Category Archives: Events

American Library Association Conference: Focus on Literacy and Reading

This year, the American Library Association (ALA) held their annual conference virtually. While it limited networking, it also enabled more people to attend (because of cost, travel expenses, time). Furthermore, several sessions were available online on demand, so one could potentially attend more sessions than if attending physically. I was excited to take advantage of these elements.

In terms of literacy, collaborative and community-based partnerships were foremost and central. I spoke about the role of school libraries as literacy partners: as resource providers, as reading promoters, as information and digital literacy teachers, and as collaborators who bridge the school community and the community at large.

Another fascinating session featured Reading Nation Waterfall, which targets literacy for elementary children in six Native tribes. This federal grant-based project is using Little Free Libraries as the core element, complemented with community-based literacy practices. I serve as a consultant for that project.

Another major focus at the conference was equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). There were sessions on EDI in publishing: both in terms of soliciting more diverse authors as well as providing culturally responsive content. Collection development also needs to use a critical EDI lens to provide mirrors and windows to a variegated world. Particularly with the advent of the pandemic, librarians have pivoted to more online reading, and they need to pay attention to issues of digital access; for instance, librarians need to provide e-reader devices, and locate local free wifi hotspots for readers. Librarians also emphasized the need for welcoming environments that embrace all users. Other sessions also provided – and recommended – professional development on EDI and its application in library practice.

The closing keynote featured former President Barak Obama, who validated the importance of libraries for providing a world of information and ideas that can unite us.

Submitted by Dr. Lesley Farmer

Center for Children’s Books Webinars

A crossroads for critical inquiry, professional training, and educational outreach, the Center for Children’s Books (CCB) at the iSchool at Illinois is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. In its dual role as research collection and educational community, the Center has a national impact on the future of reading and readers.

The CCB supports its mission by providing space, staff, and other support to affiliates; housing collections and other research tools; and sponsoring outreach, scholarly conferences, and instructional activities. Affiliates include School and University faculty and academic staff, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, and the iSchool’s School Librarian Licensure Program.

To commemorate its diamond anniversary, the CCB is holding a virtual lecture series featuring iSchool youth services faculty and alumni speaking about the Center’s history and activities, with an emphasis on children’s literature, storytelling, diversity, and literacy as a public health issue. The lectures, which are open to all, will be held at 12:00 p.m. CT. Speakers and presentations will include:

  • February 25: “CENTERED: The Life and Times of a Book Review Journal,” presented by Professor Emerita Betsy Hearne.
  • March 3: “Storytelling: From Story Times to Epistemological Information Divides,” presented by Associate Professor Kate McDowell (MS ’99, PhD ’07).
  • March 23: “Advocacy and Infographics: Doing the Work for Diversity in Youth Literature and Librarianship,” presented by Sarah Park Dahlen (MS ’09, PhD ’09), associate professor of library and information science at St. Catherine University.
  • April 6, “Books Build Better Brains: Sharing Books as a Public Health Intervention,” presented by Dipesh Navsaria (MS ’04), pediatrician and medical director of Reach Out and Read Wisconsin.

“Given the focus on the Center’s history, it is especially appropriate that three of the speakers were students of the fourth, longtime CCB director and Bulletin editor Professor Emerita Betsy Hearne,” said Professor and CCB Director Sara L. Schwebel. “The Center for Children’s Books has been led by a series of remarkable women who enjoyed long associations with the Center and its Bulletin, including Zena Sutherland, Betsy Hearne, and Deborah Stevenson—all of whom commanded tremendous industry-wide respect in the world of children’s books. During the most recent decade, the iSchool has welcomed four new youth services faculty members with diverse research interests and disciplinary backgrounds. As we celebrate the many successes of the CCB over the past 75 years, we are also engaged in strategic planning with an eye to the future.”

More information about the anniversary celebration is available on the CCB website.

National Literacy Week and Month

In the United States, September is National Literacy Week and Month.

Here are a few organizations’ activities:

https://national-coalition-literacy.org/adult-education-and-family-literacy-week/#:~:text=For%202020%2C%20National%20Adult%20Education,their%20families%2C%20and%20their%20communities.

https://www.partnersforpubliced.org/PartnersForPE.aspx?id=148704

September is National Literacy Month