Call for volunteers: ALA & RUSA committee service

A message from RUSA’s President Elect, Joe Thompson:

Hello RUSA members!

I’d like to encourage you to volunteer for ALA Committees before the volunteer form closes for these on November 1, 2013.  Committee appointments will be finalized at the 2014 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, and notifications will be sent out in the spring.  Terms begin July 1, 2014.  Visit the ALA and Council Committees webpage for committee descriptions: http://www.ala.org/groups/committees/ala.  For technical assistance or for more information on the ALA-level committee appointments process, you may contact Kerri Price at kprice@ala.org.

To volunteer, go to: http://www.ala.org/CFApps/Committee/volunteerform/volunteerform.cfm

Of course I’d also like to see you volunteer for RUSA!  You do have a bit more time to get your name submitted for these however.  March 1, 2014 is the planned closing date to volunteer for our RUSA, BRASS, CODES, History, MARS, RSS, and STARS committees.  There’s no reason to put it off though, so volunteer today!  Keep in mind that attendance at ALA Midwinter may not be required for some committees and sections.  Feel free to contact the committee chair, section chair, or me if you have any questions about attendance.  Links to RUSA division-level and section committees can be found at http://www.ala.org/rusa/contact/rosters.  Access the volunteer form using the same URL provided above.  The menu to select section-level committees is located at the bottom of RUSA Committee Volunteer Form.

RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more about the association at www.ala.org/rusa.

Thanks for supporting your associations!

-Joe

Join ALA’s virtual town hall on ebook lending

Calling all RUSA members who offer ebooks:

If you work with Ebooks, you may be interested in the American Library Association’s Virtual Town Hall on Ebooks, an interactive online session that will take place from 11 a.m.- noon Central time, Wednesday, October 23, 2013.

ALA leaders will discuss the present state of ebooks and libraries and directions for the future. Click here to register.

For more information on e-books and Libraries, an FAQ is available from ALA’s Transforming Libraries website:
http://www.ala.org/transforminglibraries/frequently-asked-questions-e-books-us-libraries

Alesia McManus
RUSA Representative to the ALA Legislative Assembly

Zora Neale Hurston Award: RUSA seeks librarians demonstrating leadership in promoting African American literature

Do you know someone(s) who should be recognized for their work in promoting African American literature? Could it be you? We encourage you to submit a nomination for the 2013 Zora Neale Hurston Award. The deadline for all nominations is Dec. 15, 2012.

The Zora Neale Hurston Award recognizes any ALA member who has demonstrated leadership in promoting African American literature. The winner receives funds to attend the ALA Annual Conference, tickets to the FOLUSA Author tea, and a set of the Zora Neale Hurston books published by Harper Perennial at the time the award is made.

Recent past winners include:
2012  Vanessa Irvin Morris, Assistant Teaching Professor, Drexel University

2011  Theresa Venable, Librarian for Children’s Defense Fund Haley Farm’s Langston Hughes Library
Venable was chosen for her work in library programming designed to promote African American authors and African American illustrators of children’s picture books.  Examples of Venable’s programming include directing the 2009 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture sponsored by the Association of Library Service to Children and coordinating the 2010 Big Read Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts.

2010  Anthony Loum, Coordinator of Adult Library Services, Brooklyn Public Library
For his work planning and ensuring the quality of programs delivered by the Brooklyn Public Library in the 2009 Big Read for which Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” was the chosen book.

2009  Miriam Rodriguez, Assistant Director, Public Services, Community Integration of the Dallas Public Library

Don’t delay! You can download the nomination form (PDF) here.

Questions? Contact Jannie R. Cobb, Zora Neale Hurston Award Committee Chair at jcobb@nlc.edu.