Category: ALA Virtual Conference 2020

The Closing Session of ALA Virtual Conference 2020 featured Natalie Portman, who has a new picture book coming out called Natalie Portman’s Fables, being interviewed by librarian Betsy Bird. [Betsy made a funny slip when she was listing Natalie’s credentials and called her an “Archivist” when she meant to say “Activist.” Only a librarian! Natalie said that would be cool!] The main idea of the book, which includes three stories, is to rewrite beloved stories with more female characters. She noticed when she had a daughter after having a son that people had given her boy baby “classics” that all seemed to feature male characters. Then they gave her girl baby books with feminist slants — but does a toddler really need to be told she’ll encounter obstacles? She would change the pronouns in the stories she reads to have more female characters — and decided to write a book…

Today I caught an On-demand virtual program and watched Stories from Beyond U.S. Borders: The Young Reader’s Window to the World. The four panelists were children’s and YA authors who all live in Southeast Asia. The speakers were:Hanna Alkaf, author of The Weight of Our Sky and the upcoming The Girl and the Ghost, who lives in MalaysiaRin Chupeco, author of several book including the recent Wicked As You Wish, who lives in the PhilippinesGail Villanueva, author of My Fate According to the Butterfly and the upcoming A Potful of Magic, who also lives in the PhilippinesRemy Lai, author of Pie in the Sky and the upcoming Fly on the Wall, who was born in Indonesia, grew up in Singapore, and now lives in Australia. Hanna Alkaf was the moderator, and she first asked about identity. She is Malay and Muslim, which puts her in the majority in Malaysia and…

Behind the Wires: American Concentration Camps Then and Now was a program offered by APALA, the Asian/Pacific American Library Association. The first speaker was Dr. Satsuki Ina, a survivor of the World War II concentration camps in America. She commented first that correcting descriptive language is important. The dictionary definition of a concentration camp is a place where large numbers of people are detained or confined under armed guard. She told her own story, with pictures of her parents, who were sent to the camps as newlyweds. Her brother was born in one camp, and she was born in a maximum security prison for dissidents. Her father had protested his incarceration, which made him a dissident. Dissidents were targeted for deportation, beaten, and separated from their families. Not until 1946 were they released with $25 and a train ticket. Dr. Ina has made a documentary film and promotes Healing Circles…

Today I attended a session of ALA Virtual Conference about reopening libraries with two speakers. The first speaker, George Coe, is head of Brodart, an important company for library supplies. The second speaker was Dana Hollins, an Industrial Hygienist. (Who knew this field existed? She’s a member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association.) George Coe told about their experiences of shutting down and reopening at Brodart, but to me that didn’t really apply to the issues libraries face. They had to reconsider their workflow procedures to be able to apply social distancing. The most relevant information is that they have added helpful supplies to their inventory such as face masks and wipes. So now these can be ordered through a library supplier. They also made some book lists for libraries that are appropriate for the times. The talk by Dana Hollins, however, was very relevant. I didn’t realize that a…