ALA Recommended Viewing
List of links to ALA's recommended and award-winning videos/DVDs for all ages, sorted by age group.
This page is compiled by the ALA Library. Contact us at library@ala.org with any questions.
For Children | For Young Adults/Teens | For Adults | Resources and Publications for Librarians and Educators | ALA Video Contests | Video Promotional Materials from ALA
News Spotlight Lists
YALSA names 2013 Fabulous Films for Young Adults
American Library Association announces 2013 list of Notable Videos for Adults
Katja Torneman wins 2013 Carnegie Medal for 'Anna, Emma and the Condors'
Booklist announces influential 2012 Top of the List selections (December 2012)
- Video (DVD): The Dust Bowl, directed by Ken Burns (PBS)
Introducing American Libraries Live (Oct 2012)
For Children
Katja Torneman wins 2013 Carnegie Medal for 'Anna, Emma and the Condors' - (Andrew) Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video
All previous Carnegie Medal winners (award est. 1991)
For Young Adults/Teens
YALSA names 2013 Fabulous Films for Young Adults - Fabulous Films for Young Adults 2013: Survival - Fabulous Films for Young Adults
Previous Fabulous Films for Young Adults / Selected DVD's & Videos for Young Adults Lists (all previous lists, 1997 to the present, available online)
For Adults
- American Library Association announces 2013 list of Notable Videos for Adults - Notable Videos for Adults
Previous Notable Videos for Adults Lists (all previous lists, from 1999 to the present, available online)
Resources and Publications for Librarians and Educators
- American Libraries Live, a free, streaming video broadcast allows viewers to watch broadcasts about library issues and trends in real time and interact with hosts via a live chat. Each episode focuses on a specific issue affecting libraries and librarians, and features a panel of vendors and library industry experts engaged in a real-time discussion which is broadcast through a live video format. Viewers can ask questions during the program via chat. American Libraries Live is a joint production of American Libraries and ALA Editions, units of the American Library Association. Online registration allows viewers to receive reminders of upcoming programs.
- Ask the ALA Librarian Blog compiled by the ALA Library staff on the AmericanLibrariesMagazine.org website. Be sure to see the August 26, 2010 entry, VHS to DVD? as well as the April 20, 2011 entry, Recommended Viewing - Movies and DVDs. Additional resources include the Public Performance Rights and Online Video Use pages at the ALA Professional Tips Wiki as well as ALA Library Fact Sheet 7 - Video and Copyright.
- Byrd, Susannah Mississippi. ¡Bienvenidos! ¡Welcome!: a Handy Resource Guide for Marketing Your Library to Latinos. Chicago, Ill: American Library Association, 2005 (includes Spanish-Language Marketplace list of video publishers).
- Cohen, Laura B. Library 2.0 Initiatives in Academic Libraries. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2007 (Chapter 12 - YouTube University: Using XML, Web Services, and Online Video Services to Serve University and Library Video Content, by Jason A. Clark).
- Doll, Carol Ann, and Pamela Petrick Barron. Managing and Analyzing Your Collection: A Practical Guide for Small Libraries and School Media Centers. Chicago: American Library Association, 2002.
- Edsall, Mary E. A Core Collection in Dance. Chicago: American Library Association, 2001.
- Kan, Katharine (for the Young Adult Library Services Association). Sizzling Summer Reading Programs for Young Adults. Chicago: American Library Association, 2006.
- Kuharets, Olga R. Venture into Cultures: A Resource Book of Multicultural Materials and Programs. Chicago: American Library Association, 2001.
- Laskowski, Mary S. Guide to Video Acquisitions in Libraries: Issues and Best Practices. Chicago: Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, 2011.
- Mates, Barbara T. 5-Star Programming and Services for Your 55+ Library Customers. ALA programming guides. Chicago: American Library Association, 2003.
- Robinson, Thomas S. C. Library Videos and Webcasts (THE TECH SET® #4). New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2010.
- RUSA STARS videos provide insight into the people and the work of interlibrary loan -- New videos posted by the Reference and User Services Association's (RUSA) Sharing and Transforming Access to Resources Section (STARS) provide insight into the role of interlibrary loan (ILL) librarians and can help library school students better understand this important area of librarianship. The videos were created by the STARS Education and Training Committee as a part of their project to help people - especially students currently in library school - to understand the diverse roles and responsibilities associated with interlibrary loan work. These two-minute videos feature interlibrary loan librarians who serve in a variety of roles discussing their responsibilities and experiences in the ILL field:
- Micquel Little, access services librarian, St. John Fisher College, talks about and appreciates her previous experience in her circulation role at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh7QRjlltdY.
- Collette Mak, head of resources access and delivery, University of Notre Dame, touches on data and how the role of an interlibrary loan librarian is truly a project management role at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X2u2WVNq9k.
- Heather Weltin, head of access services at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, talks about gaining hands-on library management and budgeting experience in ILL at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJUc5LX4Mpk.
- Vossler and Watts receive 2012 ACRL IS Innovation Award -- Joshua Vossler, information literacy and reference librarian at Coastal Carolina University, and John Watts, instruction and liaison services librarian at Webster University, have been selected to receive the 2012 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Instruction Section (IS) Innovation Award for their work on a series of five videos, which were created in cooperation with Coastal Carolina University's First Year Experience Program and were designed to introduce first-year students to fundamental information literacy concepts. View all of the Kimbel Library Instructional Videos of Coastal Carolina University.
ALA Video Contests
- ACRL Video Contest! Tell us Your ACRL Story - The Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) is looking for videos about what ACRL means to you. The deadline for submission is February 28, 2013 (11:59 p.m. Central).
- (AASL) Video contest challenges students to let loose their creativity - The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), in collaboration with SchoolTube, announces the launch of the School Library Month 2013 student video contest "Communities matter @ your library." Contestants are urged to let loose their creativity and use humor, drama, music and/or special effects to illustrate how the school library program fosters a sense of community in their school. Submissions for the video contest will be accepted through March 19, 2013 and winners will be announced at the beginning of School Library Month on April 1, 2013. More information can be found at www.ala.org/aasl/slm/video.
AASL announces winners of School Library Month video contest (April 2012) -- The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) is proud to announce the winners of the "You Belong @ Your School Library" Student Video Contest. The contest solicited videos illustrating why the school library is (either physically or virtually) the place to be. Forty-two entries were received, and one winner at the elementary, middle and high school levels was selected based on scores awarded by a panel of judges. Student winners will receive a $100 Amazon.com gift card and Mackin will provide their school library a prize of $500 in books. In addition, winning entries will be featured on the AASL and SchoolTube websites and social networking platforms. All contest entries can be seen via AASL's 2012 School Library Month SchoolTube Channel.
Video Promotional Materials from ALA, available from the ALA Online Store
PLEASE NOTE: The 2002 Loss & Recovery: Librarians Bear Witness to September 11, 2001 is sold and distributed by the Library Video Network.
Video, DVD
Every Child Ready to Read® Playing Around with Words (Provo) DVD
Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning video (Great Plains Network)
Rediscover America @ your library video
Working @ your library: For Love or Money (DVD)
Posters
TV and Movie Characters Posters
This page is part of ALA Recommends... compiled by the ALA Library. Contact us at library@ala.org with any questions. See the other lists of recommendations compiled by ALA member committees - ALA Recommended Reading: List of links to ALA's literature award winners and various notable reading lists for all ages, sorted by age group; ALA Recommended Listening: List of links to ALA's recommended music and spoken-word recordings and audiobooks for all ages, sorted by age group; and ALA Recommended Web Sites: List of links to ALA's recommended web sites for all ages, sorted by age group.
For more information on this or other fact sheets, contact the ALA Library Reference Desk by telephone: 800-545-2433, extension 2153; fax: 312-280-3255; e-mail: library@ala.org; or regular mail: ALA Library, American Library Association, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611.