The two candidates for the ALSC Vice-President/President-Elect are:
Maralita (Micki) Freeny, Prince George’s Library System, Hyattsville, MD
Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT
They graciously answered the following for the ALSC Blog:
How has ALSC membership impacted your life? How has your membership in ALSC impacted library service to children?
Micki Freeny’s response:
ALSC committee work and regular attendance at national conferences have given me the opportunity to explore aspects of children’s librarianship and professional development which have greatly enriched my life. Three experiences stand out as memorable–the co-editing of an ALSC publication and service on the Newbery and Caldecott Committees. In the 1990s I co-edited FIRST STEPS TO LITERACY, a publishing project of the Preschool Services and Parent Education Committee of which I was a member. This work not only greatly expanded my understanding of programming for adults who work with children, but also gave me insight into and experience with the book editing process. While serving on the Newbery and Caldecott Committees, I worked with book evaluators of the highest caliber, was exposed to the depth and breadth of children’s literature and was given the opportunity to see how effectively the award selection process works. While these examples are particularly memorable for me, they are just three among many that have allowed me to explore new areas of librarianship, introduced me to new friends and colleagues and, in many ways, broadened my outlook on how libraries serve children and their families. It gave me a cadre of colleagues to turn to for suggestions, advice, feedback and ideas which I have been able to promote and implement in both the library and the broader community. I thank ALSC for nourishing my passion to advocate for children and families.
Kate McClelland’s response:
How has ALSC membership impacted your life?
Since I graduated from “library school” (as it was quaintly but accurately called) and since I joined ALSC, our profession has reinvented itself… often and a lot! This is an urgent requirement for a profession that centers around children, their families and the materials they borrow. Our customers, more than most, belong to the ever-changing, technological society.
I was trained in the large, first-rate Cuyahoga County Library system (Ohio) but was subsequently employed by a fine independent library in Connecticut. Without the constant contact with dozens of other children’s librarians I craved, I looked for professional growth and stimulation outside my own small New England library. Lucky for me! This brought me to ALSC where my insatiable appetite for community, inspiration and self-improvement are always satisfied.
I remember attending an ALA conference at the dawn of the internet. It was impossible to miss the excitement and the implication, but I went home to my “unplugged” library as a “prophet” with a very loud mouth. I bought myself a computer, plugged it into an extension cord at the library (hoping the fire marshal wouldn’t notice and patrons wouldn’t trip over the cord), subscribed to AOL, began writing to my new ALSC “family,” and never looked back. It was certainly not the last time that my membership in ALSC kept me current with the state of the profession.
So ALSC has been the source of my constant re-education, re-invention, re-juvenation and solid connection to the best people and ideas that our profession has to offer. If your mind is wide open, ALSC is the place for you!
How has your membership in ALSC impacted library service to children?
I mean, how can you fail to deliver better children’s services when you belong to an organization which has a stated Core Purpose of “creating a better future for children through libraries”? Notice how “children” are at the center of that “core”? To be more specific, here are just a few of the ways:
The most important is the awareness of children’s equality under the ALA Bill of Rights. Because of ALSC’s advocacy, children’s librarians know that ALSC “has our back” on issues of equal access. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/issuesadv/internettech/equityofaccessstatement.cfm
I find that equal access is the least understood part of children’s librarianship… and the most important. And when I say “children,” I mean all children, no matter their ethnicity because, thanks to awareness raised by ALSC, my community has access to materials that reflect them all!
Another is the way in which ALSC has, over the years, literally trained me in materials evaluation. I have participated in many award juries outside ALSC, and ALSC is simply the model for evaluation process. It works every time! My collections are a whole lot better guided by the “best” lists of materials for children in every category from books to websites!
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/childrensnotable/index.cfm
The youngest of our patrons, the ones who arrive in infant carriers, are better served because of ALSC’s efforts in continuing education and its embrace of early childhood initiatives. Take a look at ALSC’s honored Born to Read program with the systematization of pre-literacy skills:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/initiatives/borntoread/index.cfm
Many of us remember when library service to children began at age 4!
The after-school programs have proliferated and thrived as ALSC identified this service area. When ALSC has as a goal: “Every school-age child will use the library,” they put some juice into it with their “Kids!@your library” campaign:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/initiatives/kidscampaign/index.cfm
No question that the leadership experience I have gained through ALSC has made me a more powerful leader-administrator in advocating for youth within my own library community. Twice a year I am steeped in new information and new models of exceptional leadership both of which will give me the moxie and determination to move ahead on behalf of all children!
Thanks to both Micki and Kate for their thoughtful responses and their willingness to serve the members of ALSC. Here is the complete 2008 slate of ALSC Candidates.The election polls for the 2008 American Library Association’s Elections open March 17, 2008.