Pursuing excellence for library service to children
Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of ALSC, I was able to attend the recent ALSC Mini Institute in Atlanta. Having not previously been able to attend a national professional conference or workshop, it was extremely exciting and rewarding to be in the company of so many of my fellow youth librarians in a place of learning and engagement.
India is a land of contrasts. I often find myself straddling the gulf between two vastly different worlds. As a Teacher Librarian at an elite international school, I have the opportunity to work with some of the most privileged, promising children in the country. However, when I volunteer in the slum just a few blocks from my school there are 50 children crammed cheek-by-jowl into a tiny classroom.
Members of the 2015/2016 ALSC Board of Directors voted to cancel the 2016 AL SC National Institute with great trepidation, but sometimes good things come out of bad and that is what happened with the ALSC National Institute originally scheduled for Charlotte, NC. We ended up with not one educational opportunity, but with two!
ALSC announced a new learning opportunity for librarians serving youth. The ALSC Mini Institute is a one-day event that will take place on Friday, January 20, 2017. The Mini Institute will be held just prior to ALA’s Midwinter Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.