ALA 2010, LJ Report: Sweating It Out
In DC, librarians regroup and recharge Aug 15, 2010When the 2010 annual conference of the American Library Association (ALA) was assigned to Washington, DC, no one could have predicted that libraries (and the country) would be facing a collective budget crisis. So the Washington Convention Center turned out to be an opportune oasis for librarians to gather and recharge away from the heat, climatological and metaphorical.
Though library travel budgets have taken a direct hit, the attendance was a creditable 26,201, with 19,513 attendees and 6,688 exhibitors. The comparable 2009 numbers in Chicago were 22,762 and 6,179, totalling 28,941.
| RALLY TIME The Washington Convention Center (1.) was home base for rejuvenation, culminating in (2.) Tuesday’s rally, with pols Rep. Vern Ehlers (3.) and Sen. Jack Reed (4). Inspiration also came from author Salman Rushdie (5.), DOK’s Eppo van Nispen tot Sevenaer, and Toni Morrison (7. and 8.). A Presidential standin (9.) drew fans to the Polaris booth, as did the Star Wars baddies to the DK booth (10.). Nancy Pearl (left in 11.) helped celebrate To Kill a Mockingbird’s 50th with documentarian Mary McDonagh Murphy. Crowds hit the floor (12.), and checked out job leads(13.). Photos 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 11 by Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images; photos 1, 9, 12, & 13 by Kevin Henegan; photo 10 by Michael Rogers |
The meeting also served as a national launching pad. On June 29, conference activities concluded early so some 2000 red-T-shirted library advocates could gather on Capitol Hill for the first-ever national Library Advocacy Day. The bipartisan speakers included LJ 2002 Politician of the Year Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI).
When visiting legislators, librarians lobbied for, among other things, $300 million for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), up from $225 million, and net neutrality, so that access—including to educational programming—is not regulated based on the nature or source of that content or service.
Consonant with findings unveiled at the conference that the most important role for library computers is supporting job seekers, followed by access to online government information, Emily Sheketoff, executive director of ALA's Washington Office, noted that states use LSTA monies to pay for databases used by job seekers.
Advocacy issues
It'll be a tough job to get any new money out of Congress, attendees learned, but ALA leaders have been pushing advocacy to the forefront. Outgoing ALA president Camila Alire stressed frontline advocacy, which led to an online tool kit. She passed the baton to Roberta Stevens, project manager for the National Book Festival, who has her own advocacy plan.
At Stevens's inauguration, she launched her Our Authors, Our Advocates presidential initiative, which relies on authors to attest to the value and importance of libraries. Rather than deliver a typical speech, she invited four authors—Marie Arana, Carmen Agra Deedy, Sharon Draper, and Brad Meltzer—to share the spotlight.
Speaking at the ALA Membership Pavilion, former county manager Ron Carlee, executive in residence of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), advised library leaders to be proactive in getting to know funders informally, building relationships before budget time. "Nothing is more powerful than actually seeing programs and services at work and having discussions with the leadership and line people in the field," he said.
A more philosophical perspective came from Toni Morrison, the Nobel prize–winning novelist, who spoke at the Opening General Session. "I'm grateful for [libraries'] past because it is mine as well," she declared. "And I am eager to help secure your future, whatever route it takes, because that future is mine as well."
Big book interest
Booth traffic for publishers was strong or, as Talia Sherer, Macmillan's director of library marketing, adult trade, and a 2010 LJ Mover & Shaker, put it, "Is there another word for gangbusters?" Marcia Purcell, Random's director of library and academic marketing, saw extensive in-booth use of products like the new Graphic Novels and Manga Comics catalog
But the big-name authors—including Sir Salman Rushie, on hand to see 175 galleys of his Luka and the Fire of Life find eager readers—weren't the only ones getting buzz. Random cookbook author Joan Nathan pulled in more than 125 attendees at the Cooking Pavilion.
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TALENT EVERYWHERE At the “Authors come in All Colors” panel, R. Dwayne Betts (1.) and (2. left to right) Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Kimberla Lawson Roby, Artist Arthur, and Randa Jarrar field questions from LJ’s Barbara Hoffert (3.). Madeline Hunter (4.) and Kristan Higgins (5.) talked Romance. LJ’s Heather McCormack (6.), with ABC-CLIO’s James Lingle, received the RUSA Award for Excellence in Reviewing. (7.) Author/illustrator Jackie Urbanovic signed on the exhibit floor, as did (8.) Brian Selznick. (9.) HarperCollins author Holly Cupala on the exhibit floor with her editor Tara Weikum, a current Pratt SILS student (10.) The Night of the Living Librarians from the University of Pittsburgh School of Library and Information Sciences won the 2010 Book Cart Drill Team World Championship. (11.) Junot Díaz nonchalantly signed books, and crowds enjoyed the many other authors signing, such as (14.) This Book Is Overdue!’s Marilyn Johnson. Page 30: photos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 & 12 by Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images; photo 6 by Bette-Lee Fox; photos 7 & 8 by Kevin Henegan; photo 11 by Wilda Williams; photo 9 by Rebecca Miller |
Washington Post writer David Finkel was one of 21 authors appearing at four stand-at-the-door, sit-on-the floor programs sponsored by the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations (ALTAFF). ALTAFF's ever-popular Gala Author Tea featured five authors, including a generous and thoughtful Laura Lippman, and its humor program, The Laugh's on Us!, headlined by Paula Poundstone, sold out its 300 tickets.
Equally exciting, in imitation of BookExpo America's longstanding Book Buzz panel, the Trade Libraries Committee of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) offered its inaugural (and, yes, packed) Fall Books Preview, with Nancy Pearl as moderator.
"We elected to experiment with it this particular year in light of the Washington, DC, location, a quickly accessible transport from New York for editors," said AAP VP Tina Jordan, who predicted more to come.
At the author stage, one of the most entertaining was Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Junot Díaz (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao), who recalled how his local librarians allowed him to photocopy pages from Books in Print so he could check off the books he read. "Once a month, I still dream about that photocopied page," declared Díaz.
"I'm a writer because of libraries," asserted best-selling author Dennis Lehane. "Libraries say to working-class and poor kids that they matter, that they can read the same books as the children of the hedge fund managers."
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CAN-DO SPIRITTo celebrate the Library of the Year award at the Historical Society, some 40 Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) staffers (1.), endured a bus run from Ohio. Inside, celebrants included (2.) Mediasource Inc. head Randy Asmo and LJ’s Francine Fialkoff, with OCLC’s Jay Jordan; (3.) Fellow Ohio LOY’s Meribah Mansfield, center, with Worthington’s Christiana Congelio and Jennifer Bravard; (4.) CML marketing gurus Alison Circle (also LJ’s Bubble Room blogger) and Kerry Bierman; (5.) Brooklyn PLers (l.-r.) Lana Adlawan, Lisa Goldstein, and Molly Phelan; (7.) LJ’s 2003 Librarian of the Year, Raymond Santiago (l.) and MaryEllin Santiago, with CML Executive Director Patrick Losinski and DCPL Director Ginnie Cooper. Before hoisting the check from Gale Cengage (7.), Losinski recalled that, ten days earlier, a local CEO told him, “You and your team have turned that library from a noun into a verb.” Photos 1, 2, 3, 6, & 7 by Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images; photos 4 & 5 by Rebecca Miller |
Technology, traffic, communication
Library conferences have spawned more than a few new modes of communication. Those checking the #ala10 hashtag on Twitter could track librarians' snarkism, enthusiasm, and observations on the conference.
And those attending the Battledecks competition, aka "PowerPoint Karaoke," saw Jason Griffey of the University of Tennessee—Chattanooga (a 2009 LJ Mover & Shaker) display his comedic timing. "We are trying to actively decrease our patrons' happiness," he quipped, when faced with a chart showing an inverse correlation between intelligence and happiness.
Less entertaining (mostly) but more fundamental, the show floor traffic was steady. There were no real blockbuster announcements—OCLC's web-scale ILS got a show-and-tell (see InfoTech)—but there was considerable interest in vendor offerings.
Technology trends
At the popular Top Technology Trends panel, hosted by ALA's Library & Information Technology Association (LITA), the topics included cloud computing, the impact of the iPad, and the ereader price war. If the latter leads to $50 ereaders by next year, as discussed, that could be disruptive to the book and library worlds.
John Blyberg, assistant director for innovation and user experience at the Darien Library, CT (and a 2006 LJ Mover & Shaker), cited convergence, noting that people are exploiting their devices, and tools such as Twitter, for professional as well as social or artistic activities.
Lorcan Dempsey, VP of OCLC Research and chief strategist at OCLC, mentioned QR codes as a way that mobile devices can help users connect the physical and digital worlds and suggested that they could be used more in libraries.
As for a near-term trend, Dempsey suggested that as search platforms like Cambridge, MA–based Pubget's search engine for life-science PDFs make an increasing amount of a library's collection instantly available electronically, they will come to be seen as the primary way to access a library's materials. That could, in turn, spur patron-driven collection purchases.
Griffey brought up the prototype technology of University of Tokyo professor Masatoshi Ishikawa, which could, in just a few years, allow a handheld device, such as a phone, to scan an entire 200-page book in one minute or less.
Sacramento, CA–based information technology consultant Joan Frye Williams said libraries should work toward being the place that content creation happens, to "stop being the grocery store, and start being the kitchen," she said.
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ON THE MOVE Some 100 people, including LJ Movers & Shakers from previous years, gathered at the National Press Club to honor the 2010 Movers and hear journalist Gayle Tzemach Lemmon (in photo 5 with Mover Virginia Sanchez), author of the upcoming The Dressmaker of Khair Khana (HarperCollins). The event also marked the launch of losinglibraries.org, which maps library cuts nationwide. Other Movers include (1.) Jennifer Wann Walker and Ed Garcia; (2.) Annabelle Núñez (l.) with Siobhan Champ-Blackwell; (3. l.–r.) Valerie Bell, Jose Aponte, and Susan Paddock; (4.) Lisa Carlucci Thomas (l.) and Gretchen Caserotti; (6.) Brian Bannon with Chrystie Hill; (7.) Macmillan’s Talia Sherer; (8.) Marshall Shore (l.) with Mark Greek. Photos 1 & 8by Michael Rogers; photos 2, 4, & 5 by Kevin Henegan; photos 3, 6, & 7 by Rebecca Miller |
Measuring success
What happens to library statistics when DVDs phase out—an expected phenomenon, though the timetable's unclear.
"If you're a public library and you lose DVDs in 2015, and that's 30 percent of your circ, you're not going to be in good shape if you haven't replaced your statistics with new measurements," warned commentator (and Gale Cengage VP) Stephen Abram.
He suggested tracking such things as interlibrary loan, website hits, and database results, but the strongest measure might simply be customer satisfaction, because that is "more important for value-based funding" and "tugs at the heartstrings."
Making it work
There was no shortage of opportunities to learn from peers. At one session, on community programs, representatives of the Richland County Public Library (RCPL), Columbia, SC, the 2001 LJ Library of the Year, explained how the library supports a crafting group called Sew Delightful by providing space, crafting books, tea, and coffee.
The program is especially popular with retirees, who now teach crafting workshops to children and teens. The group donates many of its goods to charitable organizations.
Also, RCPL's Let's Speak English, an informal gathering in which participants can practice conversational English and find assistance with reading and writing, has expanded from one library to four additional sites.
San Francisco Public Library staffers, noticing major changes in store for the U.S. citizenship exam, assembled a team of librarians to revamp the library's web page, offering information in eight languages plus video content.
Many community organizations serving internationals have linked to the new page as a primary resource for exam information.
Ramona Harten, director, Cheshire Public Library, CT (a 2010 Mover & Shaker), and library board president Carol DiPietro offered some hard-won tips in the wake of the library's purchase of Brian McDonald's In The Middle of the Night, concerning the recent horrific murder of a local family, which drew considerable protest.
Harten stressed the importance of having a clear, publicly available selection policy that delineates a final arbiter so challenges cannot be rehashed indefinitely—a major time-suck for the library and board.
Candace Morgan, editor and contributing author for ALA's Intellectual Freedom Manual, recommended keeping information on how the library deals with complaints and how to file them on the library's website.
Speakers strongly suggested requiring reconsideration request forms be signed by individuals, to avoid illegitimate electronic submission blasts.
On the academic library front, Cornell University Library's John Saylor explained collection development during the downturn, a process that involves closing some libraries, changing work flows, exploring more partnerships, and working with faculty members to set priorities.
| PARALIBRARIAN (1.) LJ feted 2010 Paraprofessional of the Year Allison Sloan (in red) with award sponsors (l.–r.), DEMCO’s Mike Grasee, Janet Nelson, and John Ison. (2.) Also on hand were (l.-r.) Jennifer Kutzik, Valeria Fike, Dorothy Morgan, Kareen Turner, and Trish Palluck. Photos by Michael Rogers |
ALA business
It was tough, as usual, to get a quorum for the two Membership Meetings, but there was a lot of ALA business on which to catch up. Treasurer Rod Hersberger reported that ALA was trying hard to live within its means, with judicious budget cuts and a new and yet unrevealed effort to raise money to replace falloffs in publishing and conference revenue.
The ALA endowment has recovered significantly from the losses in 2008, though it isn't back yet. One way to increase revenue is through grants, and ALA (and its sibling ALA-APA), via the Institute of Museum and Library Services, has snagged two big ones, for support staff certification and to recruit librarians from underrepresented groups.
At the Council meetings, councilors approved a new five-year strategic plan, with the first goal appropriately regarding advocacy, funding, and public policy. Two objectives: increase research and evaluation documenting the value and impact of all libraries and increase collaboration and alliances with organizations at all levels to advance legislation and public policy issues affecting libraries, librarians, and information services.
Council also passed a "Resolution Reaffirming Equal Employment Opportunity for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Librarians and Library Workers" and a related "Resolution on Non-Discrimination in Conference Contracts"—the latter related to past ill treatment at a conference.
Francine Fialkoff is Editor-in-Chief, Barbara Hoffert is Editor, Prepub Alert, Anna Katterjohn is Managing Editor, Book Review, Rebecca Miller is Executive Editor, Features, Norman Oder is Executive Editor, News, David Rapp is Associate Editor, Technology, and Wilda Williams is Fiction Editor, Book Review, LJ. Carrie Netzer Wajda contributed reporting
