News & Noteworthy

LITA Updates, March 2015

This is one of our periodic messages sent to all LITA members. This update provides

  • Election details
  • An urgent call to action from the Washington Office
  • Current Online Learning Opportunities

Election details

ALA Candidates who are LITA members include:

  • Presidential candidate:electionshighlight
    • Joseph Janes
  • Council candidates:
    • Brett Bonfield
    • Megan Drake
    • Henry Mensch
    • Colby Mariva Riggs
    • Jules Shore
    • Eric Suess
    • Joan Weeks

LITA Division Candidates include

  • President Candidates:
    • Aimee Fifarek
    • Nancy Colyar
  • Director-at-large candidates:
    • Ken Varnum
    • Susan Sharpless Smith
    • Martin Kalfatovic
    • Frank Cervone

“Voting will begin at 9 a.m. Central time on March 24. Between March 24 and March 26, ALA will notify voters by email, providing them with their unique passcodes and information about how to vote online. To ensure receipt of their ballot, members should watch for emails from ALA Election Coordinator, noreply@directvote.net. The subject line will be “ALA 2015 election login information below.” The polls will close on Friday, May 1, at 11:59 p.m. Central time.

For the seventh year in a row, ALA is holding its election exclusively online. To be eligible to vote, individuals must be members in good standing as of January 31, 2015. Although the election is being conducted online, there remains one exception: Members with disabilities and without internet access may obtain a paper ballot by contacting ALA customer service at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5. Those without internet access at home or work can easily access the election site by visiting their local public (or in many instances academic or school) library.

Voters will receive email reminders on April 7 and April 14. Voting may be completed in one sitting, or an individual may park their ballot and return at a later date; however, a ballot is not cast until the “submit” button is clicked. Anyone with a parked ballot will receive an email reminder to complete the voting process before May 1.”


Please take 60 seconds to help libraries by March 20, 2015
Emily Sheketoff, director, ALA Washington Office

“Millions in federal funding for libraries is currently hanging in the balance. In order to save library funding from the chopping block – particularly the Library Services Technology Act (LSTA) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) programs —library supporters need to contact offices of their Representative and Senator and ask them to show support for continued library funding by signing “Dear Appropriator” letters about LSTA & IAL that three Members of Congress who are huge library champions have drafted to the Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate. The more Members of Congress that we can get to sign these “Dear Appropriator” letters, the better the chance of preserving and securing real money for libraries so that libraries can continue to do all the great work they do in their communities. The only way we can achieve this is through grassroots efforts. Members of Congress need to hear from as many voters as we can rally to action.

Please email or phone your members of Congress and ask them to sign the Dear Appropriator letter supporting LSTA and IAL, then ask all other library supporters you know to do the same by no later than March 20th.

Contact info is here:

http://cqrcengage.com/ala/home (just put in your zip code in the box on the lower right side).

You are welcome to forward this email to local, state or regional library listservs.

To see whether your Members of Congress signed the letters last year, view the FY 2015 Funding Letter Signees document (pdf). If so, please be sure to thank and remind them of that when you email or call! More information can be found on District Dispatch and here’s some helpful background information:

BACKGROUND INFORMATION for “DEAR APPROPRIATOR” LETTERS

LSTA

LSTA is the only source of funding for libraries in the federal budget. The bulk of this funding is returned to states through a population-based grant program through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Libraries use LSTA funds to, among other things, build and maintain 21st century collections that facilitate employment and entrepreneurship, community engagement, and individual empowerment. For more information on LSTA, check out this document LSTA Background and Ask (pdf)

HOUSE STAFF/ CHAMPION Norma Salazar (Representative Raul Grijalva)

SENATE STAFF/ CHAMPION Elyse Wasch (Senator Jack Reed)

IAL

IAL is the only federal program supporting literacy for underserved school libraries and has become the primary source for federal funding for school library materials. Focusing on low income schools, these funds help many schools bring their school libraries up to standard. For more information on IAL, view School Libraries Brief (pdf).

HOUSE STAFF/ CHAMPION Don Andres (Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson)

SENATE STAFF/ CHAMPION James Rice (Senator Charles Grassle)


Current Online Learning Opportunities

Beyond Web Page Analytics: Using Google tools to assess user behavior across web properties
Presenters: Ed Sanchez, Rob Nunez and Keven Riggle
Offered: March 31, 2015
Currently sold out. To be placed on the wait list send an email to registration@ala.org

Taking the Struggle Out of Statistics web course
Presenter: Jackie Bronicki
Offered: April 6 – May 3, 2015
Currently sold out. To be placed on the wait list send an email to registration@ala.org

Yes, You Can Video: A how-to guide for creating high-impact instructional videos without tearing your hair out
Presenters: Anne Burke and Andreas Orphanides
Offered: May 12, 2015
Register Online page arranged by session date (login required)


I encourage you to connect with LITA by:

  1. Exploring our web site.
  2. Subscribing to LITA-L email discussion list.
  3. Visiting the LITA blog and LITA Division page on ALA Connect.
  4. Connecting with us on Facebook and Twitter.
  5. Reaching out to the LITA leadership at any time.

Please note: the Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL) journal is available to you and to the entire profession. ITAL features high-quality articles that undergo rigorous peer-review as well as case studies, commentary, and information about topics and trends of interest to the LITA community and beyond. Be sure to sign up for notifications when new issues are posted (March, June, September, and December).

If you have any questions or wish to discuss any of these items, please do let me know.

All the best,

Mary

Mary Taylor, Executive Director
Library and Information Technology Association (LITA)
50 E. Huron, Chicago, IL 60611
800-545-2433 x4267
312-280-4267 (direct line)
312-280-3257 (fax)
mtaylor (at) ala.org
www.lita.org

Join us in Minneapolis, November 12-15, 2015 for the LITA Forum.