Category Archives: ALA

American Library Association

ALA Councilor’s Report from Midwinter II

This morning I attended my second council meeting where we heard a report from Kent Oliver, Freedom to Read Foundation President. He introduced us to Barbara Jones, new FTR Executive Director. We also heard reports from the ALA Treasurer.

It may be interesting to people that there is an Office of Research and Statistics at ALA. Their website has many reports and statistics that may be valuable to Vermont Libraries.

I will write more tomorrow when actual business will be coming before council.

Nancy Wilson

ALA Councilor’s Report from Midwinter I

Greetings from cloudy Boston! I am beginning my second term as your ALA Councilor. I am honored to have this opportunity to represent Vermont at our national organization.

Yesterday I attended a Chapter Relation Committee meeting where I was surprised and pleased to hear that the Washington Office of ALA has included the cost of databases for all libraries in a recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus funds). We will need to wait to see if the grant is funded.

Today I am at my first council meeting where we are hearing about budget issues, endowment reports, and introduction of the ALA 2015 strategic plan draft.  After breaking into small groups we have had a chance to comment on and suggest changes to the strategic plan.  You may view the draft plan here.  Please let me know if you have any comments on the draft.

As might be expected income for the organization has fallen, but some cutbacks in activities have made the loss less than it may have been.

The Executive Director presented his report this morning. American Libraries magazine is now online.

Later today I will attend a council forum and hear Yohannes Grebregeorgis who founded Nigeria Reads speak at the President’s program.

I will write more tomorrow.

Nancy Wilson

Registration for PLA’s 13th National Conference is Now Open

Registration for PLA 2010, the 13th National Conference of the Public Library Association (PLA), is now open. To register and request housing for PLA 2010, or to download registration and housing forms, visit www.placonference.org. A special early bird rate is available for PLA members and members of the Oregon Library Association who register by Dec. 16, 2009. All other advance registrations must be received by Feb. 19, 2010.

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2010 ALA Midwinter & RUSA Genealogy Event in Boston

The annual American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting will be held January 15-19, 2010 in Boston.

On Friday, January 15, ALA’s Reference and Users Services Association (RUSA) will host an all-day genealogy workshop at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. In addition to presenting basic genealogy research techniques, New England-specific resources will also be presented. The event includes lunch, sponsored by ProQuest, and a tour of the beautiful NEHGS facility.

All of the event details are located here: http://rusa.ala.org/blog/2009/10/09/mw10-genealogyinst1/

Important note: you do not have to register for the Midwinter Meeting in order to attend this genealogy event, and you do not have to be an ALA member. Even library patrons are welcome to attend. Registration instructions are at www.ala.org/midwinter.

“Tango” tops challenged books list for third consecutive year

The Office for Intellectual Freedom has released our list of the Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2008. The list is available below and on the OIF website and you can find more information in the ALA press release about the 2008 list.

The children’s book, “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, remains at the top of the list for the third year in a row. “Tango” still faces frequent challenges for reasons that include religious viewpoint, homosexuality, and age appropriateness.

OIF received a total of 513 challenges in 2008, up from 420 total challenges in 2007. For every challenge reported to OIF, however, we estimate that there are 4 or 5 challenges that go unreported.

“Tango” tops challenged books list for third consecutive year

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ALA Councilor’s Report, Tuesday, January 27th

Tuesday is our busiest council day. We began the morning with our second council session which was taken up mostly with discussion of a report on e participation. A detailed survey and report was created encouraging more remote member participation. I expect that most of the report will be adopted and suggestions implemented after associated costs are determined. Another report which was discussed and adopted was Core Competencies of Librarianship.

Following the council meeting the chapter councilors from more than 30 states met to discuss state and ALA issues. Much of the discussion centered around communication between the Chicago Chapter Office and the ALA Washington Office particularly as it pertains to the inclusion of public libraries in the economic stimulus package. General sentiment seemed to be that states did not have much input into what ALA decided to lobby for in regards to public libraries. The discussion will continue.

After the chapter meeting I attended a council forum and spoke up about a resolution to require wireless capability in all conference hotels. I am particularly interested in this issue as I enjoy blogging at conferences. A lot of discussion took place about a resolution to encourage peace in the Middle East in order to preserve library resources from being destroyed in conflict zones.

Following the council forum I went directly to a chapter council reception at the Denver Public Library. The building is beautiful and the view from the seventh floor stunning. Most interesting was a round, hand-crafted table in a pyramid shaped meeting room which was where the G8 leaders met in 1997. We sat in the seats where Bill Clinton, Jacques Chirac, Tony Blair, etc. sat and discussed world issues.

As always you may email me at readmorenow@gmail.com

 

Nancy Wilson

ALA Councilor’s Report, Monday, January 26th

The lecture I attended yesterday by Muhammad Yunus, banker to the poor, was excellent. He is a small, unassuming man who has done amazing things for poor women in countries where his Grameen Bank gives micro-loans to lift families out of poverty. He had a simple yet revolutionary idea to lend people money to begin small businesses without a time limit on repaying the loan. He now tells stories of illiterate poor people whose children are becoming doctors and businesss people. His talk was one of the most inspirational I have ever attended.

ALA has begun a page that “offers timely and valuable information to support libraries in the creation of arts and humanities programs in their communities.”You can find more information at ProgrammingLibrarian.org. At this time the focus in on Black History Month programming, and as time goes on ALA plans to post more information.

Children’s book awards were announced this morning. The Newbury Medal goes to The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and the Caldecott Award goes to The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes.

This afternoon I have a committee meeting and expect that council business will heat up this evening when we have our first council forum. I’ll post more tomorow.

Nancy Wilson

YALSA’s MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens

This award honors a YALSA member for developing an outstanding reading or literature program for young adults. Winners receive $500 and an additional $500 for their libraries. Applications for the MAE Award, along with all of YALSA’s grants and awards, are due to the YALSA office by Dec. 1.The MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust.

Edwards was a well-known and innovative young adult services librarian at Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Md., for more than 30 years. Her trust has supported many initiatives from YALSA, including the Alex Awards for adult books with teen appeal and all five rounds of the Excellence in Library Service to Young Adults project.

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