The minutes from the 2017 ALA Annual Conference (CD#2) were approved. Ed Sanchez, chair of the ALA Resolutions Committee, presented a report (CD#10.1) updating Council on progress made since the 2017 Midwinter Meeting in Atlanta to review its charge, scope of work, and training new members. ALA President-Elect Loida Garcia-Febo presented the ALA Committee on … Continue reading Council I Approves Honorary Membership for Hayden
At “Libraries Ready to Code: From Research to Practice,” a Symposium on the Future of Libraries session at the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2018 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits on Saturday, panelists involved with the Ready to Code (RtC) initiative shared stories of embedding computational thinking (CT), computer science, and coding into workshops and programs. “Libraries … Continue reading Connected Learning Meets Computational Thinking
Piccolo kicked off “Libraries Transform: Education Innovation” at the American Library Association’s 2018 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Denver on Saturday by sharing his organization’s framework for creating change: design thinking and research, two concepts familiar to library professionals. The session was part of the Symposium on the Future of Libraries series, and Piccolo was joined … Continue reading Creating Chaos
Saturday brought some snow to #alamw18. (Kelly, in our defense, the weather forecast is always wrong.) WE WERE PROMISED 65 AND SUNNY WITH A CHANCE OF INFORMATION LITERACY #alamw18 pic.twitter.com/vlI7AuzVd7 — Kelly Blanchat (@kellyblanchat) February 11, 2018 It also brought great sessions. “Every student deserves to go to a school with a school librarian” @MrSchuReads … Continue reading Top Ten Tweets–Saturday (Day 2)
Patients today are now expected to be more involved in making decisions about their health, and as they search for information librarians are often asked questions like the ones above. In her presentation, “The Health Needs of Your Community Are Increasing. How Will You Meet Them?,” Bobbi Newman, a community engagement and outreach coordinator for … Continue reading Hungry for Health Information
Cullors’s parents had talked to her a little about the civil rights movement, but left out details. Mrs. Goldberg at Erwin Street Elementary School in Van Nuys, California, however, gave young Patrisse books to fill in the gaps, such as Mildred D. Taylor’s The Gold Cadillac. Goldberg also allowed Cullors to report on the books to the … Continue reading Breaking Barriers with Patrisse Cullors and Marley Dias
“My father was not so much a reader of books,” Acevedo said, but he read three newspapers—two in English and one in Spanish. “I watched him work through those every day.” Her father was also a teller of stories, not always the best or the most appropriate, but “from him I learned timing, pacing, and … Continue reading A Passion for Poetry
Gretchen Caserotti, director of Meridian (Ida.) Library District, began by asking the standing-room-only crowd why libraries charge fines. Answers ranged from“It’s a revenue stream for the city” to “It’s a tool to teach responsibility to younger patrons.” She said there is little research to support these, according to “Removing Barriers to Access,” a Colorado State Library … Continue reading Imagining A Fine-Free Future
“Libraries carve out a special place for refugees in our community,” said Joseph Wismann-Horther, integration partnership supervisor for Colorado Refugee Services Program. He said there has been a mischaracterization of refugees in the US in the media and by elected officials since the 2016 election. Libraries can help combat these falsehoods, he noted. Wismann-Horther began … Continue reading A Welcome Place
As the session’s attendees engaged in conversation and shared what they learned about their table-mates, the point of the exercise emerged: Talking about food and cooking food together allows people to learn about each other. Liz Fitzgerald, the administrator of the Free Library of Philadelphia Culinary Literacy Center, expanded on the idea that culinary literacy … Continue reading Congregating in the Kitchen
“Everyone has a story to tell,” Johnson said, and StoryCorps’ technique of pairing an interviewee with a family member or loved one as an interviewer results in a “conversational experience that captures deep relationships.” Segments of StoryCorps interviews are frequently played to a wide audience on NPR’s Morning Edition. Listening to these interviews has a … Continue reading Sharing People’s Stories
Inspired by this discovery, and disturbed by the anti-immigrant tone of the 2016 election, Eggers first penned an editorial for The Guardian. Then he turned the idea into his latest children’s book, Her Right Foot, illustrated by Shawn Harris. Eggers spoke about the book with librarian Sandra Farag, youth materials selector for New York Public Library and … Continue reading Dave Eggers on Embracing “Radical Welcome”
