Officially Speaking | August 2024

President's Column | Councilor's Report | 2024 Banquet Sponsors! |Thank You to Our Friends

ALA Annual Highlights and a Sneak Peek at National Institute

Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like I was anticipating ALA Annual for months, only to have it already in the rearview mirror! So, with that in mind, I’m going to talk a bit about my highlights from the conference as well as some things I’m looking forward to this fall.

Even though it feels like it happened way too quickly, Annual was an absolute privilege to attend this year. I was not able to attend everything (believe me, I tried!), so I was very happy that I could read up on the many incredible events that I missed by reading through the impressive number of posts from the ALSC onsite blogging team. Make sure you check out their recaps! But the events that I was able to attend really inspired me and gave me a lot to think about in the time since.

Though it may not seem to everyone like the most enjoyable way to spend time at a conference in a place like San Diego, the ALSC Board orientation and the ALSC Board meeting were highlights for me. I was able to witness first-hand the passion and experience that Board members past and present bring (and have brought) to the table. We had fruitful and fulsome discussions and under the guidance of Jonda McNair, we made decisions that will help guide ALSC through the upcoming year.

I also had the opportunity to host an ALSC interest meetup, which was well attended. There I had the chance to meet a number of new ALSC members, looking for ways to engage them in our work and to learn from their expertise. The membership meeting provided similar opportunities and gave everyone in attendance a chance to talk about the challenges that ALSC and ALA are facing due to uncertainties brought about by shifting social and ideological perspectives.

And, of course, there were the perfectly executed events driven by staff and volunteers throughout ALA, including the Coretta Scott King breakfast (how many tears did you shed?!), Pura Belpré Celebración (how adorable were those dancers?), Newbery Caldecott Legacy Banquet (I couldn’t get through a single speech without getting emotional), ALSC Awards (so many cool books!), and Odyssey Awards (just…wow!). The final day included the opportunity to walk across the stage with other ALA division presidents at the Closing Session, followed by the Inaugural Luncheon, which celebrated ALA President Cindy Hohl and her theme for the next year: “A Good Way for ALA.” It was an honor to be presented with traditional medicine by President Hohl and to take part in the ceremonies led by the Native American Women Warriors.

Looking forward, I am excited to be joining many of you in Denver at ALSC’s National Institute for a fabulous few days of preconference workshops, educational programming, inspiring speeches, and networking with fellow librarians and children’s literature enthusiasts. If you’ll be joining ALSC at National Institute, I encourage you to sign up for the preconference events* if you can, because they are going to be fire! In the morning, there’s “Reading as Resistance: Helping to Re-Ignite a Passion for All Stories” led by the inimitable Julia Torres, which will invigorate and inspire attendees and reinforce the essential role of librarians in building strong and resilient communities. The afternoon looks to be similarly stimulating, with “Supporting Your Early Literacy Services with the Bell Awards.” Instructors Melissa Depper and Kimberly Powers will be sharing first-hand experiences from Bell Award Selection Committee members, as well as resources and ways to connect books and activities with literacy skills. You can’t go wrong with either of these workshops (though I would definitely recommend attending both if you’re able)! National Institute attendees can add a preconference to their registration by emailing Sarah Polen.

Lastly, I want to shout out a huge THANK YOU to the staff, the Board, and the entire membership, for making ALSC such a phenomenal organization to be a part of. I have been blown away by the wisdom, support, and encouragement of everyone at Annual as I make the move into this new role. I am energized and ready to get to work.

Onwards!—Dr. Robert Bittner, ALSC President, 2024-25

* Editor’s note: Opportunity for Denver locals! National Institute may be sold out, but we still have space in our preconferences. If you’d just like to register for a preconference, please call the ALA Registration Office at 800-545-2433 (Option 1) and an available ALA representative will be able to register you!

ALSC Councilor’s Report - 2024 Annual Conference

What a delight to see and meet so many ALSC members at the Annual Conference in sunny San Diego, California, this summer! I was honored to be there representing ALSC as your Division Councilor. Please find the recap of Council actions that took place as follows.

Committee on Committees (COC) & Planning and Budget Assembly (PBA) Elections

Erin Berman, Shauntee Burns-Simpson, Aaron Dobbs, and Jillian Rudes were elected to serve as 2024-25 COC members.

Ana Elisa de Campos Salles, Vivian Bordeaux, and Jahala Simuel were elected to serve as 2024-26 PBA At-Large Councilors.

Edenia Hernandez and Joseph Thompson were elected to serve as 2024-26 PBA Chapter Councilors.

Committee on Organization, ALA CD#27.1

Council voted:

to change the name and charge of the Training, Orientation, Leadership Development Committee (TOLD) to:
Name: ALA Leadership Development Committee
Charge: To prepare prospective and current member leaders within the association to serve in ALA member leader positions. To inform ALA’s member leadership pipeline and succession planning. To plan and coordinate activities to support member leaders with association leadership development and governance.
to establish an ALA Affiliates Committee. “The ALA Affiliates Committee works to ensure all affiliates understand their responsibilities to and their benefits from ALA. This group will also promote opportunities for affiliates to work together on programming.”
to discontinue the Committee on Research and Statistics (CORS). Per the Committee on Organization: “When ALA has a data, design, and research strategy at a future date, it will be critical for a group of members with research experience to serve an advisory role to this unit. Until such time, the work is not substantive to support volunteer involvement.”

Bylaws Committee, ALA CD#25.1

Per the request of the Bylaws Committee, Council voted to change Article XIII, Section 1 to: “The Executive Board shall review and approve the annual budget, including the budget objectives, as part of the budget process.” This change brings the Bylaws into line with current practice, while affirming the Executive Board’s fiduciary responsibility for approving the budget and budget objectives.

Policy Monitoring Committee, ALA CD#17.1

Council voted to retire three items of outdated language from the ALA Policy Manual.

Item 1: B.5.3 Disarmament and Conflict Resolution Information in Libraries (Old Number 50.10)
Item 2: B.5.4 Nuclear Freeze, the Arms Race, and National Security (Old Number 50.11
Item 3: B.9.19 AIDS Screening (Old Number 54.19)

Specifics can be found in the Policy Monitoring Committee Report.

Publishing Committee, ALA CD#32.1-32.2

Council voted to approve the creation of an ALA journal publication ethics policy (see draft) as association policy, permitting this new policy to be added to the ALA Policy Manual and ALA Publishing webpage and enabling the association to pursue membership in COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).

Resolutions Passed by Council:

Resolution to Support School and Academic Library Chapters, ALA CD#51
Resolution Reaffirming ALA's Commitment to Intellectual Freedom and Issuing a Call to Action, ALA CD#52
Resolution Urging Library Workers and Supporters to Participate in the 2024 Elections, ALA CD#20.1
Resolution on the Working Group for ALA Societal Statement Guidelines, ALA CD#53

Memorial Resolutions:

Tribute Resolutions:

Tribute Resolution #3 Honoring the ALA International Relations Roundtable, 75th Anniversary
Tribute Resolution #4 Honoring Dr. Raymond Pun

Visit the ALA website for a complete list of Council Documents for ALA Annual Conference 2024. Please feel free to contact me if I can answer any questions.—Julie Roach, ALSC Division Councilor

2024 Banquet Supporters

A pink program booklet, designed by Vashti Harrison, 2024 Caldecott Medalist, standing upright on a banquet table next to a water glass, napkin, and silverware

ALSC sincerely thanks our Newbery-Caldecott-Legacy Banquet sponsors. We hope everyone had a memorable evening!

Gold

Children's Plus, Inc.

Disney Publishing

Penguin Random House Audio - Listening Library

Penguin Young Readers

Random House Children's Books

Scholastic

Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Silver

Baker & Taylor

Bloomsbury Children's Books

Candlewick Press

HarperCollins Children's Books

Holiday House/Peachtree

Junior Library Guild

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

The Ohio State University

Thank You to Our Friends

Many thanks to the following generous contributors to Friends of ALSC. To learn how you can support ALSC, visit our website.

Gold Circle - $500 - $999

Danielle Jones

Notables Circle - $100 to $249

Rita Auerbach
Christopher Biss-Brown
Robyn Carr
Claudette McLinn
Barbara Scotto

Friends Circle - up to $99

Kimberly Alberts
Ramona Caponegro
Aryssa Damron
Joanna Fabicon
Laura Jenkins
Sujei Lugo
Barbara Szutkowski