Welcome to December ALSC Members and Friends!\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t Washington DC and annual conference seem a distant memory, especially the heat, with many of us now gripped in the icy cold of early winter weather?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Giving Tuesday, and thanks to a generous anonymous donor ALSC will receive a matching gift of up to $10,000!\u00a0 For every gift up to $1,000 to Friends of ALSC<\/a> and Melcher Scholarship Fund,<\/a> your gift will be matched \u2013 that\u2019s double the impact for our members!\u00a0 \u00a0Not just impact, but significant impact! \u00a0Two members were fully funded to attend the ALSC Institute, two-year ALSC and ALA memberships were awarded to 100 students, two annual scholarships of $8,000 each, to name just a few.\u00a0 Every donation, no matter how small, makes a difference.<\/p>\n Your Board and committees have been busy over the past months and I\u2019d like to bring you up to date on a few of ALSC Board\u2019s decisions and other association news.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Visit the new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion<\/a> statement and resource landing page! \u00a0Many thanks to the EDI Task Force and ALSC staff for the critically valuable information now available to ALSC members and others interested in creating a more equitable world for those we serve.<\/p>\n The Board approved a new research agenda, which will be forthcoming, and a new Task Force will be appointed very soon.\u00a0 Please email me if you are interested in this new TF with a short explanation of why you\u2019d like to be included.<\/p>\n The Board continues to consider and discuss the ALSC Program Review Task Force\u2019s final report.\u00a0 We ask for and appreciate your patience and understanding while we work through the recommendations.<\/p>\n Have you seen or used the new Championing Children\u2019s Services Toolkit<\/a>, created by the Public Awareness Committee?\u00a0 The kit includes a variety of easy to use advocacy resources to empower children\u2019s services staff to engage their communities to build healthy successful futures for children. Be a champion every day when you use the resources and tips from the toolkit.<\/p>\n The Project LOCAL research team of the University of Washington\u2019s iSchool worked with ALSC to create a white paper that focuses on developing and delivering library outreach for children and families in underserved communities. The team sought input from ALSC\u2019s Library Service to Underserved Children and Their Caregivers Committee. The research team also presented their findings and solicited input during a program session at Annual Conference in D.C. The final designed whitepaper will be available next week.<\/p>\n In our monthly online Board meetings, we have been working on updating ALSC\u2019s Strategic Plan.\u00a0 Worksheets completed by groups within the Board were discussed at the recent Executive Committee meeting in Chicago and the results of our compilation will be presented and discussed at the December 17, 2019 online Board meeting.\u00a0 All members are invited to listen in online<\/a> to the meeting.<\/p>\n At the top of all of our minds are the changes that are coming to ALA.\u00a0 ALSC is proactively adapting to known changes within ALA and possible changes, which means we will be changing the way we work and how our committees collaborate and meet.\u00a0 Please stay tuned for more information \u2013 we will keep you up-to-date as we know more about how this affects our division.<\/p>\n The Board is piloting the use of community agreements with an eye toward using them ALSC-wide in the future.\u00a0 We\u2019ll share information about rolling them out after we’ve had a change to use and evaluate them.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a busy start to the committee service year and as we approach the end of the calendar year, I want to take a moment to thank each and every one<\/span> of our ALSC members for your contributions to helping our organization move forward.<\/p>\n