Fagin, Henk, and Loeb at ALA Midwinter on building the OWS 'People's Library'

CHICAGO - The new ALA Masters Series kicks off at ALA Midwinter with an exciting special session led by three of the People’s Library builders. “A Library occupies Occupy Wall Street” is a Special Masters session on Saturday, Jan. 21, where attendees will learn first-hand from the librarians on the front lines of Occupy Wall Street. Betsy Fagin, Mandy Henk and Zachary Loeb will share their experiences in building the People's Library and being part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Media coverage of the library has been extensive, and similar libraries have been established at other Occupy protests across the world.

Fagin was an ALA Spectrum Scholar in 2004 at the University of Maryland, where she received her MLS degree. She also has degrees in creative writing and literature from CUNY–Brooklyn College and Vassar College. Henk has been a librarian since 2003 and has experience working reference and doing instruction, but her main focus has been access services. Henk’s research interests include sustainable librarianship and the political economy of academic publications. Loeb earned an MSIS from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2011, and his areas of interest include archives, library technology, young adult services and the democratization of the public record.

Sprinkled throughout the schedule,the ALA Masters sessions offer insights into the hottest trends and issues as they showcase experts from across library specialties describing their latest in-house innovations in fast-paced 30-minute sessions.

ALA Midwinter Meeting is in Dallas, January 20-24, 2012. We encourage you to register now so you don’t miss out on this chance to join the conversation as you enrich your career and your library.