Blog

Erin Berman talks about taking tech to the streets

Posted by Admin Admin on 11/16/2018

In her new book Your Technology Outreach Adventure: Tools for Human-Centered Problem Solving, Erin Berman dives into how to use design thinking skills to undertake technology-based outreach. Based on her team's experiences at San José Public Library, which ranged from videomaking in a skate park to e-readers for seniors, she simplifies the process by showing ways that libraries can try out ideas quickly and learn from missteps.

Interview: Catherine Hakala-Ausperk discusses her new Leadership Planner series and how to future-proof your team

Posted by Admin Admin on 10/25/2018

Author of bestsellers such as Be A Great Boss: One Year to Success and Renew Yourself: A Six-Step Plan for More Meaningful Work, Catherine Hakala-Ausperk should already be familiar to many readers. Her newest book though represents an even more focused, hands-on approach to library leadership.

Ellyssa Kroski on why escape rooms and other immersive experiences make for great library programs

Posted by Admin Admin on 10/18/2018

Who would like to volunteer to be locked in a room with a bunch of your friends, an untold number of hidden clues, and a ticking clock? The answer, it seems, is a whole lot of us. According to the database at Room Escape Artist, in 2014 there were only 22 escape rooms in the U.S. But by the summer of 2017, the figure had skyrocketed to nearly 2,000.

The nuts and bolts of building digital libraries: an interview with Kyle Banerjee and Terry Reese, Jr.

Posted by Admin Admin on 10/02/2018

The new second edition of Building Digital Libraries takes readers step by step through the conceptual and technical challenges of constructing a digital library. With several decades of experience between them, authors Kyle Banerjee and Terry Reese, Jr. are the ideal tour guides for navigating this complex landscape.

Norman A. Mooradian on records and information management ethics

Posted by Admin Admin on 09/26/2018

Acutely aware that RIM professionals require a professional ethics to guide them in their daily practice and to form a basis for organizational policies, Norman A. Mooradian did the logical thing: he wrote a book on the subject. His new text Ethics for Records and Information Management offers a rigorous principles/rules based work as vital to current professionals as it is to students.

Gauri Manglik and Sadaf Siddique: positive stories about Muslims can foster multicultural understanding

Posted by Admin Admin on 09/19/2018

An annual poll by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) found that 61% of Muslim Americans report having experienced religiously based discrimination in the past year more than once. And according to separate findings by Pew Research, half of Muslim Americans say it has become harder to be Muslim in the US in recent years.

Interview: Patricia C. Franks surveys the RIM landscape

Posted by Admin Admin on 09/11/2018

As a writer and teacher, Patricia C. Franks has the great gift of making complicated and often abstract concepts like "information" and "records" easy to grasp. So it's no wonder that her book Records and Information Management was an immediate bestseller, a hit with both students and practitioners. Now, after several years of work, the revised and updated second edition has just been published and promises to be every bit as successful.

Judi Moreillon on maximizing school librarian leadership

Posted by Admin Admin on 09/04/2018

Chair of AASL’s Innovative Approaches to Literacy Task Force from 2016-2018 and past member of the ALA/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School/Public Library Cooperation, Judi Moreillon has been a champion of the school librarian as instructional partner for decades.

Natalie Cole and Virginia A. Walter share insights into transforming summer library programs

Posted by Admin Admin on 08/23/2018

Summer 2018 might be winding down, but children's and YA librarians are already beginning to think ahead to next year's programming. In their recent book Transforming Summer Programs at Your Library: Outreach and Outcomes in Action, Natalie Cole and Virginia A. Walter detail case studies of several California libraries that have successfully reimagined their summer initiatives.

Storytimes creator Rob Reid discusses his new "greatest hits" collection

Posted by Admin Admin on 08/09/2018

Original and adapted fingerplays, poems, activities involving movement and music, participation stories, felt stories, imagination exercises, spoonerism stories, and library raps: Rob Reid's book 200+ Original and Adapted Story Program Activities is packed from cover to cover with fun ideas for storytimes. And it happens to be his thirteenth book for ALA Editions—surely a lucky number in a writing career that spans more than two decades!