Category: ala

National Library Week and National Library Workers’ Day

Posted on by jessamyn

This week is National Library Week. Tuesday is National Library Worker’s Day thanks to a Council resolution proposed by my pal Jenna Freedman of RadRef fame. Apparently the national Library Workers’ Day buttons are sold out but from what I can see they were that weird red, white and blue clunky design anyhow.

More from me on this weeklong library celebration this week, today I’m tired from helping install library printers, teaching email to great-grandmothers [there are two in my email class!], helping senior citizens buy laptops, and reassuring a librarian that she wasn’t breaking the law by making a replacement casette tape for one of a four-tape set that had broken.

library corps? library corpse?

Posted on by jessamyn

This just in from ALA, and no I didn’t know anything about it until I saw the press release.

The American Library Association (ALA) has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for a consultant to conduct a feasibility study on a proposal to establish a Library Corps. The Library Corps is a proposal to recruit retired librarians to provide assistance to libraries that need help.

Pretty interesting huh? My first knee jerk response is ‘what about this looming job shortage necessitating all the library students we’re churning out by the thousands?’ My second response is that this approach is smart way to deal with both the library fiscal crises we’ve been seeing as well as the retiring and still-productive boomer generation (one that I heard a whole presentation about at PLA). This sounds like a smart direction for Leslie Burger to be going in with her brief time at the helm of ALA. Now if we can either put the brakes on some of the degree programs or start finding jobs for all these new students, I think we’ll be in good shape. [thanks beth]

this week in libraryland

Posted on by jessamyn

There is a lot going on this week. I will be participating in some of it so I may not be commenting on the rest of it. Computers in Libraries (wiki) is going on in DC. Blogwithout a library has a good post outlining how to follow along at home. Many people asked me if I was going. I’m not, though I would like to, because I’ll be at PLA in Boston, blogging for PLA. This was an excuse to check out what I’ve heard is a great conference, rendezvous with friends and family, and do a little conference blogging which I haven’t done much of before.

I was going to post this earlier but the entire ALA/PLA set of websites has been up and down for hours. When ALA.org briefly came back up, I noticed a new thing on the ALA website, buttons called “blogs” and “wikis”, right next to the RSS feeds. I don’t know if they have multiple wikis since both links don’t work right now (ALA seems to not have a staging area for their website) and I’m still unclear of the value of having an “official” ALA wiki when the unofficial ones worked so well, but it looks like someone, slowly, is trying to do the right thing and for that I am happy. Update: the ALA Blogs, RSS Feeds, and Wikis page is up. Apparently all three images on the ALA main page link to that page, which I hope will have a short URL soon. I sent them a friendly note suggesting that Firefox be capitalized properly and that they hyperlink the feeds as well as the blog URLs. They claim “New blogs and wikis are being added almost every day!” which I assume is weird marketing speak, but maybe they have big plans for that page which I think would be delightful.

Also new from ALA is their library careers website which helps answer a lot of “How do I become a librarian or library worker?” questions without all the empty hype about the job shortage. It’s nice and easy to navigate and except for the dreadful URL — librarycareers.org redirects to www.ala.org/ala/hrdr/librarycareerssite/. Which URL will people bookmark? The one in their browser window! Why can’t ALA fix this? — and is one more indication that someone there knows how the web works.

library 2.0, bang for buck

Posted on by jessamyn

As I’ve said before, I don’t have much of a desire to become a library 2.0 pundit. I don’t have a strong opinion on the loose idea and I like the players on both sides of the argument. What I care about is the libraries I work with and how technology and the “outside world” affects them and how I can help them deal with that. Michael Golrick is a library administrator in Bridgeport, Connecticut which has its share of have-not patrons and he has a thoughtful post on how the Library 2.0 idea trickles down to patrons like his (and, by extension, like mine).

Michael is also running for Council, don’t forget, and has written the most amazing beginner’s guide to the American Library Association. Meredith Farkas has split out all the individual posts into one set, and I’m reprinting that list here:
ALA 101 Introduction
Part 1: Overview
Part 2: Divisions
Part 3: Round Tables
Part 4: Offices
Part 5: Committees
Part 6: Buildings and Conferences
Part 7: Governance (this means ALA Council)

ALA Election Time

Posted on by jessamyn

I’m not certain if I selected a paper ballot or an electronic ballot this year. I seem to recall that in the last two years I’ve opted for a paper ballot, which did not get properly forwarded to my home address (my permanent address is not the same as my current address) and I had to get some last minute paper ballot. This year it’s going to be easier because whenever I get my ballot, I’ll have a list of candidates ready. These are the people I am voting for, and you can vote for whomever you want. Some of these people are relative newcomers to the field who impressed me with their moxie when I met them at Midwinter and others are people I’ve known for a long time. Please take a good long time with the candidate bios, it’s always a fascinating look at parts of the profession you may not personally be involved with. Thanks to everyone for running. I look forward to watching you from the sidelines.