November / December 2012

Features

Live at Your Library!
By Matthew Moyer and Andrew Coulon
Toughing It Out in a Tight Job Market
By Janice Arenofsky
You’re all alone—with thousands of other information professionals—pursuing a library job in a down...
Writing for Civilians
By Laurie L. Putnam
Terror Has Not Withdrawn: Daily Life for Librarians in Iraq
By Leonard Kniffel
“We forgot a long time ago what situation constitutes normal and what situation does not,” said Saad...
New Americans and the Digital Literacy Gap

While major urban centers like New York, Miami, and Los Angeles have always drawn new immigrants, there are many...
Library 2.012 Conference Explores the Future of Libraries
By Laurie D. Borman
Marketing Your Library
By Ned Potter
Terry Kendrick is the guru of strategic marketing in libraries. His book Developing Strategic Marketing Plans That...
Personal Branding for Librarians
By Karen G. Schneider
The trend of establishing and maintaining a personal brand has been a hot topic for some time with the public at large...
Barbecue? Flamenco Dancing? Learning Gets Interactive in Louisville
By Judy Rosenfield
On a sunny spring Saturday at the Louisville (Ky.) Free Public Library (LFPL), hundreds of people with schedules in...

Departments

Another Story: The Wheel Turns Again
By Joseph Janes
And here we are, at my 100th column. Readers with long memories (or nothing better to do) may recall that for my 50th...
Dispatches from the Field: Social Media?
By David Lee King
Are efforts to use social media worth it? Indeed, they are. I see many reasons for libraries—or practically any...
On My Mind: Creating a New Tradition
By Daria D’Arienzo
Half a dozen tweens are crowded around several large tables stacked with odds and ends in the windows of the Meekins...
Youth Matters: Connect Guys with Authors
By Abby Johnson
It was a sunny June afternoon, perfect for playing baseball, taking a dip in the local pool—or having a virtual...
Outside/In: Unforgettable Passwords
By David Lee King and Michael Porter
Librarian's Library: Making Sure Libraries “Measure Up”
By Karen Muller
Times are tough for libraries, and when times get tough, managers—whether college administrators, a principal, a...
Editor's Letter: Gauging Your Interest
By Laurie D. Borman
A few weeks ago, ­American Libraries sent you a survey. And despite all the other surveys and polls and requests...
Will's World: Trust in Your Trustees
By Will Manley
It frustrates me profoundly to have someone in the library profession approach me at a conference to challenge my...
Rousing Reads: The Wild and Poetic Life of Westerns
By Bill Ott
I’m hooked on Westerns. Not the genre-blends that are popular today—the cowboy romances and the zombie...
President's Message: We Are ALA
By Maureen Sullivan
I recently learned that another national library association has adopted the slogan “I am (my national library...
In Practice: The DIY Patron
By Meredith Farkas
Like many librarians, I was a frequent user of libraries as a child. Yet I have always avoided asking for help. I...
Background on Our Budget
By James Neal
The past year has been challenging for ALA, reflecting both the difficult economic conditions affecting libraries...
Newsmaker: An Interview with John Chrastka

John Chrastka, ALA’s director of membership development from 2003 to 2011, didn’t leave library advocacy...

News Stories

How Libraries Count in the 2012 Election

As icons of civic engagement in America, libraries are perfectly positioned to host voter registration drives and, as...
The Campaign Is On to Form the Nation’s First Library PAC

The tweet announcing the formation of the EveryLibrary.org campaign came a day earlier than its founder and executive...

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