Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) conference in Atlanta. It was a great reminder that Summer Reading/Learning is always on the top of not only our minds, but the minds of our partners in the community who share the pleasures of working with children when the regular school year is not in session. It seems we’re always in the midst of planning, conducting, and evaluating summer programs.
Category: ALSC Board
2020 ALSC Strategic Plan: Your Board at Work!
In 2016 the ALSC Board of Directors began work on a new 2017-2020 Strategic Plan. As many of you know, Strategic Plans are generally for 5 years, but ALSC decided that a 3 year plan gave our organization the opportunity to review, refresh and revise in a shorter time frame. This is not to say that we haven’t been doing this during the 3 year period – we have! The Strategic Plan is not a document we put together and put away; it’s a living document. A Strategic Plan Implementation Progress Report is written four times a year, updating the Board and membership where we are in achieving our goals.
Noteworthy ALSC Booklist Committees!
Today I would like to highlight the work of several committees whose work is used on a daily basis by ALSC members, parents, teachers, librarians, and many others looking for excellent book recommendations. ALSC booklists help fulfill our commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion by highlighting books that feature children in our communities and our lives.
ALSC: Serving Immigrant & Refugee Children and Their Families
I love August. Nice and hot so that dip in the pool or lake feels refreshing and invigorating, not cold once we slip into September. Not a whiff of the melancholy I feel once the hot weather leaves for another year. I hope you are enjoying August as well and looking forward to the conclusion of another successful Summer Reading/Learning. In case you think ALSC sits back and relaxes in August, I wanted to be sure to tell you about some exciting news and upcoming events.
ALA Annual Has Come and Gone But ALSC is Still at Work!
Hello ALSC members and prospective members! I’m thrilled to be serving you as your new president! What a whirlwind ALA Annual was! So many great programs, books, author sightings and engagement with members and conference attendees. A few of the outstanding programs were The Newbery/Caldecott/Legacy Banquet with heartfelt speeches by the winners, The Coretta Scott King 50th Anniversary Breakfast and the Charlemae Rollins President’s Program ‘Subversive Activism: Creating Social Change Through Libraries, Children’s Literature and Art featuring Dr. Nicole Cooke, Dr. Janina Fariñas and acclaimed author/illustrator Yuyi Morales. The conference also featured Leadership & ALSC, and the Monday morning membership meeting and Awards presentation. Your board met two times during the conference. A few highlights of the meetings: A Task Force will be formed to look into diversifying and developing new revenue streams for ALSC. The Strategic Plan is nearing the 2020 completion and the board will be deciding soon…
Stepping Outside Your Bubble at ALA Annual in DC
ALA Annual Conference is just around the corner – June 20-25th 2019 in Washington, DC! Thousands of library professionals, publishers, book creators, and more will be headed to our nation’s capital to learn, celebrate, and explore with other colleagues in libraryland. There will be a variety of amazing opportunities for ALSC members to attend professional development workshops and network with each other. There have been several ALSC blog posts with suggestions on places to eat, visit, and a call from our ALSC Blog Editor, Mary Voors for volunteer bloggers during conference. However, I want to highlight a few meetings and events within ALSC and beyond that you might want to consider if you plan to attend ALA Annual. Your ALSC Board of Directors will also be hard at work in our multiple board meetings, considering various items to move our Association strategically forward. I’ll emphasize a few of those later…
Looking Ahead – to Summer: ALA Annual, Leadership Development, and EDI Work
Spring is here in full bloom and summer is just around the corner. When many of you think of summer, I’m sure you begin to get excited about all the wonderful programs, outreach activities, and events that you’ve planned as part of your library’s summer reading or summer learning programs. The opportunity to engage with diverse children and their families during these events is indeed something to look forward to! Another exciting event this summer is the ALA Annual Conference and the potential for networking, professional development, and celebrating award-winning children’s media. 2019 ALA Annual in Washington DC – Happenings and General Information Annual Conference will be held June 20-25th 2019 in Washington, DC, are you attending? There will be a variety of opportunities for attendees to attend educational programs, free awards ceremonies (such as the 2019 Pura Belpré Award Celebración and the 2019 ALSC Awards Presentation of the Batchelder,…
2019-20 ALSC Board of Directors Candidates
In an effort to help ALSC members make an informed decision before they vote, this morning’s blog post consists of statements from the six candidates standing for election to the ALSC Board of Directors.