You share some intensely personal experiences in Homecoming King about being the child of an immigrant. Was it hard deciding what to codify into comedy? In a comedy special you have only 70 minutes, so a lot of times you’re working with coffee and you need to boil it down to comedy espresso. I’m trying to … Continue reading Newsmaker: Hasan Minhaj
“When I was 8 years old, I won one of those bookmark contests,” he told the crowd at his Big Ideas session at the Public Library Association Conference in Philadelphia on March 24. Wu still has the joke book he won for his prize-winning entry. “It was probably one of my proudest achievements of all … Continue reading A Free and Public-Serving Internet
Alcantara-Antoine—who at first didn’t pursue director-level leadership because she thought she was too shy and “didn’t see many directors who looked like [her]”—was one of four panelists sharing candid experiences and advice at the Public Library Association Conference’s “Wonderful World of Being a First-Time Director” session on March 22. Panelists included current first-time directors at … Continue reading New Library Leaders: Lessons Learned
“Do you want to perform in a Costco warehouse for a bunch of librarians while a volleyball tournament is going on behind you?” he observed his environs, poking fun at being the Closing Session speaker of the Public Library Association (PLA) Conference in Philadelphia on March 24. “This is going to be amazing,” he said … Continue reading Hasan Minhaj Plays an Away Game
“The skills for filling out a résumé and application become obsolete once someone gets a job,” said Levandowski, paraphrasing a quote she had read from Elisabeth Sanders-Park, author and president of WorkNet Solutions, a career consulting firm. “Helping a job seeker isn’t the end,” she said. “Workforce development can get people on a career path … Continue reading Careers over Jobs
Staff members of Houston Public Library (HPL) discusses the WIC food and nutrition center in one of their branches in the session “What Having a WIC Center in Your Library Brings (Besides Crying Babies)” on March 22. Drew Alvey, manager of HPL’s Stimley-Blue Ridge branch, spoke of the WIC center project consisting of three overlapping … Continue reading WIC, Wellness, and Libraries
Public libraries are challenging themselves to provide relevant and necessary services to their ever-changing communities, and it is increasingly important for library staff to reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. So, inspired by a 2016 report by the American Library Association (ALA) Task Force on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, a group of five … Continue reading Staffing for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
The book in question was on heart health, and it helped a patron reclaim his life—so much so that he wanted to make a sizable donation to the Alexandria Library that would establish a travel fund for librarians. “I did not think it would happen,” said Thornley, who previously worked at Alexandria Library. “We didn’t … Continue reading Find Your Sister Library
“Priorities, boundaries, mysticism,” said Gilbert. “This is the path I’m taking.” Gilbert, whose partner Rayya Elias died this year after a two-year battle with cancer, recounted how a deliberate approach to Elias’s illness and embracing the trauma helped her reframe what she wanted from her life. “It was extraordinary how galvanizing it was,” she said. … Continue reading Rethinking Relaxation
Yates, former deputy attorney general in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Obama administration and former acting attorney general, is perhaps best known for refusing to defend President Trump’s ban on travel from six majority-Muslim countries and her testimony before the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism about Russian interference in the 2016 … Continue reading Objective Truth Will Save Democracy
“These permission slips are for you to really think about what you want for yourself,” the bestselling author, marketer, and consultant told a morning crowd at the Public Library Association conference in Philadelphia on March 21, turning attention to notecards placed on the chairs. “You are all grown people making your own choices,” she said. … Continue reading Prioritizing Possibilities
These were some of the tough questions tackled by embedded social workers at “A Social Worker Walks into a Library,” a preconference of the Public Library Association Conference in Philadelphia on March 20. The session explored different models and approaches for administering social services, and how social work programs at public libraries began and evolved. … Continue reading A Social Worker Walks into a Library
