President's Column | 2023 ALSC Election | Congratulations to Our Silver Anniversary Members | Thank You to Our Friends
Early Signs of Spring
While I know that February is still firmly in the winter season, I hope you’ll allow me to look ahead a bit toward what’s coming up–I’m noticing signs of spring, you see, and many exciting things that will start to bloom over the next few months!
Process Committee Volunteering. One of the most-asked questions of ALSC leaders is: “If I want to be on a committee, when should I submit my volunteer form?” And while there’s never a bad time to submit your updated volunteer application, spring is the season in which the ALSC appointing officer begins to make process committee appointments. This year, our appointing officer is Vice President/President-Elect Jonda McNair, who will be continuing the recently-codified practice of working with an appointments advisory team to make committee appointments. She’s starting her work on process committee appointments now, which means February and March are ideal months to submit your volunteer form if you’re interested in serving on a process committee (terms begin July 1).
Talk Strategic Planning at the March ALSC Community Forum. It’s tradition to hold a Community Forum for ALSC members each spring. This spring's forum will be held on March 15 at 2 p.m. (CT). For Zoom registration information, visit this page. The Community Forum topic will be the ALSC strategic plan–specifically, the forum will be an opportunity to update ALSC members on the planning process and progress thus far, and to get member feedback on the direction we’re headed. This strategic planning process started back in the autumn with conversations with and input from members and other library workers serving youth; the ALSC Board used all of that community context to begin to explore possible priority areas for our next plan, and we need your feedback to ensure we’re headed where we need to go. I invite you all to join us for the forum, and then for the Membership Meeting at ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, where we’ll share a near-complete draft for final member input.
Speaking of ALA Annual Conference in Chicago…Make sure to keep the Monday afternoon President’s Program on your calendar! I’m a big believer in the potential of youth-serving library workers to act as leaders no matter their role, position, or tenure in the profession. That idea is at the heart of my Charlemae Hill Rollins President’s Program, which will take place on the afternoon of Monday, June 26, 2023, at the ALA Annual Conference. The program is titled “Leading with Your Hands and Your Heart: A Conversation about Leading from Wherever You Are,” and will feature an excellent panel of presenters who have leadership chops aplenty. I’m so excited to be able to learn from a conversation among Linda Sue Park, a Newbery Award-winning author; Ellen Oh, an author as well as co-founder and CEO of We Need Diverse Books; and Dr. Ling Hwey Jeng, professor and director of the School of Library and Information Studies at Texas Woman's University.
This program won’t just be a panel conversation, however. In addition to hearing from this prestigious line-up of leaders in our field, the event will include opportunities for connection, networking, and reflection–all vital elements in our ongoing development as leaders. And there will be snacks, too–another thing that I think is often integral to all sorts of leadership!
I want to offer my deepest thanks to members Paula Holmes and Amy Seto Forrester who have been chairing my program, working hard at putting together an engaging learning opportunity that aims to appreciate and activate the leaders in all of us. I can’t wait to see you all at this program in Chicago–make sure you don’t book your flight to leave before this program has concluded!
The ALSC Charlemae Hill Rollins President’s Program is sponsored by the Charlemae Hill Rollins Endowment, which supports quality programming for ALSC’s annual President’s Program. This program takes place every year at ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition. You can see past Presidents’ Programs here.
Election Opens March 13
Voting is a vital benefit of ALSC membership. The 2023 election will determine five key leadership positions within ALSC: president, ALSC division councilor, and three board members. The full slate is available on the website. For more information on the election in general, please see the ALSC 2023 election page.
The ALSC ballot also will include proposed bylaws amendments for member consideration. For complete information regarding the proposed changes, please visit the ALSC elections webpage.
Honoring Our Silver Anniversary Members
Congratulations to the following individuals who have celebrated 25 years of ALSC membership this past year. We appreciate your commitment to the association and profession. Members with 25 years or more with ALSC are recognized in the ALSC Voices section of each issue of ALSC Matters.
Janice Del Negro
Joan P. Gagan
Dora T. Ho
Kay M. Taylor
Thank You to Our Friends!
Many thanks to the following generous contributors to Friends of ALSC. To learn how you can support ALSC, visit our website.
Gold Circle - $500 - $999
Christopher Biss-Brown
Ed Spicer
Silver Circle - $250 to $499
Eileen Makoff
Linda Perkins
Judy Zuckerman
Notables Circle - $100 to $249
Christine Caputo
Bruce Farrar
Robbin Friedman
Adrienne Gillespie
Mary Goldberg
Amy Koester
Nina Lindsay
Marge Loch-Wouters
Cecilia McGowan
Kathleen Odean
Tori Ann Ogawa
Friends Circle - up to $99
Marilyn Ackerman
Lisa Dennis
Arika Dickens
Mary Douglas
Jennifer Duffy
Linda Ernst
Carole Fiore
Melissa Freed
Elisa Gall
Sharon Haupt
Allison Knight
Karen MacPherson
Kathie Meizner
Linda Pavonetti
Carol Phillips
Linda Plevak
Lani Revell
April Roy
Michael Santangelo
Laura Schulte-Cooper
Charlotte Shapiro
Stan Steiner
Dorothy Stoltz
Beatriz Wallace
Deidre Winterhalter
Gretchen Wronka
Susan Zeigler