A delegation of 10 library leaders from China, including the directors of several provincial libraries, a library educator, and a university library director, traveled to the United States in the summer of 2011 to observe the operations of several library associations, including the American Library Association, the Urban Libraries Council, and the Chinese American Librarians Association.
On November 28, 85 members of the US National Commission for UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) met in Washington, D.C.
ALA President Molly Raphael, Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels, and ALA Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) Director Alan Inouye met September 15 with Tom Allen and Tina Jordan, president and vice president of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), at their New York office.
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom's Conference on Privacy and Youth, currently meeting March 24–25 in downtown Chicago, is bringing together some 50 librarians, privacy advocates, educators, authors, artists, and policy experts to discuss the work they are doing to engage and educate young people in privacy protection so that they can make informed choices about the information
ALA President Roberta Stevens and Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels sent a letter to the Japan Library Association offering ALA’s condolences and support in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Addressed to President Noboru Shiomi and Executive Director Kaname Matsuoka, the letter read:
The 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch, New Zealand, on February 22 (local time) has left the city’s libraries closed and in uncertain condition.
Heba Mohamed, libraries technical manager at the Integrated Care Society (ICS) in Cairo, Egypt, has informed American Libraries that two libraries suffered extensive damage during the street demonstrations in January.
Alexander Street Press held its 20th customer appreciation breakfast January 9 at the San Diego Convention Center during the 2011 ALA Midwinter Meeting. This year the featured speaker was the dynamic Renée Montagne, cohost of National Public Radio's Morning Edition since 2004.
Journalist and historian Richard Rhodes delivered the Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture January 8 at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb (1986), Rhodes chose to talk to the ALA audience about the introduction and slow acceptance of new technologies, going all the way back to ancient times.
