ALA News

CHICAGO, IL – The Games and Gaming Round Table of the American Library Association is proud to sponsor its annual grant program to enable libraries to develop gaming programs or collections for their patrons. Through the “Game On!” grants, $500.00 will be available to be awarded to assist a library or libraries in developing gaming programs or collections for their communities.

CHICAGO — ALA President Patricia “Patty” Wong will be joined by U.S. Senator, Mazie K. Hirono in conversation at the LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience Opening Session, Jan. 22, 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. CT.

CHICAGO — The Public Library Association (PLA) 2022 Nominating Committee has unveiled the slate of candidates for the Association’s 2022 Election.

CHICAGO — The ALA Learning Round Table (LRT) will award up to $1,000 to an individual to participate in continuing education event(s) between Sept. 1, 2022 and Aug. 31, 2023. The award recipient will be required to share their new learning with other Round Table members in some way (newsletter, blog, list serve, etc.).  This opportunity is open to everyone! You do NOT have to be an ALA member to apply.

CHICAGO — On January 18, 2022, the sixth annual US National Day of Racial Healing, the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and the Society of American Archivists (SAA) call upon our collective memberships—comprised of several hundred thousand archivists, librarians, and other information professionals, and thousands of libraries and archives of all kinds—to observe the day with reflection and action.

CHICAGO — Librarians know that information literacy is much more complex and nuanced than the basic library research skill that it's often portrayed as; in fact, as outlined by the ACRL Framework, research is a contextual activity. But the settings in which we teach often constrain our ability to take a more layered approach.

Applications are open for the 2022 PR Xchange Awards! This competition recognizes the very best public relations materials produced by libraries in the past year. Entries are evaluated on content, originality, and design by a team of experts in public relations, graphic design, communications, and marketing. This competition is unique in the way it evaluates a library's individual promotional materials, not an entire marketing campaign.

Applications are open for the Core/OCLC Margaret Mann Citation, which recognizes outstanding professional achievement in cataloging or classification either through publication of significant professional literature, participation in professional cataloging associations, or valuable contributions to practice in individual libraries. The deadline to apply or nominate someone is Monday, February 14.

CHICAGO – Newly published research from the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) peer-reviewed online journal, School Library Research (SLR), analyzes the status of selection policies in school libraries and whether the policies reflect the recommendations of professional literature. Articles can be accessed for free at www.ala.org/aasl/slr.

CHICAGO – Activist and author Colin Kaepernick will close the American Library Association’s 2022 LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience conference on Jan. 24, 2022. He will discuss his first children’s book, I Color Myself Different, available April 2022 from Scholastic Press and Kaepernick Publishing.

A grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will support a collaboration between San Francisco Public Library and the American Library Association to encourage greater access to information and resources for people in jails and prisons nationwide.

The library profession has seen radical change in people’s thinking about all aspects of work and life, due in part to the sudden and prolonged shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing calls for social justice and antiracism in our services and practices. While many manuals for hiring and interviewing exist, including those in professional library associations and organizations, they may already be out of step with the rapid changes of recent years.

CHICAGO – The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) announces the publication of “How to Be a Peer Research Consultant: A Guide for Librarians and Students” by Maglen Epstein and Bridget Draxler, a concise guide for librarians and students on developing and teaching research skills and fostering these peer-to-peer relationships. 

CHICAGO — In their new book “Metaliteracy in a Connected World: Developing Learners as Producers,” published by ALA Neal-Schuman, Thomas P. Mackey and Trudi E. Jacobson continue their best-selling series with a careful examination of this foundational idea for the metaliteracy framework, one that’s more important than ever in our current media and information environment.

CHICAGO — The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) is seeking individuals who are willing to sustain and support the Foundation's mission to stand as candidates for election to its 2022-2023 Board of Trustees. 

FTRF is a non-profit legal and educational organization affiliated with the American Library Association (ALA) founded in 1969 to support and defend librarians whose positions are jeopardized because of their defense of the First Amendment, and to set legal precedent for the freedom to read on behalf of all people. 

CHICAGO – LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience will spotlight the innovative work being pioneered in the Lone Star state of Texas. 

CHICAGO — Today the Public Library Association (PLA) announced it is extending its member Early Bird registration rate for the PLA 2022 Conference, to be held March 23–25 in Portland, Oregon. Personal members of PLA, the Oregon Library Association (OLA), and the Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA) can save hundreds of dollars by registering before Jan. 31. Advance registration for all others continues through Feb. 18.

CHICAGO — The Public Library Association (PLA) 2022 Conference will open and close with laughter and a challenge to engage the current moment with opening speaker Luvvie Ajayi Jones and closing speaker Kal Penn. The PLA 2022 Conference, taking place March 23–25, in Portland, Oregon, will feature dynamic speakers and programming that reflects the innovation, creativity, diversity and adaptability of our nation’s public libraries.

CHICAGO — The usefulness of research data management skills bridges numerous activities, from data-driven scholarship and open research by faculty to documentation for grant reporting. And undergrads need a solid foundation in data management for future academic success. Edited by Julia Bauder, “Teaching Research Data Management,” published by ALA Editions, gathers practitioners from a broad range of academic libraries to describe their services and instruction around research data. Readers will learn about such topics as:

Yuliana Aceves recognized with national public service honor