–2016 Council Committee on Committees election (CD #12). The nominees are Edward L. Sanchez, Gladys Smiley Bell, Min Chou, Maria Carpenter, Stephen L. Matthews, … Continue reading Council I Passes Two Resolutions
The following is a list of the titles they announced, with release dates, and in some cases, a blurb from the presentation. Adult The Hours Count By Jillian Cantor October 2015 The Gates of Evangeline By Hester Young September 2015 “A supernatural thriller.” Fates and Furies By Lauren Groff September 2015 “A story of a … Continue reading Penguin’s Book Buzz
San Francisco Public Library Teen Librarian Mary Abler’s presentation, “Outreach—Keep It Simple, Stupid,” provided tips for doing effective, active outreach immediately. Abler emphasized the importance of spending just a little bit of time doing outreach activities that we already know will work in our libraries. While serving a two-year residency at Los Angeles Public Library, … Continue reading Outreach in Five Minutes
The session, sponsored by the Library Information and Technology Association, offered two examples of public libraries that are experimenting with lending Wi-Fi hotspots to users in high-need communities in an effort to close the broadband adoption gap. Swarthout began the session by explaining how NYPL came to be a lender of Wi-Fi hotspots. He cited … Continue reading Closing the Gap
