Holly Robinson Peete with RJ and Ryan Elizabeth Peete: The Peete Street
June 27, 2016The girl from 21 Jump Street opened her Auditorium Speaker Series presentation talking about an entirely different street: Sesame Street.
Auditorium Speaker Series
Newsmaker: Margaret Atwood
May 31, 2016How did you get involved with the Hogarth Shakespeare project? I got an email, of course—all of these things start that way. This email was from Becky Hardy, the Hogarth Shakespeare editor. She asked what play I would choose to do, and I said The Tempest. What was it about The Tempest that appealed to … Continue reading Newsmaker: Margaret Atwood
Midwinter 2016 Wrap-Up
March 1, 2016Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard Law School professor and cofounder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, urged attendees to first define the core purpose of libraries in his “Creativity, Innovation, and Change: Libraries Transform in the Digital Age” presentation. “The book as we know it, as an artifact,” he declared, “is on its way out.” … Continue reading Midwinter 2016 Wrap-Up
Chelsea Clinton Inspires at Closing Session
January 11, 2016As a kid, she read the newspaper with her Cheerios in the morning. She wrote a letter to Ronald Reagan about the Bitburg Cemetery controversy, stamped with rainbow and heart stickers “as a gesture of goodwill,” she says. Her grandmother Dorothy was an influence, particularly when it came to education access issues. And she cites … Continue reading Chelsea Clinton Inspires at Closing Session
Isaac Mizrahi on Writing
January 9, 2016Designer and fashion industry leader Isaac Mizrahi offers his take on writing at the 2016 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Boston. Mizrahi’s memoir about his formative years, I.M., will be published later this year.
Newsmaker: Sonia Manzano
September 9, 2015You once mentioned the importance of seeing West Side Story as a child. Could you talk about what it was like seeing representations of yourself in entertainment and what that meant to you? SONIA MANZANO: When I was a kid, there were no people of color on television or in books. And so I grew … Continue reading Newsmaker: Sonia Manzano
From Book to the Big Screen
July 1, 2015The release detailed the efforts of four Mexican teens from an impoverished area of Phoenix, Arizona, who were competing in a national underwater robotics championship against students from MIT and other esteemed universities. He ignored the release initially, but it stuck in his mind for weeks. It was just too odd to believe. Giving in … Continue reading From Book to the Big Screen
Sonia Manzano: Becoming Maria
June 29, 2015Manzano said the character of Maria has paralleled her life—her pregnancy was written into the show, and her daughter played Maria’s daughter, for example—so she thinks of Sesame Street as the “first reality show.” But as a writer on the show, she had a little more control over Maria’s reality than she did over her … Continue reading Sonia Manzano: Becoming Maria
Edwidge Danticat: The Power of Books and Librarians
June 29, 2015Whenever she’s with librarians, she said she thinks of a Richard Wright essay titled “The Library Card,” in which Wright gets a white coworker to lend him a library card and then forges notes to borrow a book. The notes say things like, “Will you let this boy borrow some books by H. L. Mencken?” … Continue reading Edwidge Danticat: The Power of Books and Librarians
Tag-Team Laughs from Vowell and Offerman
June 28, 2015So 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
Gloria Steinem: Rescued by Librarians
June 28, 2015True to form, Steinem wanted to use her Auditorium Speaker Series presentation to upend the traditional notion of an author speech. She opened by saying, “We have something very special this morning: an hour in this room with a combination of people that has never happened before and never will happen again.” She then expressed … Continue reading Gloria Steinem: Rescued by Librarians
Roberta Kaplan Opens ALA Annual with Celebration of Pride
June 27, 2015Kaplan, a litigator and partner with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison, and an adjunct professor of law at Columbia University School of Law, rose to prominence with the 2013 case United States v. Windsor, in which the Supreme Court ruled Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. In an exclusive interview with … Continue reading Roberta Kaplan Opens ALA Annual with Celebration of Pride