ALA News

CHICAGO—Authors and Olympic ice dancing medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani will promote the value of libraries as honorary chairs of National Library Week, April 19—25, 2020. The Shibutanis will shine a spotlight on our nation’s libraries, librarians and library workers, all of which transform communities and improve lives through access to information, education and technology.

CHICAGO—The Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), the Library Information Technology Association (LITA) and the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) have announced that Emily Drabinski and Rebekkah Smith Aldrich will deliver keynote addresses at

CHICAGO —John E. Ulmschneider, dean of libraries and university librarian at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), is the 2020 Association of College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL) Academic/Research Librarian of the Year. The award, sponsored by GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO, recognizes an outstanding member of the library profession who has made a significant national or international contribution to academic/research librarianship and library development.

CHICAGO — The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) announces the recipients of the 2020 Excellence in Academic Libraries Award – Nevada State College Marydean Martin Library, Henderson, Nevada; Santa Rosa Junior College Libraries, Santa Rosa, California; and the University of Maryland Libraries, College Park, Maryland.

CHICAGO - The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has awarded the 2020 Maureen Hayes Author/Illustrator Visit Award to the Algonquin Area Public Library in Algonquin, IL. 
 
The award, sponsored by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, is designed to provide up to $4,000 to an ALSC member’s library to fund a visit from an author/illustrator who will speak to children who might otherwise not have had the opportunity to hear from a nationally known author/illustrator. 
 

EXTON, Pennsylvania — The United for Libraries Institute: Friends, Foundations, and Trustees event will be livestreamed Saturday, January 25 during the 2020 ALA Midwinter Meeting. In-person event registration begins at 12:30 p.m. Eastern; livestreaming will be 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Registration to join the livestream is free.

Today the American Library Association issued an updated Libraries’ Guide to the 2020 Census, the premier resource to prepare libraries for the decennial count of every person living in the United States.

CHICAGO – The American Library Association (ALA) released the following statement regarding the National Archive’s efforts to alter photographs that include protest signs unflattering to our current administration. Such an act is a violation of the Library Bill of Rights which states any deletion, excision, alteration, editing, or obliteration of any part of a library resource by administrators, employees, governing authorities, parent institutions, or third party vendors when done for the purposes of censorship.

Philadelphia leaders and innovators will share their visions for the future at three Libraries Transform sessions during the Symposium on the Future of Libraries at the 2020 ALA Midwinter Meeting.

CHICAGO — The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced that registration for the 2020 ALSC National Institute has opened. The conference, themed "Dive In: Engage, Amplify, Activate” will be held Oct. 1 – 3, 2020 in Minneapolis, MN.

Ten finalists have been selected for the Awesome Libraries Chapter’s live-pitch event at the 2020 ALA

CHICAGO — The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has selected Brittany Garcia, Teen and Adult Services Librarian II at the Rancho Cucamonga (RC) Public Library in Cucamonga, California, for her Adult 101: Life Skills for Teens program as the recipient of its 2020 Innovation Award.

CHICAGO – Missouri House Bill 2044, introduced on January 8, 2020, proposes the creation of five-member “parental library review boards” to identify “age-inappropriate” public library materials and restrict access to those materials. The bill proposes criminal prosecution for librarians who make those materials available to minors and would deny funding to libraries that do not employ parental library review boards to restrict access to their materials.

CHICAGO — Like other workplaces, libraries can sometimes be stressful, with library workers bearing the brunt of such problems as uncivil patrons, poor communication, inadequate leadership, and toxic behaviors by fellow employees. But there’s hope.

Long hours and easy access near Registration make it convenient to shop and browse at the ALA Store in the Grand Hall at the Pennsylvania Convention Center during the Midwinter Meeting. The ALA Store offers products that meet the widest range of your promotional and continuing education/professional development needs—as well as fun gift items. Make sure to carve out some time in your schedule to stop by and examine the many new and bestselling items available!

ALA Store hours:

ALSC has released the Association for Library Service to Children National Research Agenda for Library Service to Children (Ages 0-14) which outlines a prioritized list of six strategic research areas and potential research questions to be examined in each area.

The Association for Library Service to Children has released a white paper titled, Engage, Cultivate, Provide, and Assess: An Outreach Model for Serving All Children and Families.

CHICAGO — Libraries are public places open to all. Unfortunately, in today’s society this means library leaders and their communications and marketing teams need to be prepared to react to violence and other disruptive events in libraries in order to protect their public image and brand. Faced with a 24-hour news cycle world, Libraries must be ready to communicate quickly about any crisis impacting their reputation. It is essential that communications are handled effectively during and in the aftermath of a crisis.

CHICAGO — EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) has awarded five librarians, who are all first-time attendees, $1,500 scholarships to attend the 2020 ALA Midwinter Meeting, January 24-28 in Philadelphia. The scholarships are co-sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA). The scholarship recipients will be honored by EBSCO and ALA representatives at a breakfast during the conference. 

CHICAGO - The American Library Association is pleased to announce the appointment of Tracie D. Hall as its executive director, effective February 24, 2020. Following a nationwide search, Hall was selected to succeed Mary W. Ghikas, who has worked for ALA since 1995 and served as executive director since January 2018. Hall is the first female African American executive director in ALA’s history.