At the American Library Association virtual Midwinter Meeting, the association continued its ambitious three-pronged strategy of self-reinvention. The Forward Together plan, which for several years has pursued a streamlined and less siloed governance structure, is joined by a revision-in-progress of the Operating Agreement, which defines the relationship of the association to its divisions and roundtables, and the Pivot Strategy, which addresses how association management and staff do the work. These three parallel threads ran through the virtual membership meeting, the executive board, and of course, Council convenings.
Cindy Altick Aden, Leon A. Wilson, and Gina J. Millsap share wisdom on how librarians can become stronger advocates for their community, and better understand issues facing patrons in need.
The American Library Association (ALA) closed out its first virtual Midwinter Meeting—which was also its last Midwinter Meeting, as the 107-year-old conference format will be replaced next year by ALA’s LibLearnX event—with a highly anticipated conversation between ALA President Julius Jefferson and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.
The session “Small and Rural Libraries: A Candid Discussion,” held at the American Library Association (ALA) 2021 virtual Midwinter Meeting, began—as one might expect, during a year of pandemic, budget cuts, and major disruptions—by looking at the challenges small libraries face. But it quickly turned into a celebration of how they are meeting the needs of patrons, communities, and staff with imaginative, humane solutions.
The ALA President’s Program at the American Library Association Virtual Midwinter Meeting 2021 featured U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo in conversation with fellow poet and memoirist Jill Bialosky, an executive editor at W. W. Norton.
The Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services (ABOS) presented “Exploring Ways to ‘Jazz Up’ Your Library's Bookmobile, Outreach, or Book Bike Program during the COVID-19 Pandemic with the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services” during the American Library Association (ALA) Virtual Midwinter Meeting. The session was notably encouraging and upbeat, urging outreach librarians to reframe their services during the pandemic.
Historians Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain discuss their latest work, Four Hundred Souls, and how they sought to bring together a community to reflect on, and make, history.
As announced in August 2020, the final incarnation of the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting and Exhibits, originally scheduled to be held in Indianapolis, IN, will instead take place virtually January 22–26. Registration will be open until January 15. Here are LJ’s editors’ picks from the program.
The Charleston Conference, taking place virtually November 2–6, responsibly balances up-to-the-minute issues with the evergreen matter of scholarly library work. Below are a smattering of sessions selected by LJ editors.
Held online from June 24–26, ALA Virtual—Community Through Connection saw 7,349 attendees and 651 exhibitors and featured more than 50 sessions, live chats with authors and speakers, more than 75 publisher and exhibitor sessions on new titles, a virtual exhibit floor with more than 600 participating exhibitors, 11 featured speakers, and a Swag-a-Palooza with hundreds of free items.
The urgent need for antiracism work, and fighting anti-Blackness in particular, inside the culture of librarianship as well as in our communities, was an important strand of content throughout the American Library Association (ALA) Virtual Conference last week. It echoed through new Executive Director Tracie Hall’s message to Monday’s Membership Meeting and to Council, ALA president Wanda Brown’s message, and the keynote presented by Fair Fight founder Stacey Abrams, as well as granular programming on how to operationalize antiracism work in libraries.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of [white] women’s suffrage and the 50th anniversary of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Social Responsibilities Round Table Feminist Task Force (FTF). In honor of both milestones, the ALA Virtual Conference panel “Herstory Through Activism: Women, Libraries, and Activism” offered a compelling look at the intersections of feminist activism in libraries, and how the current era of COVID-19 has changed the panelists’ priorities for urgent change.
At the American Library Association's (ALA) virtual conference held this week, replacing the annual in-person conference which was canceled because of the pandemic, ALA President Wanda Brown invited as her President’s Program speaker Stacey Abrams—author, Georgia gubernatorial candidate, and founder of the organizations Fair Fight (for voting rights) and Fair Count (for census participation).
A live panel of transgender and nonbinary librarians and allies, held on June 24 at the American Library Association’s (ALA) virtual conference, offered an abundance of useful information and resources for libraries to better serve their transgender communities and ensure that transgender staff are comfortable in the workplace.
Corporations, technology companies, and government entities are gathering more data than ever about people, and libraries have an important role to play in educating the public about surveillance, personal information, and online privacy, according to panelists at the Library Information Technology Association’s (LITA) Top Tech Trends panel.
Are you headed to Nashville for PLA 2020? Do you want to dive in beyond the books to have an experience you won't forget? Our Ingram Library Services team has compiled a list of their "Nashville Picks" for you to explore while in the Music City.
The 2020 American Library Association Midwinter conference, held January 24–28 in Philadelphia, closed with featured speaker Chanel Miller on Monday afternoon. Miller, an author and unintentional activist, considers libraries to be her home away from home.
At a Saturday afternoon session at the American Library Association (ALA) 2020 Midwinter meeting, a panel of librarians and community partners offered strategies on voter engagement to a well-attended audience of public, school, academic, and state librarians
In a candid and occasionally contentious “Ask Me Anything” session on Saturday, January 25 at the 2020 American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, Macmillan CEO John Sargent discussed the publisher’s two-month embargo period for library ebooks, which went into effect on November 1.
At an early Saturday session at the American Library Association (ALA) 2020 Midwinter meeting, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) weighed in on several areas where libraries and their leaders and staff may have questions regarding their rights, offering resources for both public and academic libraries.
The 2020 American Library Association Midwinter conference, held January 24–28 in Philadelphia, officially kicked off with featured speaker Wes Moore’s opening session on Friday afternoon. Moore—an author, social entrepreneur, television producer, and decorated U.S. Army combat veteran—linked his journey as a reader to pressing issues of social justice and the role libraries can, and should, play.
Library Journal asked academic faculty how they viewed their roles in addressing textbook affordability in a recent survey sponsored by Taylor & Francis.
Since its launch in 2015, Flame Con, the LGBTQ-themed comic convention created by nonprofit Geeks OUT, has had increasingly more to offer: a multitude of panels, several workshops, and an increasing number of vendors. Eager crowds from a variety of fandoms gathered on Saturday, August 17 and Sunday, August 18 for this year's event.
Vendors at this year’s American Library Association annual conference in Washington, DC launched new products, debuted significant updates, and announced winners of grants and awards. Here are a few items that LJ had an opportunity to learn about in person.
Comics have long been a part of the fabric of the library, but it wasn’t until the early 2000s that they really started booming, said Robin Brenner, teen librarian, Brookline, P.L., MA, addressing a rapt audience at the very first “Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table (GNCRT) President’s Program—State of the Comics Union: Past, Present, Future,” held June 23 at the ALA Annual conference in Washington, DC.
In the 1970s, the celebrated cartoonist and tireless comics advocate Will Eisner (1917–2005) stood before the Library of Congress and asked that comics be shelved in the library, believing its acceptance of the medium would lead libraries across America to follow suit. Some 20 years later, in 1997, DC Comics became the first comics publisher to exhibit at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual conference.
At the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Washington, DC, sessions relating to censorship and the First Amendment, hosted by ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, drew librarians seeking advice on challenges to books, programs, and more.
Author, actor, and activist George Takei continued the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference’s speaker series on Monday, June 24, in Washington, DC. Takei recalled the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, which is also the focus of his upcoming graphic memoir, They Called Us Enemy.
Library legislation news has been tentatively positive, according to the panel discussion “173 Days of Congress: An Examination” at the 2019 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Congress in Washington, DC. Representatives from ALA’s Washington Office and the U.S. Copyright Office looked at the successes and challenges libraries have confronted during the first six months of the 116th Congress, and identified a number of upcoming issues that advocates will want to keep an eye on.
Sonia Sotomayor, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, opened the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference’s auditorium speaker series on Saturday, June 22, in Washington, DC. Sotomayor, who grew up in the Bronx, NY, credited her local branch—the tiny Parkchester Library—as a refuge from the sadness of her household after her father died when she was nine.
Members of the Library Freedom Project and others protested the presence of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who have a recruitment booth at the American Library Association's Annual Conference happening this week in Washington, D.C.
Making the Make Book has become a fixture of BookExpo in recent years. The (almost) annual panel, which details how publishers have led a debut or midlist book to success, often draws crowds of publishing executives, booksellers, and librarians.
The sixth annual BookCon, held on Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2, drew crowds eager to celebrate books, fandom, and more. The show grew in both panels and exhibitors, with a varied lineup of pop culture-related sessions as well as lengthy autographing lines on both days.
Libraries are the heart of their communities, and this year’s American Library Association (ALA) annual conference will take place in the heart of national policymaking: Washington, DC. The conference, running June 20–25 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and surrounding venues, will take ample advantage of its setting: highlights include a tour of DC area library branches (alas, already sold out) and hosting not only Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden (in conversation with Palaces of the People author Eric Klinenberg) as an auditorium speaker, but also Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
The Washington State Convention Center exhibit hall was a hive of activity during the American Library Association’s Midwinter conference in Seattle last month. Here are a few of the vendor announcements LJ had the opportunity to hear about in person.
The American Library Association (ALA) 2019 Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, January 25–29, saw uncharacteristically sunny skies, a busy exhibit floor at the Washington State Conference Center, and a host of well-attended offerings that addressed civic and social innovation, human-centered design, and support for future leadership.
Librarians discussed a wide range of emerging opportunities and challenges during the Library Information Technology Association’s Top Tech Trends panel at the American Library Association’s Midwinter conference.
As always, library vendors had a number of announcements to share at the American Library Association’s 2018 annual conference in New Orleans. Here are a few that LJ had an opportunity to learn about in person.
A group of experts discussed emerging, library-relevant technology trends ranging from Quantum Computers to the deployment of digital libraries in public housing developments during the Library and Information Technology Association’s Top Tech Trends panel at ALA Annual 2018
We Need Diverse Books is a staple at BookExpo, and this year's well-attended session on Friday, June 1 answered an important question—How do books get made?
Historic, distinctive, and notorious, with a rich literary past and a celebratory spirit, New Orleans has a character all its own. Home to pirates and plantation owners, voodoo queens and vampires (or so the legend goes), it’s no wonder this city has inspired writers for centuries. And you’re in luck, because with the city commemorating its tricentennial, there’s never been a better time to visit.
With record-breaking attendance, estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands, the 12th annual New York Comic Con (NYCC), held October 5–8, in a move to support its diverse and ever-growing body of attendees, this year extended its regular programming efforts by partnering with nearby businesses and institutions, offering events outside its central location at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
As always, the 2017 American Library Association (ALA) annual conference featured well-attended author panels sponsored by United for Libraries, the ALA division representing library trustees, advocates, and friends groups. This year’s panels were distinguished by the ready exchange they engendered between authors and audience and among audience members as well. “Out and Proud: LGBTQ Literature” […]
Sue Macy’s Motor Girls, YA authors dishing about YA, gender stereotypes in YA romance, a World War II fighter pilot sharing his story, and more are poppin’ up at the PopTop stage or at Chapter 1.
After zipping over to the windy city last year, Book Expo returns to New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and will run from Wednesday, May 31, through Friday, June 2, with the fourth annual Book Con, a consumer-facing, pop culture–focused gathering for fans, happening Saturday, June 3, and Sunday, June 4. One of the big changes this year is the branding shift—from BookExpo America (BEA) to the truncated Book Expo—in recognition of the global reach of the show.
Library Journal’s 2016 Video Reviewer of the Year Douglas Rednour made his first appearance at an American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting this January. He has reviewed dozens of horror films for us since mid-2015. How scary could this conference have been?
On January 22, RUSA's Reading List Council announced the 2017 selections of the annual best-of Reading List, comprised of eight different fiction genres for adult readers. Check out below LJ's full reviews of the winners and look for the complete reviews of the short list titles in BookVerdict.
Drawing an exuberant crowd, the panel "Race & Sexuality: A Conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates, Tee "Vixen" Franklin & Steve Orlando," moderated by comics scholar Jonathan W. Gray featured veteran comics writers and newcomers alike.
With record attendance of 180,000 in 2016, New York Comic Con, October 6-9, packed several informative panels for librarians and educators into its first full day of programming. Here are some highlights we discovered. Body of Evidence: How We See Ourselves in Comics Attendance: […]
At “Taking Our Seat at the Table: How Academic Librarians Can Help Shape the Future of Higher Education,” sponsored by the Association of College and Research Libraries University Libraries Section (ACRL ULS), library administrators spoke up on how their institutions are looking ahead—both within and outside of the library.
As always, the American Library Association's 2016 annual convention included many announcements and product launches from library vendors. Here's a roundup of some of the news from this year's show floor.
The discussion at this year’s Library Information Technology Association’s (LITA) Top Technology Trends panel at the American Library Association’s (ALA) annual conference in Orlando, FL spanned topics ranging from online privacy to “superfast application development” on the near horizon. LITA revamped the session format this year to be more interactive: rather than offering individual trend presentations each panelist quickly summarized one trend they’ve been following, and then participated in discussions sparked by questions from moderator Maurice Coleman, technical trainer, Harford County Public Library, MD, and host of the long-running “T is for Training” podcast, with debates emerging on how long libraries should support old devices, and which tech trends may be overhyped within the library field.
On Saturday, June 25, at the American Library Association (ALA) Conference in Orlando, the 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were given to two winners originally announced at the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) Book & Media Awards Ceremony & Reception at ALA Midwinter. Viet Thanh Nguyen won the fiction medal for his debut novel, The Sympathizer (Grove), a visceral account of a South Vietnamese double agent posted to America after Saigon’s fall, and Sally Mann won the nonfiction medal for her formally ambitious Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs (Little, Brown).
A key point that led off—and was reiterated several times throughout—“Strategies and Partnerships: Tailoring Data Services for Your Institutional Needs,” the ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) President’s Program at the recent American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Orlando, FL, was the importance of establishing a common understanding of what exactly “data services” means. The term is a catch-all for a diverse set of activities; using it without defining its scope can become problematic for everyone involved.
"How many of you would be prepared to handle an active shooter in your library? How many of you have an active shooter policy?" Few hands were raised when BreAnne Meier from the North Dakota State Library asked these relevant questions at the Active Shooter Policies in Libraries Program at the American Library Association (ALA)'s recent Annual Conference in Orlando, FL. Meier described active shooter situations as ones where someone is actively engaged in killing, has access to a confined area or population, and is sometimes motivated by revenge. As a result, she explained, these situations are unpredictable and can change quickly, often lasting for such a short time as ten to 15 minutes.
A standing-room only crowd attended Literacy Inside and Out: Services to Incarcerated and Newly-Released Adults and Their Families at the recent American Libraries Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Orlando, FL. I've been thinking about this issue—and serving under-served communities in general—since I was a public librarian. Once, a patron cautiously approached the reference desk, explaining that he had been recently released and needed assistance familiarizing himself with the library. At the time, I didn't realize how a building full of large, imposing stacks could be intimidating for those who hadn't been to a library before, or not for a long time.
A number of higher education–focused sessions at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference touched on issues surrounding student retention and completion—and with the costs of tuition, housing, and materials constantly rising, saving students money is a major consideration. When the conversation includes state and community colleges, and a student body that may have less access to financial resources, finding strategies to cut costs becomes more important than ever. Open educational resources (OER)—freely accessible texts and media that faculty can assemble, repurpose, and package under open access agreements for teaching and research—are a rapidly growing option.
The American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference ran June 23-28 at Orlando, FL’s Orange County Convention Center and nearby venues. The mass shooting at Latin night at Orlando’s Pulse, an LGBT nightclub, a couple of weeks before the ALA Annual was top of mind for conferencegoers, leading to displays of solidarity both practical and symbolic. Attendance was considerably down relative to last year. Nonetheless, exhibitors were happy with the crowds on the show floor. The Budget Analysis and Review Committee (BARC) reported, “The Association is still a financially strong and sound organization.”
Update: ALA is planning a planning a memorial gathering at the Annual Conference on Saturday, June 25, 8–8:30 a.m. in the OCCC Auditorium, and a special conference Read Out co-sponsored by GLBTRT and OIF. Details on other support activities during the conference can be found here. In the wake of the shooting in Orlando’s Pulse nightclub on the night of June 12, which killed 49 people and injured 53 others, library administration and staff, organizations and vendors have stepped up with statements of solidarity, offers of help, and opportunities to join forces with the GLBT and Latinx communities—the shooting occurred during Pulse's Latin night—to mourn those killed and wounded.
Members of the American Library Association (ALA) RUSA-CODES Reading List Council, which annually presents its picks for the best in genre fiction, are pleased to share their top summer reads.
After seven years in New York, BookExpo America (BEA) heads to Chicago’s McCormick Place, where it will run from Wednesday though Friday, May 11–13. With a focus on BEA’s new partnership with the American Library Association (ALA), the Library Insights track will feature sessions by Libraries Transform: ALA@BEA, which is sponsored by Libraries Transform, ALA’s national public awareness campaign, and digital provider OverDrive. Also added to the 2016 schedule are tracks on children’s publishing and self-publishing, two of the hottest segments in the industry today. And, of course, there will be plenty of books to pick up and author signings to attend.
On Thursday, April 7, at the Public Library Association conference in Denver, several hundred librarians gathered at the session “Extraordinarily Engaged: How Three Libraries Are Transforming Their Communities” to hear strong endorsements of the American Library Association’s Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC) initiative. The initiative, created in partnership with the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, a […]
LJ's reviews of the 2016 selections of the Notable Books List, an annual best-of list comprised of 26 written for adult readers and published in the U.S., including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Established in 2012, the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction honor the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the United States the previous year.
A standing-room only crowd, along with dozens of others sitting in staggered rows on the floor, attended the We Need Diverse Books panel at the most recent ALA Midwinter conference in Boston. A mainstay at both ALA and New York Comic-Con, the We Need Diverse Books campaign continues to engage followers and supporters throughout the […]
While it has always fallen to libraries to preserve the historical record of the communities they serve, libraries also need to consider their own history—especially in light of the changing landscape they face. At the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference, a panel of three authors whose recent books focus on private, public, and academic libraries spoke with moderator Barbara Hoffert, editor of LJ’s Prepub Alert, on Libraries and Book Collections as Essential Cultural Institutions: A Historical and Forward-Looking Perspective. The panelists discussed their own studies, and charged libraries to examine the cultural legacies of their own collections.
Every American Library Association (ALA) conference produces a bumper crop of news from the companies that serve libraryland, as each tends to time its biggest debuts to the event, and this year was no exception. Here’s an assortment of what we learned on the exhibit floor. Did we miss your news? Please add it in the comments!
Each year, the American Library Association awards the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction. Honoring the festivities at this year’s annual conference in San Francisco were outgoing ALA president Courtney Young, presenting the welcome address; author and basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, delivering the keynote; and Carnegie Medals Selection Committee Member Donna Seaman, announcing the winners. Below is the […]
San Francisco is deservedly known for its restaurant offerings. No conference preview could cover them all (and no conference attendee could visit them). Below is a tasting menu of options that are accessible from the Moscone Center, at 747 Howard Street, provided courtesy of San Francisco local Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House’s Crown Publishing Group.
The city of San Francisco has been immortalized in hundreds of books in every genre: the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) keeps a Pinterest page of 81 titles and counting, as well as a “literary landmarks of San Francisco” list in its BiblioCommons catalog, plus separate lists for SF-based chefs and books for kids and teens. Here, a curated selection of reading for those ALA attendees who like to immerse themselves in a sense of place while they travel to the conference.
In spite of a record-breaking blizzard that shut down most of Chicago on Sunday, February 1, RUSA’s Book and Media Awards Ceremony went on as scheduled at the Hilton Chicago, where the Reading List Council announced the 2015 selections of the Reading List, an annual best-of list comprised of eight different fiction genres for adult readers.
In a move to address the frenzy caused this spring by overlapping consumer and professional publishing conventions, Reed Exhibitions executives have decided to make BookExpo America and BookCon separate, adjoining shows in 2015.
Anticipatory and contextual discovery, open hardware, one-click server installs, mobile-first design, institutional digital assets management, and even biohackerspaces were some of the topics discussed this year at the Library and Information Technology Association’s (LITA) Top Tech Trends panel, held June 29 at the American Library Association (ALA) 2014 Annual Conference.
Library ebook transactions remain too lengthy and complicated for patrons, especially in comparison with consumer ebook transactions, James English, product manager for the Library Simplified project at the New York Public Library (NYPL) said during his “EPUB: Walled Gardens and the Readium Foundation” presentation at the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) Book Industry Study Group (BISG) Eighth Annual Forum, held June 27 in conjunction with the American Library Association (ALA) 2014 Annual Conference. The group is working to make an open, commercial-grade ereader for libraries that would greatly simplify this process.
The 2014 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference & Exhibition, held June 26 – July 1 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, saw some 13,019 attendees. Though this is a pretty substantial drop-off compared with the 20,237 attendees who came to Chicago in 2013, it is higher than the 12,000+ attendees who visited Annual in Anaheim, CA in 2012. Critiques of the location, which has not hosted an ALA annual conference since 1973, included the vast distances between event sites and the expensive transportation—and, of course, the heat, which topped out at 111 degrees. However, those who did attend seemed excited about the exhibit hall’s 800 company offerings, and heavy crowds surging toward the galley giveaways greeted the exhibit openings on both Friday evening and Saturday morning.
Sally Reed, executive director of United for Libraries, a division of the American Library Association (ALA) that represents the interests of advocates such as friends groups and trustees, encouraged librarians at the “Quirky Books for Quirky Librarians” panel to join her organization before introducing six authors with new or upcoming books. The authors, a few […]
The 2014 American Library Association (ALA) annual conference in Las Vegas this week set the stage for Banned Books Week, scheduled for September 21-27, 2014. This year, Banned Books Week will shine light on banned and challenged comic books and graphic novels. On the show floor, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), which provides legal support and expertise to readers, authors, and librarians, debuted a new handbook offering rundowns of commonly challenged comic titles, myths about banned books, and ideas for programming around Banned Books Week.
This year, the industry trade show Book Expo America (BEA) opened its doors to non-industry types, giving readers one day to flood New York’s Javits Center and connect with literary superstars at BookCon, a fan-driven event that grew out of the previous years’ Power Readers Day. While BookCon was a hit with many, bringing thousands of readers out to fill the show floor and rub elbows with their favorite authors, the event was not without some hiccups. Changes are already in store for next year’s iteration.
Over 300 people attended the #WeNeedDiverseBooks panel on May 31 held at New York City’s Jacob Javits Center as part of BookExpo America’s consumer-focused BookCon event; the session was added late to the program after the grassroot campaign’s hashtag went viral following its launch, eliciting more than 162 million tweets since May 1.
Whether you’re gearing up for your trip or looking for some airplane reading (or watching) and ARC alternatives, there are far more location-themed titles to choose from than the iconic Leaving Las Vegas or Ocean’s Eleven (either version).
Since Las Vegas is a new venue for ALA’s annual conference, many librarians may be first-time visitors. Vegas veteran Jeanne Goodrich, executive director of the Las Vegas–Clark County Library District, offers her advice for how to survive and thrive in the heat.
Numerous events will take place at the stage in the exhibits hall, including readings, panel discussions, and presentations on topics popular in libraries and among librarians—from crime fiction and poetry to trivia, vampires, and more. For the full schedule, go to ow.ly/wCkW4.
Something different is in store for attendees of this year’s American Library Association (ALA) annual conference, to be held June 26–July 1 at Nevada’s Las Vegas Convention Center. For ALA annual and Midwinter Meeting veterans, accustomed to a rotation of familiar venues, Las Vegas offers a new twist. This is only the second ALA get-together held in Las Vegas; the first was in 1973. It remains to be seen whether the famous tourist destination will attract attendees in the numbers that habitually turn out for centrally located Chicago—and whether those who do turn up will forsake the exhibit floor for the town’s famous shows and casinos.
You’d better pack your comfy shoes. Not only is New York a walking city, but the programs and exhibits at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and elsewhere during BookExpo American (BEA) will keep you busier than a Saturday at the library. Before the show proper begins, LJ and sister publication School Library Journal (SLJ) will each host our annual Day of Dialog (DoD) event at the McGraw-Hill Conference Center. The panels, presentations, and signings at DoD are highlights of our year, and the 2014 lineups are particularly rich.
New Adult (NA) fiction is the rage these days in the publishing world, but what is it exactly? Is it an actual genre or just a marketing term? At a lively PLA2014 ConverStation session entitled “New Adult Fiction: What is It, Where is It, and What Should We Do with It,” facilitators Sophie Brookover (LibraryLinkNJ—The Library Cooperative, Piscataway, NJ) and Kelly Jensen (Beloit (WI) Public Library) ) threw out five questions for the audience to discuss at their tables and then share in the main conversation.
Periodically, we hear that fiction is dead or at least seriously impaired, a belief spectacularly disproved by the four United for Libraries panels at the recent American Library Association conference in Chicago. From Anton DiScalfani, crossing boundaries with her luminous and erotically charged best seller, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, to John Scalzi, who […]
An ALA program tackled issues of building a responsible film collection that portrays minority communities (native, black, queer, and disabled Americans) in responsible, respectful ways.
The 2013 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction winners are announced in Chicago during the American Library Association (ALA) annual conference.
