Porcaro announces candidacy for 2016-17 ALA presidency

For Immediate Release
Fri, 09/26/2014

Contact:

JoAnne Kempf

Director

Office of ALA Governance

jkempf@ala.org

CHICAGO — JP Porcaro, Librarian for Acquisitions and Technological Discovery at the New Jersey City University Guarini Library, Jersey City, N.J., has filed as a petition candidate for the 2016-17 presidency of the American Library Association.

Porcaro has been an ALA member since 2004 and was the organizer and founding president of the ALA Games & Gaming Round Table (GameRT) (2010-12).  He served on the New Jersey Library Association (NJLA) Executive Board (2012-13) and served as the NJLA chapter councilor on the ALA Council (2013-14).

Porcaro was an ALA Emerging Leader in 2010 and was named as a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in 2012.  He is a founding member of the ALA Think Tank, social media’s largest space for librarians. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the EveryLibrary political action committee, the Social Organizer for Urban Librarians Unite, and an administrator for the Librarian Wardrobe blog. 

"Through their service—and with a spirit of empathy, enthusiasm, and joy—librarians make the world a better place. Bringing that message and energy to the highest level of the American Library Association will inspire positive change in libraries everywhere!" said Porcaro.

Porcaro is the author of several articles, including “The Pokémon Generation,” School Library Journal, May 2010; “Fostering Community Engagement from $500, Booklist Online, Nov. 2010; and “First Amendment Rights,” School Library Journal, Jan. 2011.  He holds an MLIS from Rutgers School of Communication and Information and a BA in philosophy from New Jersey City University. 

Porcaro will join nominated candidates James LaRue and Julie Todaro in a candidates’ forum from 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31, during the 2015 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Chicago.  The candidates will each have an opportunity to make a statement and will answer questions from the audience.

Ballot mailing for the 2015 ALA Election will begin on March 24.  The election will close on May 1, 2015.