Call for 2014-2015 ALA and Council Committee Volunteers

As ALA President-Elect, I chair both the Committee on Appointments (COAppt.) and the Committee on Committees (COC). Committee appointments will be finalized at the 2014 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, and notifications will be sent out later that spring. All committee appointments begin July 1, 2014.

The online committee volunteer form opened on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013, and closes on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013. To volunteer, complete and submit the form. Please be sure to select "ALA" in the drop-down menu on the main form to volunteer for both ALA and Council committees.

Volunteers are sought for the following committees: Accreditation; American Libraries Advisory; Awards; Budget, Analysis and Review; Chapter Relations; Conference; Constitution and Bylaws; Council Orientation; Diversity; Education; Election; Human Resource Development and Recruitment Advisory; Information Technology Policy Advisory; Intellectual Freedom; International Relations; Legislation; Library Advocacy; Literacy; Literacy and Outreach Services Advisory; Membership; Membership Meetings; Organization; Policy Monitoring (current Council members only); Professional Ethics; Public and Cultural Programs Advisory; Public Awareness; Publishing; Research and Statistics; Resolutions; Rural, Native and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds; Scholarships and Study Grants; Status of Women in Librarianship; Training, Orientation and Leadership Development; Website Advisory; ALA-Children’s Book Council (Joint); and ALA-Society of American Archivists-Association of American of Museums (Joint).

Visit the ALA and Council Committees webpage for committee descriptions.

For technical assistance or for more information on the committee appointments process, contact Kerri Price, COAppt. and COC staff liaison (kprice@ala.org).

Media Commons workshop and tailgate

October 12th I attend the Penn State's Media Commons' Tailgate 2012 pre-conference workshop, "Using Mobile Media to Tell Engaging Stories". The workshop was facilitated by Stefani Sese, East Coast Region Director at the Center for Digital Storytelling CDS. It was designed to give an introduction to the CDS process and introduce attendees to the use of iOS devices in digital storytelling. The CDS workshop usually last three days, so our one day session scratched the surface. It still provided a good foundation and allowed attendees to gain "new perspectives, iPhone/iMovie skills or tips, and ideas for implementing digital storytelling."

October 13th I attended the Media Commons Tailgate 2012 themed "Rediscovering Our Roots." The tailgate "is a highly interactive event focused on exploring the possibilities for digital media in teaching and learning."

The day started out with an amazing keynote by Susan Russell,  artistic director of Cultural Conversations and assistant professor in the School of Theatre. The rest of the day was "an opportunity to creatively explore and dig into the role of new media in the classroom and the many new innovations the Media Commons is supporting this year."

I attended a number of the breakout sessions designed to highlight  faculty's use of new media in the classroom and others "designed to engage the audience in conversation." These included learning about the University's plan to implement Wordpress for its blogs and the one button studio.

There was a lunchtime activity where participants were asked to take photos on their way to and back from lunch and capture some aspect of the day. My best shot was of an instructional designer showing another faculty member the movie he created during the pre-conference.

Other images from the day's events and the videos we created during the pre-conference can be found on the Tumblr.

Candidate for ALA President

I am running for President of the American Library Association. The press release information is available from American Libraries. I am honored and excited for this opportunity. More information will be coming soon. If you are on Facebook, please be sure to like my fan page.

Stay tuned and vote for me!

Support EveryLibrary

My friend and colleague John Chrastka has launched EveryLibrary. Its mission is to help "public, school, and college libraries win bonding, tax, and advisory referendum, ensuring stable funding and access to libraries for generations to come."

Currently "EveryLibrary is seeking initial funding resources to become established as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit social welfare organization chartered to work exclusively on local library ballot initiatives. The organization will be registered in Illinois after reaching our funding/pledge goal from individual, corporate, union, and foundation donors. We will work in partnership with local library campaign leaders and independently to advocate for specific library initiatives among the voting public."

Consider joining me and hundreds of other library advocates in supporting the establishment of EveryLibrary.

ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim: Orange County

My ALA Annual Conference experience was definitely a whirlwind. I was constantly on the run but accomplished a lot. This was definitely a conference of getting things done.

I attended the Library Journal Movers & Shakers luncheon at The White House. The highlight of that event was seeing William Kamkwamba speak. He was engaging, informative, and funny. I look forward to reading my signed copy of his book The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind.

I also had the opportunity to go on the Queen Mary with my Sage Reference colleagues. The 40 minute drive to Long Beach was definitely worth it. It was also the only sightseeing on my trip.



My two back-to-back presentations went extremely well. I was the keynote for the New Members Round Table President's Program. I had the pleasure of presenting at the RUSA MARS Virtual Reference Discussion Forum. I was asked to talk briefly about technologies that may have a future impact on virtual reference service. I particularly enjoyed the discussion following my ideas and generated from the round table discussions. A very positive write up of this session was posted by Library Journal.

On Sunday morning I introduced author Sapphire. That evening while at a reception hosted by Oxford a few people said hello to me and they recognized me from introducing Sapphire that morning. It was nice to meet new people and get positive feedback. I also ran into a bunch of people I know at Oxford's reception hosted at Bowers Museum. I'm always thrilled when that happens.

This conference also marked the conclusion of my term on the ALA Executive Board. It has been an absolutely wonderful experience. I am still incredibly grateful to the members of the board nominating committee and ALA Council for giving me the opportunity to serve the Association in this capacity. I have worked hard, taken this responsibility seriously, and had so much fun.

ALA Annual 2012 Preparations

I'm getting ready for the ALA Annual conference in Anaheim. It's hard to believe this will be my last conference as a member of the ALA Executive Board. My schedule is still shaping up, but here are some of the highlights for what will be a very busy (and hopefully very good) week. Note that I have back-to-back presentations on Saturday -- 1:30-3:30pm and 4-5:30pm!

Wednesday, June 20
PIT - ORD - SNA

Thursday, June 21
Special reception honoring Library Champions, Major Donors, and Legacy Society members
distribute executive board liaison talking points to ACRL, COL, COD, TOLD

Friday, June 22
ALA Executive Board I
ALA Opening Ceremony and ribbon cutting for Exhibits Opening

Saturday, June 23
ALA Council orientation
Visit the exhibits
Lunch - thanks EBSCO!
Lead Presenter: NMRT President's Program
Lead Presenter: RUSA MARS Virtual Reference Discussion Forum
Scholarship Bash
#ala12 After Hours / LibrarianWardrobe Walkoff Contest

Sunday, June 24
Breakfast - thanks ebrary!
ALA Council I
Introduction for Auditorium Speaker Series: Sapphire
Planning and Budget Assembly
Division Leaders/BARC joint meeting
executive board liaison visits:  CORS, Membership

Monday, June 25
ALA Council II
ALA Executive Board II
executive board liaison visits: OITP, LLAMA

Tuesday, June 26
ALA Council III
Closing General Session: JR Martinez
Inaugural Brunch
ALA Executive Board III

Wednesday, June 27 and Thursday, June 28
SNA - ORD - PIT

NMRT Annual Program: Professional Networking for New Librarians

The 2012 NMRT Annual Program took place online. Professional Networking for New Librarians covered the who, what, when, where, why, and how of networking. The session presenters included Ned Potter, Loida Garcia-Febo, JP Pocaro, Pat Hawthorne, and me. I covered "Professional Networking Tips for New Librarians: Where to Network". I learned a lot from my co-presenters. I am also happy I had the opportunity to think about this topic in a more organized way. Do check it out, and please let me or any of the presenters know if you have any questions.

Thanks again to NMRT and the committee for a useful, timely, and accessible program.