ALA News for May 1, 2018 NEWS FROM THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ALA President Jim Neal to hold ‘Fight for School Libraries’ summit May 23 Seeing the need for urgent action to combat cuts in school library funding, staffing and programming, American Library Association (ALA) President Jim Neal will host a summit in Chicago on May 23, at ALA Headquarters, 50 E. Huron, to work with our nation’s library leaders to craft a strategy to advocate for our nation’s school libraries. Neal is convening representatives from school, public and academic libraries. The meeting aims to create a strategy that demonstrates the value and impact of school libraries in their communities. “School libraries and librarians play a foundational role within our nation’s education ecosystem,” said Neal. “School libraries play an invaluable role in students’ academic performance as they progress from elementary school to high school and college. Libraries of all types must embrace advocacy for school libraries as foundational to the success of our collective work for students who want to thrive and compete in our global marketplace.” http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2018/05/ala-president-jim-neal-hold-f... Master storyteller Jonathan Eig to speak at 2018 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition in New Orleans Journalist and New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Eig will be an Auditorium Speaker at the ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition, held June 21-26 in New Orleans. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns calls Eig a "master storyteller." Eig has written five books: "Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig"; "Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season"; "Get Capone: The Secret Plot that Captured America's Most Wanted Gangster"; "The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution"; and "Ali: A Life." http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2018/04/jonathan-eig-auditorium-speaker-... Honorary member nominations open Nominations are being accepted for ALA honorary membership, the Association’s highest honor, which is bestowed on living citizens of any country whose contributions to librarianship or a closely related field are so outstanding that they are of significant and lasting importance to the whole field of library service. http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2018/05/honorary-member-nominations-open ALA seeks candidates for two endowment fund trustee openings Applications are now being accepted for two expiring terms on the ALA Endowment Trustees committee. The candidates will be selected by the ALA Executive Board at the 2018 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition, which will be held June 21 to 26 in New Orleans. Any newly selected Trustee will begin serving immediately upon notification of their selection. The three-year term will expire at the conclusion of the 2021 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. The deadline for receiving applications is June 1, 2018. http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2018/04/ala-seeks-candidates-two-endo... United for Libraries conducting survey on ‘Identifying Barriers to Library Board Service’ United for Libraries is working with the ALA Emerging Leaders program to identify possible barriers to service on library boards. Feedback from current and past library trustees, friends, foundation staff/board, and others will be extremely helpful in recognizing common issues that current and past board members encounter, and in the brainstorming on how to alleviate any issues. http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2018/05/united-libraries-conducting-s... United for Libraries to designate Lawrence Library a Literary Landmark in honor of Barbara Cooney United for Libraries, in partnership with the Lawrence Library Board of Trustees and the Friends of Lawrence Library, will designate the library a Literary Landmark in honor of Barbara Cooney on Saturday, May 5, at 2 p.m. The Lawrence Library is featured in the pages of Cooney’s picture book “Miss Rumphius,” which won the National Book Award in 1983. http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2018/04/united-libraries-designate-la... 2018 Coretta Scott King Book Donation Grants announced Art Aids Art and the eKhaya eKasi Art and Education Center in Khayelitsha, South Africa; the Athens Housing Authority, University of Georgia College of Education, and Parkview Community in Athens, Georgia; and the Uni Project in New York have been selected to receive books as part of the 2018 Coretta Scott King Book Donation Grant program. Awarded each spring by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee, the grant program donates books originally submitted for consideration for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards to organizations and schools in need. Three organizations are selected from a field of applicants that demonstrate need and potential benefit from receiving the collection. All winners will receive copies of titles submitted to the 2018 Coretta Scott King Book Awards, including a full set of the year’s winner and honor books. http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2018/04/2018-coretta-scott-king-book-... 2018 ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION Authors Anand Giridharadas and Priya Parker to speak at PLA Member Breakfast http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2018/04/authors-anand-giridharadas-and-p... AWARDS AND GRANTS Kurt Munson named 2018 Distinguished ILL Librarian http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2018/05/kurt-munson-named-2018-distingui... Dr. Plummer Alston Jones, Jr. wins genealogical history award http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2018/05/dr-plummer-alston-jones-jr-wins-... ALA PUBLISHING OCLC Research’s Merrilee Proffitt shows how libraries can leverage Wikipedia http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2018/04/oclc-research-s-merrilee-proffit... A comprehensive guidebook for library financial management http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2018/04/comprehensive-guidebook-library-...