Blog Policy

See more:

• ALSC Blog Policy (see below)
• ALSC Guest Blog Guidelines
• ALSC Blog Photo Guidelines
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ALSC Blog Policy (revised September 2021 by the ALSC Board of Directors)

Mission

The mission of the ALSC Blog is to provide a venue for coverage of time sensitive news in children’s librarianship, current issues in the field, and programs, conferences, initiatives, resources, and activities of interest to ALSC members and those interested in children’s librarianship. The ALSC Blog must align with ALSC’s vision, core values and commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Photo and Guest Post Guidelines

The ALSC Blog has suggested guidelines for guest bloggers and for the usage of photos on the blog. Bloggers should be aware of these guidelines before submitting their posts for publishing.

Policies and Procedures

1. Blog Manager(s): A Blog Manager, in collaboration with ALSC staff when necessary, will be responsible for overall blog administration, content, and tone. The manager(s) must be ALSC member(s). The manager(s) is/are paid an annual stipend for their services.

2. Bloggers:

• • Regular Bloggers: must be members of ALSC and contribute one post per month.
    • Interested in joining our team of regular volunteer bloggers? Submit an interest form!
  • Regular ALSC Committee Bloggers: must be members of ALSC and contribute one post per month that relates to committee charge.
  • Staff of ALSC: contribute one or more posts per month that highlight division news and events.
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In addition to the above-mentioned regular bloggers, the blog may have occasional guest bloggers for specific conferences, events, or topics. Guest contributors may request an opportunity to submit a guest blog post. Guidelines related to guest bloggers can be found in our Guest Post Guidelines.

3. Blogger Recruitment: Bloggers are recruited by the Blog Manager based on a person’s: 1) expertise in the topic to be blogged, 2) writing ability, and 3) technical abilities. 

 4. Blog Content: A Blog Manager will recruit a number of regular bloggers who determine their own topics for posting, related to the mission of the blog. Additionally, the Blog Manager with direction from the ALSC Executive Committee, may determine topics to be covered on the blog. Bloggers must check facts, cite sources, present balanced views, acknowledge and correct errors, and check spelling and grammar before making a post live. Links to related posts are encouraged, but bloggers must post original content rather than merely reposting entire items from other blogs, lists, newsletters, etc. Blog content should not compromise the integrity of ALA/ALSC (e.g. in alignment with the ALA Library Bill of Rights and the ALA Code of Ethics) or sacrifice the objectivity of the division in regard to its book and media awards.

5. Acceptable Use: The blog is an ALSC-sponsored tool for use within ALSC and for outreach beyond ALSC. Lively opinion and commentary are welcome in blog posts. Member engagement and debate are welcome in blog posts, while upholding that ALSC blog posts will support the association’s core values, with specific regard to ALSC’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. Comments should not compromise the integrity of ALA/ALSC (please note the ALA Library Bill of Rights the and the ALA Code of Ethics) or sacrifice the objectivity of the division in regards to its book and media awards.

6. Comments: Comments are open to all but are moderated by the Blog Manager and ALSC Staff. Commentary, opinion, and reaction to posts are welcome. Comments should be relevant to the specific post to which they refer. ALSC reserves the right to remove, or not to post, comments unrelated to the mission of the blog. Spam, flaming, personal attacks, and off-topic comments are not permitted. PLEASE NOTE: Once a comment is submitted, it may appear to be “published” for up to 1 minute while WordPress runs a number of tests on the comment. It is then automatically placed in a queue for moderation. Every attempt is made to moderate and publish comments within 24 – 48 hours.

7. Pages: Frequently requested information, informational pages, etc. will be placed on blog pages as static information, rather than occasional blog posts.

8. Links: Links to ALA, ALSC and other ALA-affiliated Web sites and blogs will be provided. Other links to notable Web sites or blogs may be added if the consensus is that they would be useful to readers.

9. 501(c)(3): The American Library Association (ALA) and the Association for Library Service to Children are 501(c)(3) organizations and as such are completely prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any political campaign for or against a candidate for local, state or federal office. The penalty for violation of these prohibitions is revocation of tax-exempt status.

10. Copyright: Content on this blog is governed by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. 

Participation on this site is also regulated by ALA’s Online Code of Conduct, available at: https://www.ala.org/online-code-of-conduct.