Transliteracy is a trendy word these days, and much like the Web 2.0 debate that took place a few years ago, there are those who question whether or not transliteracy is just a new, fancier term for information literacy. According to Bobbi Newman, one of the speakers on the Why Transliteracy panel that took place … Continue reading Trans-what? A Day of Literacies at the ALA Annual Conference
Three measures related to WikiLeaks were debated and ultimately defeated during the ALA Membership Meeting at Annual Conference amid controversy about the required number of members present throughout the meeting to represent a quorum. Member Herb Biblo contended that the meeting was set up for failure, reacting to the fact that action on the resolutions … Continue reading WikiLeaks Measures Voted Down in Membership Meeting
“If the Intellectual Freedom Committee is the brains of the ALA and the Committee on Professional Ethics is the conscience, then we (the LeRoy C. Merritt Fund) are the righteous arm for the individual librarian,” declared Loriene Roy, past ALA president and current Merritt Fund trustee. It became clear during the Intellectual Freedom 101 presentation, … Continue reading Intellectual Freedom 101: The Brains of the ALA
As seen in ALA blogs on Saturday, June 25: The Red Cape Event of the Season—ALSC Blog Heather Acerro reported that “The poopiest place to be at #ALA11 tonight was the Super Diaper Baby 2 party. Here are some highlights: Tinkle tinis and hot dogs were served. Yes, tinkle tinis—get it? The super-awesome and talented … Continue reading Best of the ALA Blogs – Saturday
“If we don’t advocate for ourselves, then who’s going to advocate for us?” asked Cindy Singer of the County of Los Angeles Public Library and moderator of the “Privatization of Libraries: What’s at Stake for Your Profession and Community” session. That question set the tone for the afternoon and advocate librarians did. The room was … Continue reading This Is Our Last Public Space
Even though he wrote The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry), Siva Vaidhyanathan has plenty of good to say about the company. “Google has actually treated us very well,” he said during his Auditorium Speaker Series speech. “Google does a good job with what they offer and they do it for free…. They’re … Continue reading Vaidhyanathan Speaks on the Limitations of Benevolence
LearnRT’s “TEDx, Boot Camps, and Unconferences: Innovative and Low-Cost Staff Development Events” offered insights on using nontraditional methods to help library staff gain knowledge and insight to better perform their jobs. Janie Hermann, program librarian at Princeton (N.J.) Public Library, described how the library created a camp experience for its staff development day in 2009. … Continue reading Saving on Staff Development
Jill Nishi of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation kicked off a panel discussion of “Recovery along the Gulf Coast” by saying it was hard for her to believe that it has been five years since Hurricane Katrina ravaged large portions of Mississippi and Louisiana. “But so much has been accomplished,” she added. Nishi noted … Continue reading Librarians Share Front-Line Stories of Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery
“Everyone loves series,” declared Jonathan Stroud, author of The Bartimaeus Sequence. “Children love series, adults love series, publishers love series.” Stroud spoke as part of a panel at “Keep ’Em Coming: Series Fiction Creators Talk Shop,” where four young adult authors talked about the whys and the hows of series fiction. Financial considerations are a … Continue reading Panel Reveals Series Secrets
Activist writer Dan Savage keynoted the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans today by explaining how his new book, It Gets Better, was inspired by a rash of suicides by gay teens who commit suicide because they cannot picture a future that would be good enough to make up for the pain they are in … Continue reading Dan Savage Keynotes ALA Conference with Message of Positive Subversion
In accordance with the Association’s continued emphasis on diversity, small groups probed the varied facets of the issue during the Town Hall Meeting on Diversity June 24 presented by ALA’s Committee on Diversity. The goal was to provide members with an opportunity to gather and discuss key issues and develop strategies for use with the … Continue reading Town Hall explores staff, patron diversity issues
As ALA staff members pack for the Association’s Annual Conference in New Orleans June 23–28, the second since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast six years ago, what should arrive but an email thank-you note from a Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, librarian regarding ALA’s 2006 Annual Conference there. Open Letter to ALA: On behalf of the … Continue reading Kudos from the Crescent City
