All Sessions

Join ALTAFF’s popular Nuts & Bolts program featuring Dr. Ron Heezen, director of the Shreveport Memorial Library, who will talk about embracing change as an organization to achieve goals. Round table discussions on topics of interest to Trustees, Friends, and Foundations will be facilitated by ALTAFF board members. Coffee will be served at 8:30 a.m. A box lunched is included. Save $25 off the combined registration cost of Nuts & Bolts and the Advocacy Institute.

Learn how to engage and mobilize friends and trustees groups, opinion-makers and civic organizations to support your public, school and academic libraries.

Presenters include: Dr. Jennifer Martin, Ph.D., senior associate provost and dean of the Graduate School, Texas Woman's University; Ed Palmer, chairman, Municipal Library Board, Dallas, and Rocco Staino, retired director of the Mary I. Keefe Library, North Salem Central Schools, NY & contributing editor, School Library Journal.

Register for Nuts & Bolts for Trustees, Friends and Foundations (Event code: ALT1) from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday morning and receive a discount on combined registration.

Mobilizing Community Support for Your Library: An Advocacy Institute Workshop is sponsored by the Texas Library Association. It is presented in partnership with the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), ALTAFF, and organized by the Advocacy Training Subcommittee of the ALA Committee on Library Advocacy, in conjunction with the ALA Office for Library Advocacy.

Learn first-hand from the librarians on the front lines of Occupy Wall Street. Betsy Fagin, Mandy Henk, Zachary Loeb, Daniel Norton, and Jaime Taylor share their experiences participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement and building the People's Library.

Betsy Fagin was an ALA Spectrum Scholar in 2004 at the University of Maryland where she received her MLS degree. She has also received degrees in Creative Writing and Literature from CUNY - Brooklyn College and Vassar College.

Mandy Henk has been a librarian since 2003. She has experience working reference and doing instruction, but her main focus has been Access Services. Mandy's research interests include sustainable librarianship and the political economy of academic publications.

Zachary Loeb earned an MSIS from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2011. His areas of interest include archives, library technology, young adult services and the democratization of the public record.

Daniel Norton: Student, advocate and pre-professional librarian, Daniel serves as a liaison for educational outreach with the People's Library of Occupy Wall St. As an activist employed in NYC, he engages with the practice of librarianship through a fresh lens and a desire to impact the profession with forward-thinking ideas.

Jaime Taylor earned her BA from Smith College in 2006 and her MLS from Simmons College in 2009. She is the art librarian and archivist at Poster Auctions International in New York City, and one of the People's Librarians at Occupy Wall Street.

Listen to the Advocacy Guru Stephanie Vance share valuable tips on how to influence policymakers during tough economic times. Also, hear success stories from library advocates around the country and what they have done to influence policymakers in their community. Attendees will walk away with 10 principles for grassroots success.

Dallas Public Library is rethinking everything as it transitions out of the Great Recession of 2008. Mobile technology allows staff to deliver service at point of contact; an innovation incubator provides opportunities for assistance to those wanting to start a micro-business; and a renewed commitment to library services in a digital age has staff focused on the customer’s experience.

Empowering Voices, Transforming Communities: join these conversations and leave Midwinter with new tools to become a better advocate. Libraries rely on partners within the community to advocate on their behalf more than ever before. But how can libraries stay relevant to these stakeholders in an environment of ever-changing priorities? Join visionary professor David Lankes, author of “Atlas of New Librarianship” ( (http://www.newlibrarianship.org), in two afternoons of innovative and interactive conversations about harnessing the evolving role of libraries, and strengthening the librarian’s voice to help shape community perception.

Facilitators from the graphic recording company, Sunni Brown (http://sunnibrown.com/), will help create visual images of the plenary conversations that conclude each afternoon. The Saturday, January 21, 2012, session focuses on “Understanding Your Communities.” The Sunday, January 22, 2012, session focuses on “Transforming Librarianship.” Both run from 1:00-3:00 p.m.

Sessions are open to all Midwinter Meeting attendees; please add them to your Scheduler to indicate that you plan to attend. Attendees will also receive a coupon for 5% off the price of David Lankes’ galvanizing “Atlas of New Librarianship” (ACRL/MIT Press, 2011) at the ALA Conference Store.

The conversation continues on Sunday afternoon (http://alamw12.scheduler.ala.org/node/1073).

The mission of the CRC is to develop and recognize Chapters as integral components of ALA; to encourage discussion, activities and programs that support the mutual interests of ALA and the Chapters; to provide a forum wherein Chapters can share ideas and concerns of common interest and identify common needs and goals; to communicate these Chapter needs and goals to ALA and ALA goals, programs and priorities to the Chapters; to encourage and maintain a cooperative and supportive relationship among ALA, its units, and the Chapters; to serve as an advisory committee to the Chapter Relations Office.

ALA’s Committee on Literacy and ALA’s Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS)announces the release of an essential resource for public libraries interested in reaching adult learners. This new toolkit, Adult Literacy @ your library, provides tips, tools, and resources for adding, expanding, and advocating for adult literacy services @ your library. This open forum is an opportunity for librarians to join a panel of literacy experts and advocates for a discussion of current and emerging issues, promising practices, and next steps.

International Council of Library Association Executives (ICLAE) is comprised of ALA Chapter Executive Directors and other Chapter Leaders.

Meeting of the PARS Promoting Preservation Interest Group for program and discussion

World Book Night is a one million free book giveaway to underserved readers across America on April 23, 2012. Librarians, as well as booksellers, will be asked to be volunteer book givers, AND libraries and bookstores will be the drop points for the books. Come hear how you can be a part of this important campaign. Read more now at http://www.worldbooknight.com .

Empowering Voices, Transforming Communities: join these conversations and leave Midwinter with new tools to become a better advocate. Libraries rely on partners within the community to advocate on their behalf more than ever before. But how can libraries stay relevant to these stakeholders in an environment of ever-changing priorities? Join visionary professor David Lankes, author of “Atlas of New Librarianship” ( (http://www.newlibrarianship.org), in two afternoons of innovative and interactive conversations about harnessing the evolving role of libraries, and strengthening the librarian’s voice to help shape community perception.

Facilitators from the graphic recording company, Sunni Brown (http://sunnibrown.com/), will help create visual images of the plenary conversations that conclude each afternoon. The Saturday, January 21, 2012, session focuses on “Understanding Your Communities.” The Sunday, January 22, 2012, session focuses on “Transforming Librarianship.” Both run from 1:00-3:00 p.m.

Sessions are open to all Midwinter Meeting attendees; please add them to your Scheduler to indicate that you plan to attend. Attendees will also receive a coupon for 5% off the price of David Lankes’ galvanizing “Atlas of New Librarianship” (ACRL/MIT Press, 2011) at the ALA Conference Store.

The conversation begins on Saturday afternoon (http://alamw12.scheduler.ala.org/node/1072).

Join us for a small but powerful forum to discuss rural library advocacy. This session will introduce the newly revised “Small But Powerful Guide to Winning Big Support for Your Rural Library,” a toolkit from the ALA Committee on Rural, Native, and Tribal Libraries of All Kinds, the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, and the Association for Rural and Small Libraries. Panelists will discuss some of the current issues facing small and rural libraries and successful strategies for rural library advocacy. An open forum for librarians to share best practices, questions, and concerns will conclude the session.

Discussions focus on management issues pertaining to library systems and consortia. Previous topics included advocacy, funding, member services, and innovative projects.

The mission of the CRC is to develop and recognize Chapters as integral components of ALA; to encourage discussion, activities and programs that support the mutual interests of ALA and the Chapters; to provide a forum wherein Chapters can share ideas and concerns of common interest and identify common needs and goals; to communicate these Chapter needs and goals to ALA and ALA goals, programs and priorities to the Chapters; to encourage and maintain a cooperative and supportive relationship among ALA, its units, and the Chapters; to serve as an advisory committee to the Chapter Relations Office.

This forum is conducted by the Chapter Councilors prior to the Council Forum on Monday, 8:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m.