For about a year and a half now, just about every communication I’ve gotten has begun with the line, “In these unprecedented times…” It’s just been a never ending loop of adjustments and changes to fit the shape of our new world. But as a wise TikTok sage once said, “I miss precedented times.”
Tag: Bill Morris Seminar
2020 Bill Morris Seminar: Book Evaluation Training
ALSC is seeking applications for its seventh biennial “Bill Morris Seminar: Book Evaluation Training,” to be held on Friday, January 24, 2020, prior to the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, Pa. This invitational seminar supports and honors William C. Morris’ dedication to connecting librarians and children with excellent children’s books. The Morris Seminar will bring new ALSC members and members with limited evaluation experience together with those who have served on ALSC’s media evaluation committees in an environment to train and mentor them in the group process and in children’s media evaluation techniques. The seminar will result in new and emerging leaders for future ALSC evaluation committees. The Morris Endowment supports those selected to attend the training seminar by offering the seminar at no charge to the attendee. This includes all materials, breakfast, lunch, and afternoon break on Friday. To help defray additional costs for hotel and other expenses, a…
How the Morris Seminar Changed My View on Awards
It began immediately after the Youth Media Awards were announced on Monday. Quiet whispers to friends and colleagues: “I was surprised by this committee’s choice” and “Why wasn’t this title selected?” and “How could that title have won?” and “My pick didn’t win and it should have!” While I’ve often heard this kind of discussion after the announcement, I haven’t always had the words to articulate a response. But this year’s announcements for me were colored by a very new and different experience — on Friday, I had the great privilege of attending ALSC’s 2016 Morris Seminar. Here are some of the things I learned: Every book has faults. It’s about what book rises to the top of the pile. Only discuss the books on the table. You can’t talk about books from previous years. When you read independently, you read in a vacuum. The committee as a whole is…
Apply for the 2016 Bill Morris Seminar
ALSC is now seeking applications for the 2016 ALSC Bill Morris Seminar to be held on Friday, January 8, 2016, prior to the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston, Ma. The seminar will be facilitated by ALSC member leaders including past committee members and chairs of evaluation committees, and will focus on children’s book and media evaluation. The purpose of the Bill Morris Seminar: Book Evaluation Training is to honor and support William C. Morris’ dedication to connecting librarians, and ultimately children, with excellent children’s books. This seminar will bring new ALSC members and members with limited evaluation experience together with those who have served on ALSC’s media evaluation committees in an environment to train and mentor them in the group process and in children’s media evaluation techniques. The seminar will result in new and emerging leaders for future ALSC evaluation committees. The William C. Morris Endowment was established in 2000…