Tours and Attraction Tickets

ALA will be offering attendees special tour options, and discounted tickets to Orlando-area theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Universal and Sea World. To learn more or purchase tickets, please visit the tour website at www.premier-tix.com/ala04. (Clicking this link will open a new window). If you prefer, you can print out a form that you can mail in.

Special Needs

If you have a special physical or communication need that may impact your participation in this meeting, please check the appropriate box on your registration form and append a statement specifying your special need. While every effort will be made to meet attendees’ needs, we cannot guarantee the availability of accommodations in response to requests received after May 9, 2004.

Based upon availability in each city, we maintain a limited number of wheelchairs and scooters on a first come, first served basis. Please contact Kathy Harris at 800-545-2433, ext. 3220 or TDD (toll free): 888-814-7692, ext. 3220 as soon as possible to reserve a wheelchair or scooter, for use in the convention center only, or if you wish to discuss any other special needs.

Interpreting Services

Conference Services coordinates interpreting services for the hearing impaired. To use the service, send a list of required interpreted meetings to Michelle Visel by May 9, 2004 at: 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. A list of interpreted meetings will be in the Annual Conference Program. On call interpreters will be available in the convention center, Friday through Tuesday for last minute requests.

Child Care and Camp ALA

 Make this year's annual meeting a family affair. Once again, ACCENT on Children's Arrangements, Inc. has planned a great children's activity center for ALA/CLA attendees' children. ACCENT is a nationally recognized professional childcare company organized to provide quality on-site children's activities in a nurturing, safe, educational environment. ACCENT's counselors are fun-loving professionals with plenty of experience with children. For more details, call ACCENT at 504-524-1227. The camp will operate at Orange County Convention Center from Friday, June 25 through Tuesday, June 29, 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily. Children must be between 3 months and 17 years of age.

ALA will reimburse the charges expended on Camp ALA child care in the amount of $32 per day, per child to a maximum of $64 per day, per family to any fully-registered parent for each day of the Annual Conference week, June 25-29, 2004. The total cost of the care per child, per day is $80, with $48 paid by the parent member, and $32 paid by the Association. This covers only child care in the ALA day care center, Camp ALA. ALA will not reimburse child care expenses to delegates who live within the Orlando area that would be paid to a regular provider whether the parent was attending the Annual Conference or not.

Reimbursement forms will be available at the Registration Desk and must be signed by the individual performing the child care services and presented by the parent to the Registration Desk Manager by Monday, June 28, 2004. Please note: Strollers are permitted on the exhibit floor, but children must remain seated in them at all times. Unescorted children are not permitted on the exhibit floor. See Children's Policy for more information.

Advance registration is required. For further information on CAMP ALA, please view this word document. To register, please print out and mail in this registration form.

Children’s Policy

Strollers are permitted on the exhibit floor but only if there is a child in them at all times. Unescorted children are not permitted on the exhibit floor. Children under the age of five must be restrained at all times (stroller, back pack, etc.). Any child over the age of five must have an exhibits only badge to be admitted to the exhibit floor. These badges are available at onsite registration for $25. An adult must accompany all children under the age of 16.

No Smoking Policy

By Council action at its 1991 Atlanta Annual Conference, it was resolved that “smoking is prohibited at Midwinter Meetings, Annual Conferences, regional/national conferences, continuing education programs, exhibits and other gatherings sponsored by the ALA.”

Accessibility Pavilion

Feed you curiosity about emerging technology and how to use it to serve more people in your community and serve them better. Find out about the latest in voice output and voice input, screen readers, and other "way out there" stuff that's available and affordable today. Explore some low tech and no tech options, too. Come to the Accessibility Pavilion in the exhibits at ALA Annual Conference!

Meet people who can tell you how to make your web site more usable and accessible to the public. Learn about Universal Design and how it's literally changing the way we live. Get help with your questions about the new ALA policy "Library Services for People With Disabilities." Get your hands on electronic Braille! Hear the Web like you've never heard it before! Expand intellectual freedom by enabling intellectual access for all. You'll see products you thought were years away, or never thought of at all. You'll discover hardware and software solutions to problems you possibly haven't thought of yet, but need to.

We believe that the Accessibility Pavilion is the first of its kind in a library trade show. We're working to make the area super accessible, so it can be a model for trade shows, especially in the library community. You'll be surrounded by stimulating ideas. And you'll get to meet exhibitors new to the ALA Annual Conference. Come celebrate equity of access with us at the Accessibility Pavilion!

Poster Sessions

The ALA Conference Poster Sessions will be displayed on June 26, 27 and 28, 2004 at the Orange County Convention Center. Poster sessions provide an opportunity for individual librarians or libraries to share graphic representations of current research, programs or creative solutions to library problems. Accepted presenters are given a time block during the conference to present posters, answer questions, and give away handouts relating to the session. Poster Session topics and times are listed in the Annual Conference Program.
The deadline for submitting an application is January 30, 2004. For more information visit the Poster Session website at:   http://www.lib.iastate.edu/ala or contact Karen Lawson, ALA Poster Session Review Chair, 34 Parks Library, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011; phone: 515-294-4037; email: KLAWSON@gwgate.lib.iastate.edu.

Placement Services

The Placement Services Center is provided by the ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR). The location of the Placement Center will be announced.
Hours of operation will be:

Friday, June 25
12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Saturday, June 26 & Sunday, June 27:
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Monday, June 28:
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Online registrations are accepted from mid-April through June, 2004 at   the placement center website. Job seekers and employers are encouraged to apply regardless of whether or not they are attending the Annual Conference.

There will be a $200 fee for employers to register job vacancies. Interviewing facilities will be provided. Policy 54.3 states, "ALA is committed to equality of opportunity for all library employees or applicants for employment, regardless of race, color, creed, sex, age, physical or mental handicap, individual lifestyle, or national origin." By advertising through ALA services, the organization agrees to comply with this policy. All available salary ranges shall be listed.

Student-to-Staff Program

Students from accredited library schools nation-wide will be attending the ALA Annual Conference under the work-study plan established by the ALA Executive Board in 1972. Under this plan the students will be provided with free lodging and meals (transportation costs are excluded) in exchange for four hours of daily work from Friday, June 25 through Tuesday, June 29, 2004. Eligibility requirements are enrollment as a student at a library school with an ALA chapter and student membership in ALA. Interested students may contact Erika Johnson at ejohnson@ala.org for more information.

Cognotes

The Conference Newspaper will be available in the Convention Center Saturday - Tuesday, and a Highlights Issue will be mailed to all attendees after the Conference.

To submit a story or information in advance, please email the information to shoerner@ala.org. To submit stories onsite, please email them or bring them on floppy disk to the Cognotes Office in the Convention Center, Valencia Ballroom.

Be sure to look for "Unshelved" everyday in Cognotes!

Too Many Programs to Catch?
The American Library Association is pleased to offer many of the ALA 2004 Annual Conference
Audios recorded LIVE on Audio CD Track Sets.