My year as President has ended and I wanted to thank you all for your support of ALSC during our eventful year. I’m using this blog as an opportunity to wrap up our year and to thank key individuals who have made our important work possible.
Author: Cecilia McGowan
I am currently the 2019-2020 ALSC President. I retired in 2018 after 33 years as a children's librarian and advocate for all children inside and outside the library. I'm and an avid gardener and reader.
Black Lives Matter: ALSC’s Call to Action and Endorsement of BCALA and ALA Recent Statements
Dear ALSC Members and Friends, I am writing to you today on behalf of the ALSC Board of Directors. Along with the ALA Executive Board, the ALSC Board endorses BCALA’s statement condemning increased violence and racism towards Black Americans and people of color and stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, BCALA, and those working for racial justice and dismantling racial capitalism and white supremacy in all of its forms.
ALSC News Roundup: Keeping You Informed!
Dear ALSC Members and Friends, Welcome to May! We’ve all had some dark days in the past few months. I’m hoping life is getting better for all of you as some of us transition to open workplaces and businesses and some of us must wait for at least another month. No matter what, ALSC is here for you. May Community Forum: Impact of Covid-19 on the Library: Present and Future Speaking of opening up, the next ALSC Community Forum will take place on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, 12 noon CST. Join fellow members and leaders for this upcoming Community Forum to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on your work and your libraries. What will library life look like once we reopen them? What do we need to consider in meeting the needs of our communities? Register now by logging into your ALA account. I hope to see you there!
We’re Here for You ALSC Members
Dear ALSC Members and Friends, I’m thinking of you today and every day and wondering how you are doing and hoping that you, your family and friends are safe and healthy. It seems so long since I last communicated. So much has changed, yet it seems in some ways we are in the same place. An online news commentator a few days ago said that March was the longest year we had ever had in a month. I’m sure it seems that way for many of you as well.
ALSC is Thinking of You and Asking for Your Strategies in Coping with COVID-19
Dear ALSC Members and Friends, The ALSC staff and board would like you to know that we are thinking of all you as you work in your libraries, schools, and communities. Children, families and caregivers look to you in your role as knowledge dispensers, not keepers, for up-to-date information about how to deal with many challenges in their lives, not just the COVID-19 outbreak. You have personal connections to millions of library users and I want to thank you for your tireless work each and every day in helping make their lives better through information, connection and services.
Moving Ahead with ALSC: Update on Committee Realignment, Strategic Plan & Open Letter to Members
Happy March ALSC friends! I just returned from the extraordinary Public Library Association conference in Nashville! It was great to see so many ALSC members in attendance. Explore the programs and materials. ALSC Committee Realignment I want to thank all of you who offered feedback about the proposed realignment changes to ALSC committees. The Board used the comments submitted during and after Midwinter as well as those submitted during the February 18, 2020 Community Forum as the basis for approving the changes at their February 20, 2020 online meeting.
#PLA 2020 Wrap-up 2: A Deep Dive Into Diverse Books
University of Central Florida staff members Kristine Shrauger, Amy Dovydaitis and Emma Gisclair have created a database in order to provide access to diverse books that are ‘hidden’ in the library stacks. Hidden because the formal subject headings assigned to them do not reflect the details within the books that families are looking for: diversity in race, culture, sexuality, family relationships, health and disability. Using an intake form to categorize books they are building their Diverse Families Bookshelf database. They take a ‘picture walk’ through picture books as well as deeply reading and categorizing books for kids up to age 18. The PowerPoint of the program is here. They welcome your assistance on this important project that benefits all families.
#PLA2020 Wrap-up 3: From the Personal to the Political: Nonfiction You Can’t Put Down
Oh, how I love informational books and what a stellar line-up of authors at PLA presenting their new books. I knew Bob Garfield’s voice, but had never seen a photo of him, which is unusual for someone so well known; Bob is the longtime co-host of On the Media. Bob’s new book is American Manifesto: Saving Democracy From Villains, Vandals and Ourselves. He believes we should all become ‘bulwarks against the post-truth barrage.’ He has a established We the Purple: a nonpartisan coalition, campaign and movement. As an aside and as we were in Nashville, Bob invited us to listen to two stories on his webpage: Tag You’re It, Part I & II, where he details how he is resolved to become a country music legend.