ALA Midwinter and Exhibits: A Navajo/English Calendar

Exhibits at the 2007 ALA Midwinter Meeting opened this evening. I made a beeline for one of my favorite conference give-aways: a 2007 Navajo-English calendar pubished by Salina Bookshelf.

It's January, Yas Nilt' ees, and the New Moon, Dah yiita!

Check out more of Salina's books and other products at www.salinabookshelf.com.

John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award

One of the great benefits that comes with serving as ALA Prez-Elect is the opportunity to learn more about ALA and its units.

Today I had lunch with the dedicated, capable members of the John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award Committee who met today from 8-5:30 and will repeat this schedule tomorrow. They welcome more applicants, including applications from librarians in other countries. What a great opportunity for librarians to share news about their outstanding PR activities.

Expanded Service from an Old Friend: Library Lit Retrospective

It's cool and snowy here in Seattle, but the annual ALISE conference is progressing well and centered on a topic dear to my heart, "Preparing Reflective Professionals."

The exhibit space is small but represents the sponsors who help support ALISE events. I toured their booths and picked up a brochure announcing the expansion of the Wilson Index, "Library Literature & Information Science" to index publications from 1905 to 1983. What a great feature and so timely for the work that my students and I are doing to identify anniversary events that coincide with my upcoming ALA Presidential Year (June 2007 to early July 2008). Library Lit & Information Science Retrospective also includes full text articles for the 80 year run of Wilson Library Bulletin!

More, soon, from Seattle ....

Congratulations, Stephanie Neely, and other recipients of the New York Times Librarian awards!


Read more in the following article:

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/08/8librarian.html

Thanks for volunteering!

Recently, an editorial in Library Journal voiced at least one writer's concern with a perceived low level of involvement by ALA members within the association.

I think we have evidence that this is not the case.


Last year's election had a record response.

I've seen a similar response to the call for volunteers to serve on ALA and ALA Council Committees, volunteers who represent both experienced ALA members and new mebers who are eager to serve. 356 individuals had completed the online committee volunteer form by the time the form was taken down on 5 December 2006. I want to thank each one of you for taking the time to fill the form out and let me know your interest. The Commitee on Committees and Committee on Appointments have worked diligently to prepare strong committee appointment slates. Final approval of these slates will be made at the ALA Midwinter Meeting.

I continue to hear from good people who are interested in volunteering their efforts.
If you are interested in serving on an ALA Committee, I suggest that you investigate openings on Division committees. Visit the Division web sites, sit in on meetings at ALA/MW. The next ALA President-Elect will issue another call for committee service after the 2007 ALA Annual conference. There's room for everyone's help; you are valued ALA Members!

An Exciting Day: Rep. Nancy Pelosi Takes the Gavel, Polytalk and more!

I spent most of the day working on ALA responsibilities with CSPAN live in the background. Congratulations, Rep. Pelosi, on your election to Speaker of the House!

I also explored an exciting web site: Polytalk at http://www.polytalk.info/
The site provides a way for librarians to connect with interpreters who volunteer their time to assist in services to patrons who speak languages other than English.
The text about the database notes that over 75 speakers of 25+ languages are involved. PolyTalk received a prestigious humanitarian award from the U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Congratulations, too, to the libraries and museums that will receive the 2006 Natonal Awards for Museum and Library Service. Included among the honorees is the San Antonio Public Library, just 80 miles to the south of our base here in Austin, Texas.

Happy Anniversary, LAMA!

LAMA became an ALA Division on 1 January 1957.

Congratulations on 50 years of service!