#alamw19 Archives | Page 2 of 4 | American Libraries Magazine

Midwinter 2019 Top 10 Tweets—Day 3

By Crystal Carrazco | January 28, 2019

We started the day with Rick Steves and a refreshing perspective on travel. By far @RickSteves talk @alamwis the BEST talk I’ve ever heard in Year and by far in this conference! Waw #alamw19 — Essraa Nawar (@EssraaNawar) January 27, 2019 It turns out @RickSteves is pretty good at standup #comedy! Pretty cool to see … Continue reading Midwinter 2019 Top 10 Tweets—Day 3 →

How Technology Helps Foster Research Connections

By Lindsay Gypin | January 28, 2019

Ngoc-Yen Tran, research impact librarian, and Emily Chan, interim associate dean for research and scholarship, both from San Jose State University, presented a plethora of data from various studies indicating that collaborating on research is up, and single author publication is down. In the first five years of College & Research Libraries’ existence, less than … Continue reading How Technology Helps Foster Research Connections →

From left: YALSA President Crystle Martin, Coretta Scott King Chair Claudette McLinn, ALSC President Jamie Campbell Naidoo, ALA President Loida Garcia-Febo, and Reforma President Madeline Pena Feliz at the 2019 ALA Youth Media Awards presentation.

2019 Youth Media Award Winners

January 28, 2019

A list of all the 2019 award winners follows: John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature: Merci Suárez Changes Gears, written by Meg Medina, is the 2019 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by Candlewick Press. Two Newbery honor books also were named: The Night Diary, written by Veera Hiranandani … Continue reading 2019 Youth Media Award Winners →

Travel As a Political Act

By Terra Dankowski | January 28, 2019

“The book that beats mine [in sales] all the time is the guidebook to Disney World,” Steves told attendees of his Auditorium Speaker Series talk at the American Library Association’s 2019 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Seattle on January 27. “That’s la la land—I’m into gaining a better understanding of humanity.” Steves, who recently released … Continue reading Travel As a Political Act →

Betha Gutsche (seated) and Jennifer Peterson at the "Return to the Real" session, ALA Midwinter Meeting, Seattle.

Getting Real Again

By Terra Dankowski | January 28, 2019

“These are the new shiny things for [teens and 20-somethings],” Betha Gutsche, WebJunction program manager at OCLC, told attendees at “Return to the Real: The Library As Social Connector,” a Symposium on the Future of Libraries session at the American Library Association’s 2019 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Seattle on January 26. Analog objects give … Continue reading Getting Real Again →

Robin DiAngelo at the President's Program, ALA 2019 Midwinter Meeting, Seattle.

Robin DiAngelo Gets Real on Racism

By Amy Carlton | January 28, 2019

Garcia-Febo then discussed the libraries she visited on her Libraries = Strong Communities tour over the past several months and invited members of her diversity advisory team to join her onstage. ALA is creating a series of videos to help libraries with equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives; the first video should be available in March. … Continue reading Robin DiAngelo Gets Real on Racism →

Kate Deibel, inclusion and accessibility librarian at Syracuse University, speaks on disability access issues.

Always Use the Microphone

By Carrie Smith | January 28, 2019

Kate Deibel opened her session, “Pushing on the Frontier: Disability Access and the Future of Libraries” on Saturday, January 26, at the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Seattle, with this all-too-common question to make a point: “Always use the microphone. It’s one of the most important and easiest things you can do.” It helps … Continue reading Always Use the Microphone →

2019 Carnegie Medal winners, The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai and Heavy by Kiese Laymon

2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal Winners Announced

January 27, 2019

The selections were announced January 27 at the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) Book and Media Awards, sponsored by NoveList, during the ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Makkai’s novel explores the complexities of friendship, family, art, fear, and love in WWI-era and present-day Paris and 1980s Chicago while … Continue reading 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal Winners Announced →

Melinda Gates and Nancy Pearl at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle.

The Moment of Lift

By Phil Morehart | January 27, 2019

Melinda Gates opened her talk at the 2019 American Library Association’s (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Seattle January 25 with effusive praise for her hosts. Her admiration for libraries is well documented: As cochair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, she has been at the forefront of philanthropic funding for libraries. The Gates Library Foundation, … Continue reading The Moment of Lift →

Council I Votes on Sustainability

By Amy Carlton | January 27, 2019

The minutes from the 2018 ALA Annual Conference (CD#2) were adopted. ALA Past President Courtney L. Young gave the report of the ALA Executive Director Search Committee (CD#34), which will begin its work in February. Candidates for Chapter Councilor to the committee are Susan Jennings, Samantha C. Helmick, Matt Beckstrom, and David Dahl. Councilor-at-large Round … Continue reading Council I Votes on Sustainability →

Melissa Lockaby, assistant professor of library science at the University of North Georgia, demonstrates how not to greet patrons in libraries.

Soft Skills: Hard to Teach?

By Lindsay Gypin | January 27, 2019

Melissa Lockaby, assistant professor of library science at the University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, drew on her background in human resources to present a career development workshop on “The Soft Skills: What Library School Doesn’t Teach You” at ALA’s 2019 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Seattle on Saturday, January 26. As a veteran library professional … Continue reading Soft Skills: Hard to Teach? →

Midwinter 2019 Top 10 Tweets—Day 2

By Crystal Carrazco | January 27, 2019

Me entering #ALAMW19 for the first time pic.twitter.com/Y3cJpb4iSR — Kelly Knox (@kelly_knox) January 26, 2019 We started the day with listening to the amazing Sylvia Acevedo. “Libraries change lives. I know you do; you changed mine.” -Sylvia Acevedo #alamw19 😍😭😍😭😍😭 pic.twitter.com/HWRgPRKsYh — Abby Johnson (@abbylibrarian) January 26, 2019 The exhibits were open for a full … Continue reading Midwinter 2019 Top 10 Tweets—Day 2 →

Latest Library Links

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Elisa Shoenberger writes: “These days, it seems that humor and murder mysteries go together like cookies and milk. With films like Knives Out and See How They Run and television shows like Only Murders in the Building, it seems that murder mysteries with a lot of humor are fashionable right now. Plus, we’re going to get the film adaptation of Richard Osman’s delightful The Thursday Murder Club later this year. I’ve put together a list of recently published humorous murder mystery books.”

Book Riot, Feb. 17
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Pranay Parab writes: “Google’s recent foray into artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t going to stop anytime soon. While you can hide Google Workspace’s Gemini buttons and prompts for now, you can’t actually stop the company from continuing to build its apps around a technology that revolves around getting its hands on as much data as possible. I rely on Google Docs for collaboration, but the company’s AI push has got me looking for alternatives, even if Google currently denies using your data to train its models. On that note, these are the best AI-free, encrypted alternatives to Google Docs.”

Lifehacker, Feb. 13
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Elizabeth Coen and Mary Manning write: “In the winter of 2023, we reimagined the curricular design of an undergraduate survey course called American Drama. We wanted students to think deeply about the nature of representation in American theatre, and whose voices are traditionally privileged in play anthologies and theatrical productions and whose voices are not. We also wanted students to examine these privileges and gaps through primary and secondary source research—through group discovery and ‘play’ in the archives and in the stacks.”

TPS Collective, Feb. 14
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Suzan Karabakal writes: “As a UX research and design student at the School of Information, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to conduct user research on Library Search, the University of Michigan Library’s discovery layer, last summer. My goal was to uncover how novice users approach Library Search features and functions, and to identify design opportunities to improve student experiences. After conducting interviews with librarians in the Learning and Teaching division, student employees who provide ‘Ask a Librarian’ services, and undergraduate students, I compiled a list of five key findings and five key design recommendations.”

University of Michigan Library, Feb. 13
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María Evelia Emerson writes: “Diversity audits, like much of librarianship, are not a simple box to check off once complete. Collections, as well as other programs and services, need to be consistently revisited in order to stay abreast of current trends and make sure that libraries strive to be as inclusive as possible. Although this requires time (something few librarians have an abundance of), without consistent check-ins, reviews, and feedback, collections and services are at risk of catering to a specific group of people, without taking into account the variety and differences of experiences and needs that make up our society.”

Portal: Libraries and the Academy, Jan.
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ALA’s Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services will host “Libraries Respond: Racial Healing and Transforming Communities through Mental Health Practices,” a virtual panel discussion, on February 25 at 3 p.m. Central. The 90-minute event will feature mental health professional Grace Le sharing her expertise on how mental health can impact our individual journeys towards racial healing, and a moderated panel of ALA leaders sharing perspectives and experiences on collective community healing towards racial equity and our roles in our library spaces. Register to receive the Zoom link.

ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy, and outreach Services
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Michelle Reed and Tova Gaster write: “Neo-Censorship in US Libraries: An Investigation into Digital Content Suppression, a new Library Futures report, dives into an underreported area of library censorship—database bans that restrict youth access to ebooks, research resources, and other digital content. While bans on beloved print books are often more visible, challenges to databases and digital collections risk restricting children from viewing a wide range of content—from breast cancer awareness to resources for identifying and reporting sexual abuse.”

Library Futures, Feb. 13

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