Call for 2016 MW Institute, AC Program & Preconference Proposals

The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) is now accepting institute, preconference and program proposals for the 2016 Midwinter Meeting in Boston and the 2016 ALA Annual Conference in Orlando.

Proposals will be accepted online through 11:59 p.m. Central on May 11, 2015. Faxed, e-mailed or mailed proposals will not be accepted.

Proposals must be submitted to the appropriate section for approval before being entered in the proposal system online (see instructions below for entering approved section proposals). For more information about how to submit a proposal to a RUSA section, please contact the section chair. Section chair contact information can be found in the Section Executive Committee rosters here.

Session topics should showcase emerging trends and examples of driving change in the areas of reference services including but not limited to: marketing library services, advocacy, special populations, collection development, evaluation, readers’ advisory, instruction, business reference, emerging technologies, interlibrary loan and resource sharing, genealogy and historical research and more!

The RUSA Conference Program Coordinating Committee will review, organize and recommend for final approval to the RUSA Board all submitted section-approved proposals and select sessions based on their relevance to the profession and general interest to conference attendees who work in reference services at the 2015 annual conference.

Instructions for approved section proposal submission: Once your proposal is approved by the section, it should be entered here. Once you’ve logged in, click on “Click here to begin a new Proposal.”  Note that there is an option to propose a tour; all tours must be proposed in this system.

Since this is our first year using it, we’d appreciate any constructive feedback from users about the new program proposal system set up by ALA.

For more information, contact the RUSA office at rusa@ala.org or (800) 545-2433, ext. 4395.

Year’s best in books and media for adults unveiled at Midwinter

All ALA Midwinter Meeting attendees are invited to celebrate the announcements of adult literature’s next classics at the Reference and User Services Association’s (RUSA) upcoming Book and Media Awards Ceremony and Reception in Chicago.

This year the event will host special guest Margaret Hawkins, author of “Lydia’s Party” (Viking, 2013). The Chicago-based author has written two previous novels, “A Year of Cats and Dogs” and “How to Survive a Natural Disaster” and a memoir about her sister, “After Schizophrenia: The Story of My Sister’s Reawakening.” Hawkins wrote about art for many years for the Chicago Sun-Times and is currently a senior lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Following the ceremony Hawkins will be there to sign books. You can find more information about the author at www.margarethawkins.com.

Tradition continues with the announcements of the Listen List: Outstanding Audiobook Narration, Reading List and Notable Books List—lists that are selected and used by readers’ advisory librarians nationwide—as well as the winners of the Dartmouth Medal for a significant reference source, Sophie Brody Medal for excellence in Jewish literature, Outstanding Reference Sources and many more. Avid readers and book lovers alike are sure to expand their own To-Be-Read lists.

The reception will be held from 5 – 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 1 in the Williford Room of the Hilton in Chicago and will offer food and a cash bar. For those who cannot attend, information about the winners will be posted on the ALA homepage, RUSA blog and tweeted via @ala_rusa and #literarytastes. This event is made possible by our sponsor, NoveList, a division of EBSCO.

The winners announced at this event will shape the author lineup for the Literary Tastes event at ALA’s 2015 Annual Conference in San Francisco. Attendees at this free event will enjoy a light breakfast while listening to authors speak about the art and craft of writing. Immediately following the event, authors will be available for book signings. This event is free to all Annual Conference attendees; registration opens Jan. 12, 2015 at www.ala.org/annual.

 

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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