It is voting day! What does this mean for libraries? If your library is a polling location, then you will have the opportunity to welcome a diverse group of individuals through your doors. Folks that use the library all the time, those that may have never visited your library, or others who have not darkened the library’s doors in decades. Persons from all walks of life are sure to be in the library today! Do you have any special displays or signage to let everyone know that “All are Welcome Here?” If not, you still have time to promote diversity and inclusivity via informal displays of diverse books. This might be the one opportunity to make the difference in someone’s life – to provide a welcoming smile or friendly gesture to let the know that they belong at the library. If you need suggestions for titles to pull for informal displays,…
Author: Jamie Naidoo
Jamie Campbell Naidoo is ALSC Vice-President/President Elect (2018-2019). He is a passionate diversity advocate who seeks to create spaces were all are welcomed. Jamie is the Foster-EBSCO Professor at the University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies where he teaches and researches in areas of youth services and outreach to diverse populations.
Words Matter: Owning and Learning from Our Mistakes
By Jamie Campbell Naidoo, 2018-2019 ALSC President with Elisa Gall, ALSC Board Member The ALSC Institute this past weekend was filled with excitement, passion, and lots of energy generated by just over 400 children’s librarians, youth services educators, children’s book creators, children’s literature researchers, and other professionals working to promote children’s literacy. The new ALSC logo was also unveiled at the Institute; check it out on the ALSC Facebook page.The conference materials for the Institute described the meeting as an intensive learning experience for attendees. With the theme of All Aboard!: Embracing Advocacy & Inclusion, many of the Big Ideas sessions, keynotes, and individual breakouts addressed equity, diversity, and inclusion work that is ongoing and needed in the field and within ALSC. Check out the ALSC Blog for #ALSC18 entries that highlight some of this exciting work. Speakers also prompted attendees to think critically about ways that they can become…
Global Children’s Libraries, Literacy, and Programs: ALSC On the Road in Athens, Greece
When Jella Lepman initiated the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), she did so for the purpose of creating a dynamic venue for the international exchange of ideas around children’s literature and literacy. Just a day ago, I returned from the 36th IBBY International Congress in Athens, Greece where ALSC Executive Director Aimee Strittmatter and I engaged with librarians, book creators, researchers, and educators from around the globe. With a theme of “East Meets West Around Children’s Books and Fairy Tales,” the congress was an amazing opportunity to learn about numerous children’s books and literacy programs from colleagues in Asia, Europe, and beyond. Día @ IBBY During the three-day conference, we shared a poster about ALSC’s Día initiative, describing the benefits for libraries and classrooms, numerous success stories, and plethora of online programming resources and book lists. The poster, which focused on promoting diversity, inclusion, and advocacy with Día,…
A Hive of Activity: Board Updates, Committees, and Volunteers
ALSC’s Busy Worker Bees What’s that sound? Do you hear it? Sounds like a buzz or maybe a hum. If you think it is a colony of busy bees you are 100% correct – ALSC Member Busy Worker Bees! With summer reading in full force and school (public and university) starting for others, ALSC members are hard at work engaging their communities to build healthy, successful futures for all children. At the same time, hundreds of you are also serving on ALSC process and award committees, moving the association’s work forward. In July many process committee members began new appointments and these committees started examining current and future projects to prioritize their work. I have been hearing from committees about some of their work and reading with interest the blog posts of various committees. As always, I’m amazed and humbled to be working alongside all of you – our awesome…
Moving Full Steam Ahead: One Committee at a Time
For those of you at ALA Annual in New Orleans, you can probably relate when I say we were all moving full steam ahead. With temperatures in the 90s and high humidity, most everyone you met had a bit of a glow and varying degrees of moisture clinging to them from the steamy, long days spent running to meetings that seemed miles apart. ALSC Committee Work While the Fahrenheit was certainly high, it was the steam of ALSC’s hardworking members and their various committees that kept us moving forward. During the convention, process committees were meeting to make important decisions and plan next steps for exciting projects. Some of the children’s book and media award committees were discussing new titles under consideration for various honors. At the same time, other committees such as the 2018 Pura Belpré Award selection committee were celebrating their winning authors and illustrators. Exciting ALSC co-sponsored…
We LOVE Our Volunteers
Love is in the air! Can you feel it? I hope you can all feel the love that ALSC has for you. We are an association that could not function without the hard work, dedication, and passion of our volunteers. This past weekend many of our members were volunteering their time, talent, and treasures to conduct face-to-face committee work. At the same time, our virtual committees have also been hard at work sharing their same gifts to move the work of the association forward. Throughout the year, both groups are committed to the mission of ALSC. For all this work, I say thank you! Each year, I send out many Valentine’s Day cards to family and friends as an unexpected gesture to let them know I love and appreciate them. Although I can’t personally send each and every one of you a physical card, please consider this post my virtual…
Go Vols!: Volunteers Needed for ALSC Committees – Appointments Begin in Early 2018
With a title like “Go Vols!” You might think I’m rooting for a favorite college football team. While I’m not enthusiastically sharing my team spirit, I am fervently hoping to see an ALSC volunteer form from each and every one of you! ALSC has greatly benefited from the hard work of all our volunteers who offer to serve the association in various capacities. I began my career in children’s librarianship several years before I became involved in ALSC. But, once I made the right connections at the urging of my mentor, I stumbled upon the amazing work of previous generations of ALSC members and decided to join in the goodness. I started small – with a volunteer form, of course – on the ALSC Intellectual Freedom committee from there I served on an award committee, the Nominating committee, and several taskforces and working groups, mainly related to collaborative work with…
Diversity and Inclusion: Recent ALSC Board Actions
Mentorship, diversity, social justice, leadership, and advocacy. These are just a few of the topics passionately discussed in ALSC sessions at the 2017 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.