(ALA "american Library Association") President ("2008-2009" Rettig Davenport) : RSS info via LibWorm

Ala Corner
american library association MIDWINTER MEETING - Boston, Massachusetts. January 14-19, 2010. Abridged version by Les Kong (ALA Chapter Councilor, California library Association), based upon Notes by ALA Councilor James Casey. According to ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels on January 19, 2010, the total registration was higher than expected, reaching 11,095 by Monday, January 18. By comparison, registration for ALA's Midwinter Meeting in 2009 (Denver) was 10,220 by Monday, January 26. ALAWO (ALA Washington Office) UPDATE: The ALAWO presented a review of issues facing the library community. ALAWO Executive Dir...
Source: CLA Weblog - February 18, 2010 Tags: California Libraries e-Newsletter

Barbara A. Macikas named PLA executive director
Barbara A. Macikas has been named executive director of the Public library Association (PLA). Macikas, who was chosen from a nationwide pool of candidates, will assume her responsibilities at PLA on Nov. 23, 2009. Macikas brings extensive association management experience to the position. She served as executive director of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative library Agencies (ASCLA) and the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), divisions of the ALA, from May 2007 to May 2009. In that position, she worked with the boards of directors of two divisions, managed two budgets, directed all day-to-day o...
Source: PLA Blog - November 10, 2009 Author: Kathleen Hughes Tags: PLA Blog

In down economy, libraries are on frontline of connecting Americans with online government, job resources
Sustained funding, broadband improvements needed to meet increased demand With national unemployment topping 9 percent and many Americans seeking online information and new technology skills that can help keep them and their families afloat in hard times, U.S. public libraries are first responders in a time of economic uncertainty. “Libraries Connect Communities 3: Public library Funding & Technology Access Study 2008-2009,” a new report released today by the american library association (ALA), says libraries are serving as crucial technology hubs for people in need of free Web access, computer training, and assi...
Source: PLA Blog - September 15, 2009 Author: Kathleen Hughes Tags: PLA Blog libraries connect communities 3 public libraries and economic uncertainty public library funding and technology access study 2008-2009

National Forum of Information Literacy 20th Anniversary Celebration
The (US) National Forum of Information Literacy 20th Anniversary Celebration takes place on 15th October (a celebratory dinner) and 16th October, and is entitled Empowering Future Generations: Information Literacy. The location is Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Conference Center, Washington, D.C., USA. The annual meeting event on the 16th includes Empowering Future Generations: Information Literacy – A National Strategic Plan with guest presenters Guadalupe Pachecho, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Dr. Milli Pierce, Public Education Network, Washington, D.C. and Jim Rettig, President, American L...
Source: Information Literacy Weblog - September 1, 2009 Author: Sheila Webber

Notes on Annual Conference 2009 by James Casey
american library association ANNUAL CONFERENCE—Chicago, Illinois. July 10-15, 2009. Notes by James B. Casey Despite extremely difficult economic conditions facing libraries, the attendance at this Annual Conference in Chicago reached what could be a record high at 28,941. The prior three Annual Conference final attendance reports were 22,047 for Anaheim (2008), 28,499 for Washington (2007) and 16,784 New Orleans (2006). Future Mid-Winter Meetings (January) will be held in Boston (2010), San Diego (2011), Dallas (2012), Seattle (2013) and Philadelphia (2014). Future Annual Conferences (June) will be held in Washi...
Source: ALA Weblog Service - July 16, 2009 Tags: From a Member

Public libraries challenged to meet patron needs for high-speed Internet access
From the Summary: With growing demand for public Internet services and Wi-fi access, nearly 60 percent of U.S. public libraries report Internet connection speeds are insufficient to meet patron demand at some point in the day, according to the 2008-2009 “As more and more people turn to their public libraries for critical access to online information and services, the bandwidth needed to provide these services increases rapidly,” said american library association (ALA) President Jim Rettig. “Just over 70 percent of libraries report they are the only source of free access to computers and the Internet in t...
Source: ResourceShelf - May 21, 2009 Author: resourceshelf Tags: Libraries and Librarianship Technology and Internet

Ala President Jim Rettig’s Report to the Executive Board Spring Meeting
american library association Spring 2009 Executive Board Meeting, Chicago, Illinois Report of James Rettig, President This has proved to be a fascinating time to serve ALA’s members as their association’s President. The nation’s economic crisis has provided opportunities and challenges for libraries that in turn has focused public attention on libraries and the services they deliver. I have had the to privilege in numerous interviews with reporters to make the case that America’s librarians are helping to put the nation back to work and that librarians have been first responders to the economic...
Source: ALA Weblog Service - May 14, 2009 Tags: General

ACRL, Ala, and ARL File Comments about Google Book Search Settlement
The american library association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries have filed comments with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York regarding the Google Book Search Copyright Class Action Settlement. Here's an excerpt from the press release: Representing over 139,000 libraries and 350,000 librarians, the associations filed the brief as members of the plaintiff class because they are both authors and publishers of books. The associations asserted that although the settlement has the potential to provide public access to millions of books,...
Source: DigitalKoans - May 5, 2009 Author: admin

Ala Gets Social
From an ALA Press Release: CHICAGO - The american library association (ALA) is now providing members a common virtual space to engage in ALA business and network with other members around issues and interests relevant to the profession. ALA Connect (http://connect.ALA.org) has launched its first phase of operation, in which every ALA group will have the ability to utilize the following tools: • Posts (which are like blog posts) • Online docs (which are like collaborative, wiki-like pages or Google Docs) • Group calendar (for listing meetings, deadlines, etc.) • Surveys (for asking multiple questions at once) •...
Source: Stephen's Lighthouse - April 8, 2009

American Library association launches Ala Connect
From an ALA Press Release: CHICAGO - The american library association (ALA) is now providing members a common virtual space to engage in ALA business and network with other members around issues and interests relevant to the profession. ALA Connect (http://connect.ALA.org) has launched its first phase of operation, in which every ALA group will have the ability to utilize the following tools: • Posts (which are like blog posts) • Online docs (which are like collaborative, wiki-like pages or Google Docs) • Group calendar (for listing meetings, deadlines, etc.) • Surveys (for asking multiple questions at once) • Po...
Source: Tame The Web: Libraries and Technology - April 8, 2009 Author: Michael Tags: ALA News & Such

American Library association Sends Letter to President Obama
From the Announcement: american library association President Jim Rettig recently submitted a letter to President Obama to address library issues the ALA membership determined it would like to share with the administration during a membership town hall meeting held during the 2009 ALA Midwinter Conference in Denver. “Libraries are perfectly positioned to disseminate information relevant to the issues and challenges that face us as a nation, the same key issues which your [Obama’s] administration is seeking to address,” Rettig states in the letter. Direct to Full Text of Letter (3 pages; PDF) Source: ALA
Source: ResourceShelf - April 8, 2009 Author: resourceshelf Tags: Libraries and Librarianship

New Virtual Workspace from Ala: Ala Connect
From the News Release: The american library association (ALA) is now providing members a common virtual space to engage in ALA business and network with other members around issues and interests relevant to the profession. ALA Connect (http://connect.ALA.org) has launched its first phase of operation, in which every ALA group will have the ability to utilize the following tools: • Posts (which are like blog posts) • Online docs (which are like collaborative, wiki-like pages or Google Docs) • Group calendar (for listing meetings, deadlines, etc.) • Surveys (for asking multiple questions at once) • Polls (for askin...
Source: ResourceShelf - April 7, 2009 Author: resourceshelf Tags: Libraries and Librarianship

Hernando County Public Library System under review for Outsourcing– “this is the kind of compromise we’re forced to make when we decide we hate taxes more than we love democracy.” No. 3.31.2009. 52.
“This is the kind of compromise we’re forced to make when we decide we hate taxes more than we love democracy.”–Dan DeWitt, SP Times Columnist. Tuesday, March 31, 2009. Hernando County is exploring outsourcing library services to LSSI. The american library association opposes privitization: 52.7 Privatization of Publicly Funded Libraries ALA affirms that publicly funded libraries should remain directly accountable to the publics they serve. Therefore, the american library association opposes the shifting of policy making and management oversight of library services from the public to the private...
Source: Librarian - March 31, 2009 Author: admin Tags: public libraries

The Importance of School Libraries
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act may come to rescue of struggling school libraries March 10th, 2009 Category: Funding, OGRState officials should use stimulus funding opportunities for schools, librariesFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 10, 2009Contact: Jenni Terry, jterry@ALAwash.orgWASHINGTON, D.C. – With state funding for schools on the decline, the american library association (ALA) says the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) could not have come at a more critical time for school libraries.The ARRA includes $100 billion for education that can help school libraries ensure that our nation’s students are pre...
Source: MISS O's SCHOOL library - March 11, 2009 Author: Miss O

Librarian's guide to gaming
On Monday the american library association launched the Librarian’s Guide to Gaming: An Online Toolkit for Building Gaming @ your library . "The toolkit includes a wide range of resources to help librarians create, fund and evaluate gaming experiences in the library." It refers to traditional games, board games, and not just computer ones. "Games of every type play an important role in developing fundamental competencies for life,” said ALA President Jim Rettig. “They require players to learn and follow complex sets of rules, make strategic and tactical decisions, and, collaborate with teammates and others, –all th...
Source: Information Literacy Weblog - March 3, 2009 Author: Sheila Webber

No time to cut back on soup kitchens for the mind, body and soul
Editorial Ocean City Sentinel Published in the February 5, 2009 issue With all the comparisons of the national financial crisis to the Great Depression, it is easy to conjure images of crowds of desperate people waiting in long lines at soup kitchens. When the economy is in the tank, soup kitchens, just like food pantries and emergency assistance, have to expand to nourish the bodies of the people most in need. It would take the most hard-hearted of bureaucrats to consider cutting back on help for people who can’t afford to feed themselves. Personal financial crises can provoke spiritual crises. Families look to...
Source: NJLA Blog -- The Official Weblog of the New Jersey library Association - February 16, 2009 Author: tumulty

Notes on Mid Winter 2009 from James B. Casey, Councilor-at-Large
american library association MID WINTER MEETING – Denver,Colorado. January 23-28, 2009. Notes by James B. Casey Despite cold, snowy weather, the pleasant surroundings of downtown Denver provided an excellent setting for an eventful Mid Winter Meeting. Remnants of the Democratic National Convention back in July 2008 still lingered with signs, souvenirs and tee shirts hailing the Democratic candidates. The term “Denvercrat” was seen in some shop windows. However, most ALA Members seemed to be focused less on the election of 2008 than on the realities of 2009. According to announcements made by Keith...
Source: ALA Weblog Service - February 3, 2009 Tags: From a Member

Jonathan Betz-Zall, Washington Chapter Councilor, Concerning the Ala Midwinter 2009 Meeting
From Jonathan Betz-Zall, Washington Chapter Councilor, Concerning the ALA Midwinter 2009 Meeting --- Washington library Association ALA Chapter Councilor's Report Midwinter Meeting, January 2009, Denver, Colorado Jonathan Betz-Zall with some text from Councilor James Casey of Illinois The american library association's Midwinter Meeting, focusing primarily on business, produced some noticeable changes in organizational practices even as the old guard struggled to maintain the organization's basic values. Newer librarians, particularly members of the organization's governing Council, advocated for more electronic partici...
Source: ALA Weblog Service - February 3, 2009 Tags: From a Member

Business Brisk at Area Libraries
By Annie Gowen Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, February 2, 2009; Page A01 Nearly every study table is full with patrons sipping lattes and surfing the Web. Teens are curled up in easy chairs. In a worried knot by the doorway, job seekers gather around a sign-up station for the Internet, waiting for their turn. This Story Business Brisk at Area Libraries More Checkouts at the library In Cutting Sports Funding, Everyone Loses Before the Germantown library opened in 2007, there was hardly any "downtown" to speak of in the Montgomery County community, where houses and strip malls grew before anything else. Now it's a...
Source: NJLA Blog -- The Official Weblog of the New Jersey library Association - February 2, 2009 Author: tumulty

Ala leaders release statement regarding the deaths of ALSC members Kate McClelland and Kathy Krasniewicz
The following is a statement released by american library association (ALA) President Jim Rettig and Association for library Service to Children (ALSC) President Pat Scales regarding the deaths of ALSC Vice President Kate McClelland and Notable Children's Videos Committee Chair Kathleen Apuzzo Krasniewicz, who were killed in a hit-and-run accident as they traveled to the Denver Airport from ALA's Midwinter Meeting on Wednesday."american library association members would like to extend our sincere condolences to the families, co-workers and communities served by Kate and Kathy," said ALA President Jim Rettig. "This is a tra...
Source: Peter Scott's library Blog - January 30, 2009

Weakened economy forces N.J. libraries to trim services
by Lawrence Ragonese/The Star-Ledger Wednesday January 21, 2009, 7:57 PM Just as libraries are seeing an increase in use by people searching for jobs or simply taking advantage of free services, the state's weakened economy is forcing some branches to cut hours and programs, or shut down altogether. Though the full impact of the fiscal downturn won't be known until cities and towns, which finance public libraries, put together their 2009 municipal budgets, many libraries have already been told they'll have to continue serving the public with less money and fewer resources. "We've got to fight to keep libraries open,"...
Source: NJLA Blog -- The Official Weblog of the New Jersey library Association - January 21, 2009 Author: tumulty

Folks Are Flocking to the Library, a Cozy Place to Look for a Job
Wall Street Journal By JIM CARLTON TRACY, Calif. -- The financial crisis has caused a lot of withdrawals at the public library. A few years ago, public libraries were being written off as goners. The Internet had made them irrelevant, the argument went. But libraries across the country are reporting jumps in attendance of as much as 65% over the past year, as newly unemployed people flock to branches to fill out résumés and scan ads for job listings. Other recession-weary patrons are turning to libraries for cheap entertainment -- killing time with the free computers, video rentals and, of course, books. Last Friday, ...
Source: NJLA Blog -- The Official Weblog of the New Jersey library Association - January 15, 2009 Author: tumulty

Libraries continued to be a hot news topic
Public libraries continue to get media attention for their booming business during tough economic times, in part because of efforts by the american library association and President Jim Rettig to promote their value. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal as well as several in Wisconsin newspapers (for example, see the Wisconsin State Journal, a blogged testimonial on using Hedberg Public library to save money, and a Fond du Lac Reporter story) touts increased use of computers, Wi-Fi, as well as movies and books, as people search for jobs and try to save money.
Source: The WLA Blog - January 15, 2009 Author: Lisa Strand

Ala President Jim Rettig & Past President Carla Hayden on The Diane Rehm Show
The Role of Libraries in Economic Hard Times Libraries today have become multimedia centers, offering not only books but DVDs, e-books and Internet access. They can also be an especially important community resource during times of economic hardship. A look at the future of libraries in a slowing economy. Click here to download a transcript or listen to the broadcast. Guests Carla Hayden, executive director, Enoch Pratt Free library and past President of the american library association Jim Rettig, President of the american library association. He is also the University Librarian at the Boatwright Memorial library at t...
Source: ALA Weblog Service - January 9, 2009 Tags: General

Radio show documents importance of libraries
The Diane Rehm Show, distributed by National Public Radio, recently did a segment entitled The Role of Libraries in Economic Hard Times. Featured guests included Carla Hayden, executive director, Enoch Pratt Free library; Jim Rettig, President of the american library association; and Ginnie Cooper, chief librarian for the District of Columbia Public library. You can listen to the show, which has been archived on Rehm’s webpage.
Source: The Blog @ ppld.org - January 8, 2009 Author: JDub Tags: General

The Role of Libraries in Economic Hard Times
You can listen live to the The Diane Rehm Show today at 11AM eastern (10AM central) through the show's website or through your local NPR station. "Libraries today have become multimedia centers, offering not only books but DVDs, e-books and Internet access. They can also be an especially important community resource during times of economic hardship. A look at the future of libraries in a slowing economy.GuestsCarla Hayden, executive director, Enoch Pratt Free library and President of the american library associationJim Rettig, President of the american library association. He is also the University Librarian at the Boatwr...
Source: library Lovers' LiveJournal - January 7, 2009

The role of libraries in economic hard times (recorded on WAMU Diane Rehm show)
On the Diane Rehm show on WAMU this morning: 11:00 The Role of Libraries in Economic Hard TimesThere's a recording there too.Libraries today have become multimedia centers, offering not only books but DVDs, e-books and Internet access. They can also be an especially important community resource during times of economic hardship. A look at the future of libraries in a slowing economy. GuestsCarla Hayden, executive director, Enoch Pratt Free library and past President of the american library association Jim Rettig, President of the american library association. He is also the University Librarian at the Boatwright M...
Source: Superpatron - Friends of the library, for the net - January 7, 2009 Author: Ed

The Role of Libraries in Economic Hard Times on "The Diane Rehm Show"
On January 7th “The Diane Rehm Show”, which airs on WAMU radio and is syndicated on many NPR stations, focused on the increased use of public libraries during the economic downturn. Guests included Carla Hayden, executive director, Enoch Pratt Free library and past President of the american library association, Jim Rettig, President of the american library association, and Ginnie Cooper, Chief
Source: Harford County Public library News - January 7, 2009 Author: Dave McLaughlin

Philly mayor under fire for threatening libraries
By KATHY MATHESON Associated Press Writer Published: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 PHILADELPHIA Some of the loudest protests over proposed city budget cuts in Philadelphia are being voiced for places that are usually ghostly quiet - city libraries. Mayor Michael Nutter was repeatedly booed during a news conference Monday over his decision to shutter 20 percent of the city's 54 library branches in an effort to help close an estimated $1 billion spending gap over the next five years. The mayor, who estimated the 11 library closings will save the city $8 million a year, said the shuttered facilities may reopen as public-pr...
Source: NJLA Blog -- The Official Weblog of the New Jersey library Association - December 30, 2008 Author: tumulty

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