“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
Aldrich, executive director of the Mid-Hudson Library System in Poughkeepsie, New York, began by stressing the urgent need for libraries to address climate change, resilience, and sustainability, both in promotion and practice. “There is nothing bigger in this world today than climate change,” she said. “This will be getting worse, if we don’t change things. … Continue reading Answering the Sustainability Question
Finally registration was open and the first day of #alamw20 began! First thing to do was to grab all the fun ribbons from the ALA Lounge before they disappear. My people!!! #alamw20 pic.twitter.com/LQPINI2afj — Leslie (@WorkForMandroid) January 24, 2020 While there was learning done inside sessions, there were also valuable lessons being taught outside of … Continue reading Midwinter 2020 Top 10 Tweets—Day 1
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
In Episode 46, Dewey Decibel explores what to see and where to eat during Midwinter. First, American Libraries Senior Editor and Dewey Decibel host Phil Morehart speaks with Linda August, reference librarian and curator of art and artifacts at the Library Company of Philadelphia, the oldest independent research library in the US cofounded by Benjamin Franklin in 1791, about Philadelphia’s must-see … Continue reading Dewey Decibel Podcast: Insider’s Guide to Philadelphia
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
Here are the best of the best, from faux-colonial taverns to historic food-hall cornucopias, whiskey bars to funky vegan eateries, and Pennsylvania Dutch smorgasbords to Zahav, named the top restaurant in the country in 2019 by the James Beard Foundation. Conventioneers are doubly fortunate to have the three dozen food stands of 125-year-old Reading Terminal … Continue reading The Philly Food Scene
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
“That’s an excellent example of what it is like to work here,” she says. “You never know what might happen next.” The college shares its library with the Mütter Museum, an institution known for its macabre medical materials, which span centuries. Sometimes those artifacts find their way into the hands of playful coworkers, so keeping … Continue reading Bookend: Medical Marvels
The 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction shortlist titles include: Nonfiction Figuring, by Maria Popova (Pantheon). Popova brings her zest for facts and passion for biography to this inquiry into the lives of geniuses who “bridged the scientific and poetic,” spinning a fine web connecting such barrier-breakers as Rachel Carson, Frederick Douglass, … Continue reading ALA Unveils 2020 Carnegie Medals Shortlist
