Giles joins ALA Public Programs Office
Contact: Lainie Castle
Program Officer, Communications
312-280-5055
lcastle@ala.org
For Immediate Release
February 6, 2006
Giles joins ALA Public Programs Office
CHICAGO – Kara L. Giles has joined the staff of the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office as Program Officer/Web Editor, effective January 17. Her primary responsibilities include management of the Public Programs Office Web site and serving as editor of the PPO Online Resource Center.
Most recently, Giles was a systems librarian and faculty member at Dominican University in River Forest, Ill. In that position, she served as the Web master for the Rebecca Crown Library, creating and managing the library's new Web site, including electronic databases, off campus authentication software and the library's first interactive interlibrary loan online request form. She also served as an advisor and librarian-instructor for graduate and undergraduate research classes.
Previously, Giles created and managed Web sites for Moraine Valley Community College, Elmhurst Public Library and the Glenview Public Library. She has written scholarly articles and book reviews for
Library Journal,
College & Research Libraries News and
Loyola of Chicago Law Journal. Before becoming a librarian, Giles was a corporate attorney for Jewel Food Stores, Hart Schaffner & Marx and Transunion Corp. Giles holds a B.A. in pre-law and an M.S. in library and information science from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, as well as a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago.
"In the Public Programs Office, we are delighted to have Kara on board," said Deb Robertson, director of the ALA Public Programs Office. "Her experience as a systems librarian, Web designer and author make her a perfect match for this newly created position and a terrific addition to the PPO staff."
The ALA Public Programs Office has a 15-year track record of developing library programming initiatives, including the acclaimed reading and discussion series “Let's Talk About It!,” film discussion programs on humanities themes, traveling exhibitions, LIVE! @ your library®, and other programs. It has recently established the Cultural Communities Fund, an endowment fund created to help all types of libraries across the country bring communities together through cultural programming (
www.ala.org/ccf). More than 8,000 libraries and at least 10 million individuals have participated in library programming initiatives supported by the Public Programs Office. For more information, go to
www.ala.org/publicprograms.
Giles can be reached at 800-545-2433 ext. 5061 or 312-280-5061. Her email address is
kgiles@ala.org.
