Aliqae Geraci, assistant director of Catherwood Research and Learning Services at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and Shannon Farrell, natural resources librarian at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, provided attendees with four key steps to smart salary negotiations during the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Start Smart Salary Negotiations Workshop. The workshop … Continue reading Knowledge Is Power
Cathy King, executive director of OCLC Delivery Services, said that with the rise of virtual assistants like Alexa, library users now expect technology to respond immediately to simple commands. “Take Jill, for example,” she said. “Jill is a real university undergraduate English major who does not use the library. It’s Friday, and she needs to … Continue reading User-centric Library Services
American Library Association (ALA) President Loida Garcia-Febo called the first Council meeting to order at 8:00 on June 23. This Council session began with a facilitated discussion on equity, diversity, and inclusion through a social justice lens, facilitated by DeEtta Jones, founder and principal of DeEtta Jones and Associates. Upon reconvening, the minutes from the … Continue reading Council I Approves Renaming Dewey Medal
The panel discussed how to handle several real-world scenarios, such as a white teen touching a black girl’s hair without asking, two boys slanting their eyes and mocking Asian culture, and children asking why police killed an unarmed black person. The speakers shared how they would address each scenario, as well as tips for talking … Continue reading Addressing Race and Racism with Young People
Service decisions’ effect on marginalized communities was the focus of Brown’s president’s program, “Inequity and the Disappearance of Reference and User Services,” on June 22 at the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. Teresa Morris, reference and instruction librarian at the College of San Mateo, moderated a discussion between Nicole Cooke, program director … Continue reading Toward Empowerment
Libraries = Strong Communities sought to highlight the value of academic, public, and school libraries, and to create a groundswell of support at local, state, national, and global levels. Rally attendees wore blue T-shirts with the Libraries = Strong Communities slogan, and state chapter representatives lifted signs inscribed with their state names. “Over the past … Continue reading Celebrating Libraries = Strong Communities
ALA’s Public Programs Office recently completed the New Americans Library Project, a year-long exploration of public library programs and services that support immigrant and refugee populations. Librarians and representatives from community partner organizations involved in the project shared lessons and recommendations in a session on June 22, with a focus on models for effective partnerships. … Continue reading Coming to America’s Libraries
“If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest country in greenhouse emissions,” Erica Freudenberger, outreach consultant at Southern Adirondack (N.Y.) Library System (SALS), told attendees at “Food for Thought,” a June 22 session at the American Library Association’s 2019 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. “Despite an abundance, many don’t have … Continue reading Libraries as Sustenance
Cummins was gracious and thankful for all of the librarians in the audience, noting that she mentioned librarians in her novel 12 times. The novel was born of intense research and placing herself in her protagonist’s shoes. After she spoke, audience members clamored for their own copy at in the back of the conference room. … Continue reading Happy Hour for Books
The panel included Carson Block, Kyle L .Courtney, Sarah Houghton, Janie Hermann, and Djaz F. Zulida, who all hold various roles in librarianship. One panel member was missing, Sarah Houghton who needed her own self care. She sent in a video that told her story, stating “Self care takes priority, as it should … take … Continue reading Self Care Is Not So Selfish
The selections stumped most of the crowd and presented Johnson’s thesis: Music lyrics—especially in hip hop—should be viewed and taught as literature. Doing so, Johnson said, can allow students to find deeper meaning in their favorite songs and open new worlds of personal expression, especially in regard to social justice issues. Johnson’s project “Lyrics as … Continue reading Lyrics as Literature
Her talk was moderated by her longtime editor Jill Santopolo, associate publisher of Philomel Books. Sotomayor noted that as a child she could never sit still and was soon walking the aisles of the auditorium—followed closely by her security detail—telling her story, hugging attendees, and being serenaded for her upcoming birthday (June 25). Sotomayor said … Continue reading Sonia Sotomayor Embraces Librarians—Literally
