Spring is a busy time in ALSC as we prepare for the ALA Annual Conference, which marks the culmination of the awards year as we honor our book and media winners. ALSC also hosts education programs; membership, discussion group, and meet-up meetings, the Charlemae Hill Rollins President’s Program (Leading with Your Hands and Your Heart: A Conversation about Leading from Wherever You Are), and more at the June conference. Advance registration prices runs through June 16 if you haven’t registered yet. And, hurry, if you are planning to attend the Newbery-Caldecott-Legacy Banquet on Sunday, June 25, tickets are close to selling out. (And, by the way, Judy Blume is headlining the conference’s opening session on June 23!)
ALSC webinars in June
ALSC also is presenting two webinars in June, a two-part series on Trauma Informed Supervision for Library Leaders. Part one, Understanding Trauma Informed Supervision, will be held on Wednesday, June 7, 1 p.m. CT. Part two, Supporting Library Staff through Trauma Informed Supervision, is scheduled for Tuesday, June 13, 1 p.m. CT. Registration is open for the series and for each individual webinar.
Did you know that ALSC also offers free on-demand webinar recordings to members (and select recordings to nonmembers)? They are a flexible, convenient, and affordable way to pump up your professional development.
Autism-Ready Libraries Toolkit
In March 2020, ALSC provided a letter to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in support of a University of Washington Information School (iSchool) project, Autism-Ready Libraries. The project, subsequently funded by IMLS, aimed to improve libraries’ capacity to provide early literacy programming to autistic children and their families.
As a result of preliminary studies and investigation, iSchool researchers developed the Autism-Ready Libraries Toolkit (ARLT), which is now available online. The toolkit includes early literacy programming and training materials to empower librarians to effectively serve autistic children and their families.