Amazingly, this year’s ALA Annual Conference is now mere weeks away! To build on the great recent post by the Program Coordinating Committee on what to look forward to however you are engaging, here are some recommendations from our Intellectual Freedom Committee on sessions that will be helpful to all of us in dealing with the difficult situations this challenging time presents. A Rally for the Right to Read: Uniting for Libraries & Intellectual Freedom Thursday, June 22, 6:00-9:00 pm, Hilton Chicago-Boulevard Room Join us to honor the courage and resilience of America’s librarians and their persevering work to protect the freedom to read. Beginning at 6 pm, program attendees will hear from inspiring speakers and recognize the 2023 recipients of the FTRF Roll of Honor Award, the Eli M. Oboler Award, the Gerald Hodges Intellectual Freedom Chapter Relations Award and the John Phillip Immroth Award. At 8 pm, a…
Author: Andrew Medlar
Andrew works at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and is an ALSC Past President.
Developing as ALSC Leaders
ALSC’s 2019 Nominating and Leadership Development Committee is looking forward to seeing many of you at the virtual Community Forum next Tuesday, May 14, 2019, at 12pm CST as we share the myriad opportunities and roads to ALSC leadership. It’s a strategic goal of our association to actively develop new generations of leaders by building a discernible pathway, along with opportunities for training and mentorship, to develop members as leaders in their libraries, the profession, and the association. And this is something we can all do together! During the Forum, we’ll explore the WHY, WHAT, and HOW of being a leader within ALSC. WHY: Why would you be interested in being involved as an ALSC leader in the first place? Well, we have some ideas to share on how serving our profession this way can help you meet your own goals, whether those include career advancement, personal growth, having fun, or…
#IBBYcongress 2016: Literature in a Multi-Literate World
Kia ora!* My jet lag is still in full gear as I’ve just returned from New Zealand where I joined Executive Director Aimee Strittmatter in representing ALSC at the International Board on Books for Young People‘s (IBBY) 35th Congress in Auckland. Congress delegates came together from dozens of countries and whether they hailed from Iceland, India, Indonesia, or Iran they were impressed to hear what we had to tell them about ALSC.
Supporting Orlando
In the wake of this week’s shocking tragedy in Orlando, we are all reminded yet again of the grave importance and urgency of creating and nurturing a culture of inclusiveness and respect in the world.
Onward! (To #ALAAC16 and Beyond!)
“All was well.” –J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Unfathomably, it’s now time for my final monthly presidential blog post (otherwise known as POTA Blog #12). As we look ahead to ALA Annual Conference in Orlando in just about two weeks it is also, of course, a time to look back over the past year. While the 2015-16 Annual Report will be coming soon and will do an excellent job of more thoroughly documenting ALSC’s incredible achievements over the past twelve months, I would like to highlight here three things I said that I would do when I asked for your vote for the honor of serving as ALSC President and which we’ve successfully done together. 1. Reaching Out Over the past year, the ALSC team has engaged in productive conversations with such groups as: Food Research and Action Center Institute of Museum and Library Services The Joan…
An April-full of ALSC Adventures
“Spring is the time of plans and projects.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina I kicked off last month at the Illinois Youth Services Institute, in Normal, presenting on Media Mentorship with one of the co-authors of our white paper on the topic and newly elected “New to ALSC” Board member, Amy Koester, encouraging everybody in the audience (and you, too!) to tweet “I am a #mediamentor”. Congratulations to my fellow Prairie state children’s librarians who imagined and delivered a wonderful inaugural event. Then I headed up several thousand feet to Denver, for the Public Library Association conference, the theme of which was “Be Extraordinary.” The week was absolutely that, and more, and you can discover some of the experiences there by looking back at the live blogging that several ALSC members did, including pictures from the awesome ALSC Happy Hour and from my invigorating visit, along with our Executive Director, Aimee…
Update on the #ALSC16 Institute
Thank you to everyone for the robust and respectful discussion regarding the status of the 2016 ALSC National Institute following North Carolina’s passage of HB2 one month ago. I’m incredibly grateful to my Board colleagues for their careful consideration and knowledge-based decision making. We heard very loudly and consistently from ALSC members on this issue and while I very much share in the disappointment that we won’t be gathering together in Charlotte this September, I’m proud of how all of us in the ALSC community have handled this challenging, important, and very real issue that led to its cancellation. Throughout this process, the work of ALSC Executive Director Aimee Strittmatter and of Kristen Figliulo, Program Officer for Continuing Education, has been nothing short of extraordinary, as has that of their office colleagues Laura Schulte-Cooper, Dan Bostrom, Angela Hubbard, Marsha Burgess, and Courtney Jones. Vice President Betsy Orsburn, Fiscal Officer Diane…
Another Great Day @ #PLA2016
With a theme of “Be Extraordinary,” #PLA2016 is shaping up to be just that! Today’s Children’s Author Lunch keynote was given by the incomparable Sherman Alexie, only a couple of months after having brain surgery, and he had the audience in the palm of his hand as he used that terrible experience to illustrate the power of storytelling. Storytelling, as he shared, being what really makes us human. And as children’s librarians who connect author’s stories to the kids who need to hear them, he encouraged all of us that every time we hand a book to a kid we should look at the author’s name as we do so and hear that author declaring their love and gratitude. Then after an afternoon of insightful, informative, and inspiring sessions, as my co-live bloggers have been sharing, it was time for the ALSC Happy Hour, which was very happy indeed! Thanks so much to…