Contact: Mary Taylor
Executive Director, LITA
(312) 280-4267
mtaylor@ala.org

NEWS
For Immediate Release
June 10, 2008

LITA President’s Program to explore possible futures

CHICAGO – The Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) President’s Program, entitled Isn’t it great to be in the library…wherever that is?, will take place 4-5 p.m. Sunday, June 29, at the Hilton Anaheim Hotel, Anaheim, Calif., in the California Pavilion D. Joe Janes, associate professor in the Information School of the University of Washington in Seattle and columnist for American Libraries, will present.  Members of the “It’s All Good” blogging group will serve as the reactor panel for a lively exploration of possible futures. 

Mark Beatty, LITA President, stated “It’s often said that today we have to run three libraries at once:  the library of yesterday, today and tomorrow.  We run both the physical, visible library, and the one that exists beyond the walls.  This raises many questions of what a library is and encompasses, what it isn’t, where the boundaries lie, the impact on what we do and how we do it, what our clients want, how we serve them and what kinds of librarians serve them.”  The President’s program will attempt to examine the full social and cultural constructs of libraries that moves beyond basic Web 2.0 and integrates patrons, librarians and resources in what should be a ubiquitous manner.  

LITA, with over 4,000 members, has been serving the needs of the library and information technology community since 1966. Its mission is to educate, serve, and reach out to that community through its programs, publications and other activities.  LITA is a division of the American Library Association (ALA).