The Riverview Room of the historic Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter provided a lovely setting for the 2011 ASCLA Awards Ceremony during the 2011 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.  An overflow crowd of 120 gathered at the ASCLA/COLSA Reception for tasty desserts and to recognize the achievements of ASCLA Award winners.

The big hit of the evening was the short video of the award winners compiled by ASCLA President Diana Reese. To see the video clip of each award winner, visit the ASCLA Awards Page: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/ascla/asclaawards/default.cfm

President Reese heartily congratulated each of the 2011 ASCLA Award winners, including:

Elizabeth Ridler – Brooklyn (New York) Public Library – ASCLA Cathleen Bourdon Services Award.  Ms. Ridler was accompanied by her professional inspiration and mentor, Maryann Lisk.

Hennepin County (Minnesota) Library Outreach Services – ASCLA Exceptional Services Award.  Gretchen Wronka, Senior Program Officer, Hennepin County Research Planning and Development and Daniel Marcou from the Outreach Services Department accepted the award from President Reese on behalf of the Hennepin County Library. 

Jamal Mazrui – Federal Communications Commission – ASCLA Francis Joseph Campbell Award. The citation and medal were presented by award sponsors Dave Holloman, President of Keystone Systems and Kay Holloman who is CEO.  Jerry Reynolds accepted the award on behalf of Mr. Mazrui.

Queens (New York) Library Mail-A-Book Program with Interactive Programming – ASCLA/KLAS/NOD Award.  Presenting the $1,000 award and citation were award sponsors Dave Holloman, President of Keystone Systems and Kay Holloman who is CEO.   Accepting on behalf of the Queens Library were Chief Executive Officer Thomas Galante and Library Manager and Mail-A-Book Coordinator Madlyn Schneider. [See the article on this project later in this issue of Interface.]

Diane Walden – Colorado State Library – ASCLA Leadership and Professional Achievement Award.  Diana Reese congratulated Ms. Walden on this well-deserved recognition for her exemplary statewide leadership with correctional facility services and programs in Colorado and Florida. Reese noted that Diane’s leadership in the creation of the new ALA policy Prisoners’ Right-to-Read Statement: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights is a clear example of both professional leadership and pioneering activity.

In addition, President Reese announced Samantha Lee Wickman of Somerville Massachusetts as the 2011 recipient of the ASCLA/LSSPS Century Scholarship of $2,500.  Ms. Wickman is a graduate student at Simmons College, Massachusetts.  On behalf of Barbara Mates, Century Scholarship Committee chairperson, President Reese extended appreciation for the immediate and generous response of ASCLA members and ALA staff to the S.O.S. call for donations in support of the scholarship fund earlier this Spring.

President Reese closed the awards ceremony by thanking the dedicated members of the ASCLA Awards Committee, the ASCLA/LSSPS Joseph F. Campbell Award Committee, the ASCLA/LSSPS Century Scholarship Committee, ASCLA Executive Director Susan Hornung and in particular ASCLA Marketing Director Liz Markel for their excellent work in promoting ASCLA awards and the Century Scholarship and in selecting such deserving recipients.   She also encouraged attendees to consider nominating a colleague or a library organization for a 2012 ASCLA Award.

Nomination forms are now available on the ASCLA website at:   http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/ascla/asclaawards/default.cfm.  Nominations are due to the ASCLA Office by December 15, 2011.

Check out the outstanding programs offered by ASCLA at the Annual Conference!

ASCLA President’s Program: Prisoners’ Right to Read: Balancing Intellectual Freedom and Correctional Security
Saturday, June 25, 2011, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
MCC-Room 285
Hosted by ASCLA LSSPS and the Library Services to Prisoners Forum
Librarians serving the incarcerated and detained face daily challenges to provide library services. They struggle to balance the library’s mission to ensure access to information while respecting the facility’s goals of safety and security. Program participants will learn to use positive communication skills and the new “Prisoners’ Right to Read: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights” (PRTR) to help correctional administrators craft improved policy and correctional line staff to consistently interpret policy. A Q&A session surrounding the PRTR is also part of the session.

Marketing Libraries to Diverse Communities
Saturday, June 25, 2011, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
MCC-Room 342
Hosted by ASCLA
Language, cultural differences, and different perceptions of the role of the library all present a challenge for libraries trying to connect with diverse communities. What are the multicultural marketing trends and practices put to use by other types of businesses, and how can we apply the most successful tools, techniques and principles to the library setting? This program will prepare you to reach out to culturally diverse, fast-growing and information seeking populations of library consumers.

Behavior Issues in the Library: Strategies for Successful Responses
Saturday, June 25, 2011, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
MCC-Room 349
Hosted by ASCLA LSSPS and ALSC
Librarians deal with a wide variety of patrons and patron behaviors. This program offers strategies and resources to help librarians coping with customers whose behaviors are associated with mental health issues, including autism spectrum disorders. The panel, which will include self-advocates and professionals in the field of mental health and autism spectrum disorders, will provide practical approaches on this topic, including how to de-escalate situations.

Managing Membership
Saturday, June 25, 2011, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
MCC-Room 349
Hosted by ASCLA
Successfully communicating the value of membership and its benefits is more important than ever–especially for library consortia. Learn how one consortium has implemented a membership management system and its subsequent impact on communications about the benefits of membership–with outstanding results!

Open Source Integrated Library Systems in Consortia
Saturday, June 25, 2011, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
MCC-Room 333
Hosted by ASCLA ICAN
Open source integrated library systems are no longer cutting-edge technology, but managing dozens of libraries on the same system is still a task left to a few brave souls. This program examines five consortia of varying size, type and complexity from Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan and Georgia, who are successfully using either Koha or Evergreen Open Source systems in a union catalog environment.

Displaying Partnerships: How to Successfully Build Partnerships with Other Agencies
Saturday, June 25, 2011, 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
MCC-Room 349
Hosted by ASCLA
For the last two years, a regional library consortium in Ohio has partnered with the local division of the American Cancer Society to provide information, ideas and resources to all types of libraries in the state for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, held each October. Spurred by its success, the consortium plans to expand their reach to other types of cancer awareness. This program will review the successes of the partnership, and shed insight on how to foster similar partnerships between your library and local community organizations.

Consulting From Both Sides of the Fence: Why Libraries Hire Consultants, and How Consultants Get Jobs
Sunday, June 26, 2011, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
MCC-Room 339
Hosted by ASCLA ILEX
Getting a consulting job requires a masterful mix of attention to detail and creative flair–from drafting a detailed proposal and submitting it on time, to being selected for the project and finalizing a contract. Learn about the process from the viewpoint of the director and from that of the consultant. You will have a chance to participate in a mock proposal review. Presenters Beth Bingham and Nancy Bolt are currently consulting after distinguished careers in library leadership positions; Sara Laughlin was a consultant for ten years before becoming a library director in 2007.

American Sign Language Literature Programming @ Your Library
Sunday, June 26, 2011, 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
MCC-Room 333
Hosted by ASCLA/LSSPS
Attendees will learn about existing quality resources that support deaf people’s efforts to be understood by the public as people first and who have their deaf culture and language called American Sign Language (ASL). Librarians will learn about the differences between Deaf and ASL literatures and about the latest and greatest in contemporary literature to bring into the library’s reading and discussion groups. Sources for locating books, videos and films, funding, speakers, authors, deaf library friends groups and tips for programming librarians will be shared.

Library Snapshot Day: A Nationwide Success Story of Library Advocacy -New Jersey State Library
Monday, June 27, 2011, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
MCC-Room 334
Hosted by ASCLA
Library Snapshot Day provides a way for libraries of all types across a state, region, system or community to show what happens in a single day in their libraries. This initiative provides an easy means to collect statistics, photos and stories that will enable library advocates to prove the value of their libraries to decision makers and increase public awareness. Library Snapshot Day was initiated by the New Jersey State Library; similar programs are taking place in 27 states across the country. This session will provide an overview of results from different states, and also prepare participants to easily hold their own Library Snapshot Day.

ASCLA and LSSPS are sponsoring a panel discussion entitled Large Print for All�Bigger is Better from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on Monday, July 12, at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Palmer House, Empire Room.

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The Libraries Serving Special Populations Section (LSSPS) of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) invites all current and potential LSSPS members to its Annual Dinner.

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