Inside ALA Archives | Page 14 of 51 | American Libraries Magazine

Travel Grants for San Francisco

By Mariam Pera | September 17, 2014

Deadline: October 1, 2014 Penguin Young Readers Group Award Description: Up to four children’s librarians can receive a stipend to attend their first ALA Annual Conference. Award amount: $600 Requirement: Must be ALSC member Administered by: ALSC Sponsored by: Penguin Young Readers Group Deadline: December 1, 2014 Baker & Taylor Conference Grant Description: Two grants for … Continue reading Travel Grants for San Francisco →

Macmillan’s Full Catalog of Ebooks Now Available to Public Libraries

By Rob Maier | August 4, 2014

Macmillan announced last week that it is adding its frontlist titles to its backlist pilot for public libraries, making its complete ebook catalog available for the first time. All of their titles are available for a 2-year/52-loan period (whichever comes first). Macmillan ebooks are available to individual public libraries only, not to consortia. Pricing will … Continue reading Macmillan’s Full Catalog of Ebooks Now Available to Public Libraries →

Feedback Wanted: Strategic Planning

By Courtney L. Young | July 29, 2014

Dear colleagues: I wanted to share some highlights related to our strategic planning activities at Annual Conference. The Executive Board held two working sessions related to strategic planning. At the first session, we discussed the proposed strategic planning process document that then–ALA President Barbara Stripling and I shared with you and other members in June. … Continue reading Feedback Wanted: Strategic Planning →

Top Ten (Never!) Tweets – Tuesday (Day 5) #alaac14

By Julie Cai | July 2, 2014

Libraries for the win! B. J. Novak lit up the stage and Twitter! Attendees got fit over the weekend exploring all Annual and Vegas had to offer! … Continue reading Top Ten (Never!) Tweets – Tuesday (Day 5) #alaac14 →

Championing Introverts

By Mariam Pera | July 2, 2014

Appearing as an Auditorium Speaker on the ALCTS President’s Program on June 30, bestselling author Jennifer Kahnweiler said she has been an avid library patron ever since she was a child. In fact, her father led the renovation of the library in their hometown. “The library was like the other sibling in my life!” she … Continue reading Championing Introverts →

ALA First-Timer: Practical Professional Development

By Jennifer Whitley | July 1, 2014

Sharon Skinner, national president of the nonprofit Grant Professionals Association (GPA), presented tips for writing a successful grant proposal at a June 29 program at ALA Annual Conference. Skinner’s advice provided skillful guidance for any grant-writing novice. For experienced writers, she offered reminders and tools to get at the heart of any proposal. These skills are especially … Continue reading ALA First-Timer: Practical Professional Development →

Resurrecting The Speaker

By Phil Morehart and George M. Eberhart | July 1, 2014

In 1977, the American Library Association decided to get into the movie business. Produced by the Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC), The Speaker follows the aftermath of a high school group’s decision to invite a controversial scientist (loosely based on William Shockley, co-inventor of the transistor and an outspoken eugenicist) to speak on campus. The scientist … Continue reading Resurrecting The Speaker →

Hey Librarians, Call Me

By George M. Eberhart | July 1, 2014

On Tuesday, comedian, actor, director, and author B. J. Novak offered some entertainment at the Closing Session of the 2014 ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. In addition to having the “honor of addressing an audience of more than 1,000 librarians in Las Vegas,” Novak quipped that it was a “specific sexual fantasy.” He put … Continue reading Hey Librarians, Call Me →

Intellectual Freedom Manual Dominates Council III

By Mariam Pera | July 1, 2014

ALA Council met for its third and final session at the 2014 Annual Conference and Exhibition on Tuesday, July 1. The Intellectual Freedom Committee presented 14 action items (CD#19.3–19.17) as revisions to the Intellectual Freedom Manual, which is set to be published later this year. After a motion to refer the section on labeling and … Continue reading Intellectual Freedom Manual Dominates Council III →

Boba Fett at the Circ Desk

By Jennifer Petti | July 1, 2014

“Welcome to planet Tatooine. That’s what it feels like outside…..” Star Wars nerds and public librarians united on Friday for a hilarious and important panel about managing a circulation desk with moxie to match the Rebel Empire at “Boba Fett at the Circ Desk: Library Leadership Lessons from The Empire Strikes Back,” sponsored by the … Continue reading Boba Fett at the Circ Desk →

Ilyasah Shabazz Discusses the Power of Family and Heritage

By Laurie D. Borman | June 30, 2014

“We allow our children to be taught to hate,” said Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X, and an auditorium speaker on Sunday at the 2014 ALA Annual Conference. When love and positive values are not instilled in a family, she said, “Ultimately, we have failed our obligation to God (if you believe in God), our … Continue reading Ilyasah Shabazz Discusses the Power of Family and Heritage →

Literary Speed Dating

By Jennifer Petti | June 30, 2014

While libraries are so much more than the physical books on our shelves, those books play a critical role in the services we provide to patrons. Which is why, for many of us, half the fun of ALA Annual Conference is hearing about what is new and upcoming from our favorite authors. With a plethora … Continue reading Literary Speed Dating →

Latest Library Links

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Jennifer A. Keach, Jenne M. Klotz, and Galen J. Talis write: “Library leaders at all levels are well-placed to create opportunities for joy in their organizations and to model how to do so with nuance and balance. Toward that end, we explored the multidisciplinary literature and compiled an annotated bibliography for leaders who wish to support joy within groups, organizational change agents who want to create equitable conditions for joy in the workplace, and readers seeking to develop their personal practice of joy. We provide a guide exploring five themes: defining joy, finding individual joy, work and organizational joy, empowering change with joy, and joy-adjacent emotions.”

Library Leadership and Management, June 30
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David Vickers Loertscher and Michelle Young write: “This tutorial introduces school librarians to the use of data visualization tools for documenting and communicating their impact on teaching and learning. By leveraging accessible platforms like Google Forms and Google Sheets, the authors demonstrate how librarians can build dashboards and real-time visual reports to showcase co-teaching, instructional collaboration, and student engagement. The tutorial features real-world examples, highlights common data sources already available to librarians, and argues that dynamic visual storytelling is a powerful alternative to traditional library statistics.”

Learning Hub, June 25
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Robin Camille Davis writes: “It wasn’t until seven years into my career as a user experience librarian that I realized I’d been accidentally excluding a sizable segment of users from my user research. Interviews, surveys, and usability studies favor people who are gifted at oral and written communication. What about people who are more gifted at visual communication? In the context of user research, this participatory design invites participants to design their own response to a given prompt.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, June 30
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Stories from communities nationwide come to life on ALA’s new Show Up for Our Libraries interactive site map. The stories illustrate the real-life consequences of potential funding cuts to rural, research, city, state, and university library programs and, in turn, to the hundreds of millions of library users across the country. Services such as summer reading programs, telehealth resources, interlibrary loan, and ebooks have all been affected. ALA collected the stories in conversation with patrons, library professionals, and advocates across the country to better understand the impact of federal funding cuts since the President’s executive order to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Office, June 25
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On June 27, the Supreme Court upheld the Universal Service Fund, which funds the E-Rate program. ALA issued a statement regarding the ruling that reads, in part, “The ALA applauds the Supreme Court’s 6–3 decision to uphold the Universal Service Fund. The system of telecommunications subsidies administered by the Federal Communications Commission includes the E-Rate program, which provides libraries and schools billions of dollars each year for broadband access and connectivity. More than half of all public libraries apply for funding to subsidize the cost of internet connectivity through E-Rate each year.”

AL: The Scoop, June 27
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On June 27, ALA announced its new executive director, Daniel J. Montgomery. ALA’s announcement read, in part, “Montgomery has worked on behalf of public education and the rights of workers for more than two decades. He was elected to a three-year term as president of the 103,000-member Illinois Federation of Teachers in October 2010 and has been unanimously reelected every three years since then. He will start at ALA on November 10. The steering committee chose Montgomery because of his commitment to public institutions, his comfort working across diverse and difficult political situations, his service to both cities and rural areas, and his experience managing a complex, member-driven organization.”
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Oliver Moody writes: “In the €100 million Oodi library, which looms over central Helsinki like a cruise ship from the future, robots called Tatu, Patu, and Veera trundle back and forth between the shelves and the reading rooms. Against this backdrop, foreign visitors might be surprised to see how many children and teenagers are engaged in an almost unsettlingly archaic activity: reading and borrowing books. In the age of TikTok, Netflix, and Candy Crush, it is not just Finland’s public libraries that are booming, but also demand for their physical paperbacks and hardbacks.”

The Times (London), June 20

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