"There is no frigate like a book,” Emily Dickinson wrote long ago, “to take us lands away.” Only the foolhardy would quibble with her eloquent, 19th-century paean to the written word, and librarians aplenty support reading as a vehicle for escape and learning alike. Yet in the current century, more and more librarians themselves opt … Continue reading The Pixelated Campus
Avid library patrons will be able to journey through distant galaxies and accompany space-walking astronauts as they attempt the most difficult tasks in history of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), thanks to a new partnership between IMAX and the American Library Association. Through April 30, ALA’s public awareness website, atyourlibrary.org, will host “Explore … Continue reading IMAX Offers Library Patrons Seats to Hubble 3D Movie
ALA–Allied Professional Association Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels told members of the ALA-APA governing Council during the Midwinter Meeting that success of the financially struggling organization lies within its Library Support Staff Certification Program, set to begin accepting applications January 25. >Fiels said there are about 150,000 professional librarians working in libraries in the United … Continue reading APA Success Relies Upon Certification Program
ALA past president Betty Turock, in her role as chair of the Spectrum Presidential Initiative, made a special appeal to the Association’s governing Council asking divisions, affiliates, and members to help reach a $1 million goal. Turock has provided a gift of $100,000 to the program on behalf of the Turock family. The gift will … Continue reading Turock Appeals for Spectrum Funds; Donates $100,000 to Presidential Initiative
ALA’s governing Council ended two of its three Midwinter Meeting sessions early in dealing with the Association’s business and also received good news about conference attendance in Boston. A total of 11,095 people attended Midwinter—8,526 registrants and 2,559 exhibitors representing 432 companies. That compares with attendance of 10,220 from the 2009 Midwinter Meeting in Denver. … Continue reading Council Tackles the Association’s Business in Record Time
The Midwinter Tracker, which gathers tweets and Flickr photos related to Midwinter and displays them in one place, is now operational. Developed by Heather Devine, the Midwinter Tracker currently includes materials that bear the hashtags #alamw10, #alamw, #alamwttt (for Top Tech Trends), and #totebag (for "ALA Midwinter Meeting Snark"). "The tracker for ALA Annual 2009 tracked 18 different hashtags, … Continue reading Midwinter Tracker Available
We at American Libraries are kicking off 2010 with a whole new way of keeping on top of library-related news, views, and perspectives with this revamped website. The site offers many new benefits, including expanded news content, web-only spotlights, HTML versions of most of the print magazine’s content, comment-enabled articles, an archive of every issue … Continue reading American Libraries launches revamped website
American Library Association Treasurer Rod Hersberger made the following announcement today on the ALA Council list: "Our financial advisors at Merrill Lynch reported that at November 30, the total value of ALA's endowment stood at $28,398,452. This compares to the endowment's month-end low point at February 28 of $21,298,663. That represents a recovery of $7,099,789. Pretty … Continue reading Treasurer Says Happy New Year
The General Assembly of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions met August 26 during the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Milan, Italy. Formerly known as the Council, the General Assembly has been re-engineered to reflect a swifter, streamlined IFLA, with an emphasis on the core activities and priorities of its active … Continue reading IFLA Assembly Learns Streamlining Works, Finances Stable
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) closed its 75th World Library and Information Congress August 27 with National Organizing Committee chair Mauro Guerrini announcing that the five–day conference in Milan had attracted 3,931 registrants, along with 228 volunteers and members of the Italian staff, 128 exhibitors, 34 press, 30 interpreters and assorted … Continue reading IFLA Closing Day Puts Focus Back on Global Economy
