ALA News

Deadline set for December 11, 2019

Community engagement — the process of working collaboratively with community members — provides a roadmap to creating sustainable, resilient organizations and communities. Small, rural libraries are nimble, responsive organizations that can work with their communities to create powerful community-led change. By working collaboratively with community members, libraries can create a roadmap to creating sustainable, resilient organizations.

CHICAGO — In today’s workplace, technological developments have automated work processes that were previously done by manual labor even as new professions and work tasks have emerged in response to new methods of creating, sharing, and using information.

CHICAGO – At its August 2019 meeting, the Specialized Professional Associations Standards committee of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) approved the "ALA/AASL Standards for Initial Preparation of School Librarians" prepared and presented by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL).

CHICAGO—The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is pleased to announce the release of the 2020 ALCTS Fundamentals Web Course schedule.

CHICAGO – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has released a new toolkit to help position school librarians in efforts to create and curate open educational resources (OER) that will extend their role as leaders within their schools. The OER Toolkit is freely available for download at www.ala.org/aasl/toolkits.

Do you know of a state chapter or organization that has:

CHICAGO — Growing Open Access (OA) options, Big Deal price pressure, fluid e-book purchasing models, and the need for ongoing assessment: it all adds up to a lot of moving parts. More than ever, you need a pragmatic framework for managing the many details of your online materials. TERMS—Techniques for Electronic Resource Management Systems—gave you one.

Resource Sharing is a dynamic and changing field in librarianship. It is a critical component of any library’s ability to supplement its existing collection with materials that can be sources from other libraries.

CHICAGO – Excite and inspire readers of all ages with new products from the ALA Graphics winter 2019 catalog! The catalog cover highlights the new National Library Week poster, which touts the 2020 theme, “Find Your Place at the Library,” on the engaging design.

The Library and Information Technology Association (LITA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), is pleased to offer an award for the best unpublished manuscript submitted by a student or students enrolled in an ALA-accredited graduate program. Sponsored by LITA and Ex Libris, the award consists of $1,000, publication in LITA’s referred journal, Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL), and a certificate.

CHICAGO — Effective library assessment is crucial for a successful academic library. But what do we mean by library assessment and how can it be used to improve library service?

CHICAGO —The Public Library Association (PLA) and OCLC have released two new publications that demonstrate how public libraries are responding to the opioid crisis in their communities.

The season of giving is here and the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has an incredible opportunity to double its impact. An anonymous donor is matching gifts made to ALSC’s Annual Fund through Giving Tuesday, December 3, 2019. Donations are tax-deductible and gifts from an individual donor, up to $1,000, are eligible. Donations will be matched from now until the end of Giving Tuesday and the match caps at $10,000. Donations made to the Friends of ALSC and the ALSC Frederic G. Melcher Scholarship Fund will be matched.

CHICAGO — Public library programmers, marketers, and staff across the country have relied on Amy J. Alessio, Katie LaMantia, and Emily Vinci’s previous books for fun and engaging offerings that draw patrons in and keep them excited about visiting the library again and again.

CHICAGO – The American Library Association has issued the following statement in response to the decision by the Citrus County (Florida) Board of Commissioners to not allow the Citrus County libraries to buy a digital subscription to the New York Times after one commissioner labeled the Times as “fake news”:

CHICAGO — Reference and user services librarians need to be in charge of their own careers. And when it comes to their own professional development, that means being proactive. “Competency-Based Career Planning for Reference and User Services Professionals,” published by ALA Editions, will enable professionals at every stage of their careers to honestly assess their skills and knowledge.

The American Library Association is pleased to announce that Tashia Munson of Ann Arbor, Michigan has been selected as the first Lois Ann Gregory-Wood (LAGW) Fellow. As the recipient of this fellowship, Munson will be given a stipend of $2,500 to offset the costs of attending ALA 2020 Midwinter and Annual conferences.

In advance of Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek), an annual event to get students excited about coding, ALA is opening a call for applications for $300 mini-grants to

CHICAGO – The American Library Association (ALA) today announced the six books shortlisted for the esteemed Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, awarded for the previous year's best fiction and nonfiction books written for adult readers and published in the United States.