http://www.al.ala.org/insidescoop The blog for American Libraries, the magazine of the American Library Association Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:13:43 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en American Libraries is now accepting submissions for our annual Library Design Showcase, to be published in the April 2010 issue. This is a showcase of new and newly renovated or expanded libraries of all types. Roughly 30 of the best construction projects of the year will be highlighed in this major ... http://www.al.ala.org/insidescoop/2009/11/19/2010-library-design-showcase-call-for-submissions/ Children, teens, and adults showed up in droves to play board games and video games at the biggest National Gaming Day yet November 14, with 1,365 registered libraries participating, easily doubling the number of participants from last year, NGD mastermind Jenny Levine told American Libraries. Libraries who participated in the massive, ... http://www.al.ala.org/insidescoop/2009/11/18/gamerstakeover/ The state of Maharashtra in western India is the nation’s wealthiest and home to Mumbai, the country’s financial center. In the rural areas of the state, however, many children have no access to books until they begin their schooling. And with no preparation for school, many children drop out early ... http://www.al.ala.org/insidescoop/2009/11/13/library-of-hope/ ALA President Camila Alire posted information to the ALA Council electronic discussion list October 23, regarding  a boycott of the Hyatt in Boston, one of the ALA Midwinter Meeting hotels. Clearly President Alire's message did not reach the union organizers or it fell on deaf ears, since today we received ... http://www.al.ala.org/insidescoop/2009/11/10/the-boston-hyatt-boycott-heres-what-we-know/ Authors Charles R. Smith Jr. and Laurie Halse-Anderson generated laughs and cheers from the capacity crowd attending the Author Banquet November 6 during ALA's American Association of School Librarians national conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. Smith talked about his experiences in writing, photography, and sports in his work of creating children's books by mixing ... http://www.al.ala.org/insidescoop/2009/11/07/author-banquet-entertains-and-enlightens/ The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) released the Milestones for Improving Learning and Education (MILE) Guide, a hands-on tool designed to help districts and schools evaluate their integration of 21st century skills into current and future practice, November 6 during ALA's American Association of School LIbrarians (AASL) national conference in Charlotte. ... http://www.al.ala.org/insidescoop/2009/11/07/milestones-for-improving-learning-and-education-guide-released/ Best-selling author James Patterson addressed a special general session, "Turbocharge Your Day with James Patterson!-Read Kiddo Read! Parents and Librarians Band Together to Make Kids Lifelong Readers," November 6 during ALA's American Association of School Librarians national conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. "It's time for librarians to start making a lot ... http://www.al.ala.org/insidescoop/2009/11/06/patterson-librarians-need-to-make-more-noise/ dana boyd, called the "high priestess" of networked social media and an internationally recognized authority on online social networking sites, said school librarians can play a crucial role in "keeping the digital doors open to help young people think about learning beyond the classroom." She delivered the opening session keynote address November 5 during the 14th national conference ... http://www.al.ala.org/insidescoop/2009/11/05/charlotte-welcome-school-librarians/ ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels announced this morning at an all-staff meeting at ALA Headquarters in Chicago, that expense reductions during the last six months of FY2009 (which ended August 31) had exceeded target and resulted in a modest surplus that would be used to return about half of ... http://www.al.ala.org/insidescoop/2009/10/30/expense-cuts-allow-ala-to-partially-restore-staff-furlough-loss/ How do you maximize the value of membership in the American Library Association during tough financial times? I've had several discussions with ALA staff recently, prompted by communications I've received from non-members who are exasperated by the employment prospects in the field or frustrated about just exactly how they are supposed to pay ... http://www.al.ala.org/insidescoop/2009/10/29/unemployed-special-ala-membership-rates-do-exist/