Besides the School Library Media Program of the Year (SLMPY), American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has other awards to honor library media professionals and programs. From the Frances Henne Award for new library media specialists to the Collaborative School Library Media Award for collaborative projects, the awards recognize programs…

The American Association for School Librarians (AASL) convened a task force to study the need for standards and developed guidelines for the 21st century called "Learning for Life" (L4L). These guidelines were ardently discussed, and experts were called in to address concerns about how the standards would cover all areas critical for 21st-century…

This article presents an interview with Dan Clancy, engineering director for Google Book Search. In this interview, Clancy talks about the pending Google Book Search settlement, involving millions of volumes digitized from libraries, which drew a lawsuit from the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild. He also discusses pricing,…

On January 19, 2009, the day before his historic inauguration, President Obama and his wife, Michelle, commemorated Martin Luther King Day by volunteering for various community service projects around the Washington, DC, area. A record number of Americans also participated in the King Day of Service, joining in over 13,000 projects, more than…

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2009 annual lists of Fabulous Films for Young Adults and Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults ages 12 to 18. This article presents the titles that were released in January 2009 during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver,…

The term "librarianship" is a generic one, suggesting one overarching discipline despite the numerous specializations and areas of research within the profession. While many disciplines use bibliometric analysis of their literature to define subfields of study within, such methods are not appropriate to librarianship due to the nature of…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") is a bimonthly report from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). This special issue includes the following articles: (1) Themes within the ARL Strategic Plan 2010-2012 (Charles B. Lowry); (2) ARL…

Many professional library associations and affiliates "strongly encourage" the marketing of libraries and their wares. These organizations present awards, certificates, and monetary enticements to honor outstanding marketing programs. For most individuals or teams who are already working on and implementing marketing programs, the added effort of…

Duane Webster's leadership in the area of copyright policy demonstrates three characteristics: perseverance, pragmatism, and partnership. These characteristics are visible in the foundation and operation of the Library Copyright Alliance (LCA). LCA's successful campaign to defeat a legislative initiative in the 110th Congress to increase copyright…

Association management in today's "association 3.0" environment presents some new challenges and new perspectives on old ones. This paper summarizes 10 such challenges including collaboration, diversity, innovation, transparency, financial stability, member benefits, knowledge-based decision-making, a demand-driven association model, pro-activity…

The publishers' hall at the recent Association of College and Research Libraries conference, held in Seattle in mid-March, was a study in give-and-take: how much publishers such as Elsevier and Oxford University Press will give in this lousy economy, and how much budget-strapped librarians can take. Libraries are some of the biggest customers for…

In this article, the author offers tips for attending a conference by using logical planning and proactive professionalism. Librarians should know why they must attend the conference and be prepared to communicate this to their staff and ask for their support. They must also examine the conference preliminary program to highlight the most…

In 2001, the Libraries Serving Disadvantaged Persons (LSDP) Section of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), published the "International Resource Book for Libraries Serving Disadvantaged Persons." This publication is a seventy year retrospective which chronicles the history of the Section from 1931 to 2001.…

Librarians promote student learning through technology, literacy, and collaboration with teachers. Each element provides ample opportunities to offer leadership and to learn as a member of the learning community. The librarian demonstrates leadership within the professional learning community (PLC) by providing professional development for…

Even as libraries face the economic downturn, a record-setting number of people attended the American Library Association (ALA) annual conference in Chicago, July 9-15. The tough economy, however, was felt in the number of exhibitors, which declined from the previous record set in 2007 in Washington, DC, and in anecdotal evidence that suggested…