James Bartlett

Pamela Brown

Marcel Carroll

Jenny Draper

Randy Dykhuis

Robert Faleer

Bella Gerlich

Trinity Lescallett

Michael Levine-Clark

David Li

Renee Robbins

Mary Stansbury

Roberta Stevens

Crystal White

We’ve got an awesome program and pre-conference lineup in store for this event where you can acquire new information and develop skills immediately applicable to your daily work.

Mark your calendars!: Conference registration opens January 2, 2009. Click on the names event titles below for complete descriptions, and keep an eye on the ASCLA blog  for updates.

Pre-conferences and other ticketed events: (requires registration)

• Be My Guest: Customer Service from the Best
• After the Grant Runs Out: Funding Collaborative Digitization (sponsored by ICAN)
• LSSPS Annual Dinner (LSSPS)

• Moving Mountains: Latest Trends in the Physical Delivery of Library Materials
• Impact and Future Directions of LSTA
• Library as Experience: Trends and Development
• Nurturing Innovation Through Collaboration
• Large Print for All: Bigger is Better
• Multiple Intelligences @ Your Library: A Tool for Better Services
• Libraries and Hospice: Developing a Vital Community Partnership

ASCLA

Saturday, January 24 8-10 A.M. ASCLA Board of Directors I This is an open meeting and a good place to get an overview of ASCLA, as officers, section chairs, and committee chairs give reports.

10:30 A.M.-noon ASCLA Leadership Session This is a must-do session for new and continuing unit leaders in ASCLA, including division, section, and committee officers.

1:30-3:30 P.M. ASCLA All-Committee Meeting Essential for all current committee members and a great place to get involved if you new and interested in the work of ASCLA.

ASCLA Membership Committee This meeting is the place where membership recruitment and promotion ideas are considered and implemented.  The Membership and Promotion committee develops recruitment campaigns,  coordinates membership activities and keeps the ASCLA board and ALA Membership Task Force apprised of membership activities. ASCLA Standards Review Committee Meets to direct the development of standards and guidelines appropriate to the institutions and activities represented in ASCLA; to review and forward with recommendations for action by the ASCLA Board of Directors on standards and guidelines developed by standards subcommittees; to appoint, in consultation with appropriate units, subcommittees to develop specified standards and guidelines; to maintain constant communications with the ALA Standards Committee relative to policy and formatting and to seek approval by the ALA Standards Committee on these matters prior to ASCLA Board adoption of standards and guidelines; to maintain continuous study for currency and relevance of existing standards and guidelines appropriate to the institutions and activities represented in ASCLA; to maintain liaison with other divisions of ALA in all matters pertaining to standards; to maintain liaison with other standard-setting agencies and closely related professional organizations for consistency in standard setting on the part of all concerned.

ASCLA Awards Committee Meets to work on administration and publication of the awards presented in the name of ASCLA; to review periodically the appropriateness of existing ASCLA awards; to make recommendations to the ASCLA Board of Directors with respect to proposed new ASCLA awards; to modify, eliminate, or suspend existing awards when necessary.

4-5:30 P.M. ASCLA Executive Committee Officers of ASCLA meet to set priorities and agendas.

Accessibility Assembly The Accessibility Assembly works to advance ALA’s continuing commitment to diversity and to accessibility of library and information services for all, including people with physical, sensory or mental disabilities, as reflected in the ALA policy on “Library Services to People with Disabilities” (54.3.2); to facilitate communication among ALA units, members and affiliated groups regarding issues such as equitable access to programs, services, collections, and facilities for library users with disabilities, employment of people with disabilities, and library accessibility policies; to encourage manufactures and vendors to develop library products and materials using the principles of universal design; to advance optimal accessibility of ALA services and programs; to develop and promote strategies for the recruitment of people with disabilities into the library and information science profession; and to advance coordination and cooperation of efforts within ALA and the profession to meet the challenges of providing access to all.

Sunday, January 25 9-midnight ASCLA/COSLA Reception The best place to meet and greet, fueled by great desserts and a cash bar.

Monday, January 26 2-6 P.M. ASCLA Board of Directors II The Board continues to hear reports and make decisions. This is the best board meeting for hearing about impending Council votes, what’s up at the ALA Washington Office, and all the other initiatives and decisions pertinent to ASCLA.

ICAN (InterLibrary Cooperation & Networking Section) Saturday, January 24 8-10:00 A.M. ICAN All Committee Meeting Essential for all current committee members and a great place to get involved if you new and interested in the work of ICAN.

4-5:30 P.M. Collaborative Digitization Discussion Group Sunday, January 25 8-10:00 A.M. Physical Delivery Discussion Group 10:30 A.M.-noon Interlibrary Cooperation Discussion Group Provides a forum for discussion of interests in interlibrary cooperation and the statewide development of library service, emphasizing the interdependence of all types of libraries.

4-5:30 P.M. Consortium Management Discussion Group

Monday, January 26 8-10:00 A.M. ICAN Executive Board Officers of ICAN meet to set priorities and agendas.

10:30 A.M.-noon Virtual Library Discussion Group Provides a forum for discussion of library services that can be provided in an electronic format; to provide an opportunity to discuss cutting edge pilot projects as well as established services that promote a 24/7 library that is accessible anytime, anywhere.

ILEX (Independent Librarian’s Exchange Section) Saturday, January 24 4-5:30 P.M. ILEX Executive Committee Meeting Officers of ILEX meet to set priorities and agendas.

LSSPS (Libraries Serving Special Populations Section) Saturday, January 24 1:30-3:30 P.M. Francis Joseph Campbell Award Committee Meets to select a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of library service for the blind and physically handicapped to receive the Francis Joseph Campbell citation and medal.

Sunday, January 25 1:30-3:30 P.M. LSSPS All-Forums Meeting Essential for all current forum members and a great place to get involved if you new and interested in the work of LSSPS.

4-5:30 P.M. LSSPS Executive Committee Meeting Officers of LSSPS meet to set priorities and agendas.

SLAS (State Library Agency Section) Saturday, January 24 1:30-3:30 P.M. State Library Consultants Discussion Group

Sunday, January 25 10:30-12 P.M. LSTA Coordinators Discussion Group

4-5:30 P.M. Youth Services Consultants Discussion Group To provide a forum for persons concerned with statewide service to children and young people.

SLAS Board Meeting

Prefer to renew online or by phone? Visit www.ala.org/membership, or call 800-545-2433 and press option 5.

The scholarship is an initiative of ASCLA, the Library Service to Special Populations Section (LSSPS) of ASCLA and the Library Service to People with Visual or Physical Disabilities Forum, and was established in 2000 through the generosity of an anonymous donor. It fulfills ALA’s mission to cultivate a field of library professionals that more accurately reflects the diversity of the communities and populations it serves. Proceeds from the auction directly benefit the scholarship fund and promote its long-term financial viability.

The reception, a networking event open to all conference attendees, will be held Sunday, January 25, from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. in the Capitol Peak Ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Denver, 1750 Welton Street, Denver. Attendees will have a chance to bid on some fantastic items including a collection of Chicago-related travel and interest books, tickets to The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, a private tour of The Field’s library, jewelry and a fleece jacket.

Not attending the event but want to contribute? Donations of goods or services to the auction list are welcome from both vendors and individuals, and will be accepted until January 5, 2009. Interested contributors should complete the silent auction donation form. Questions about the event should be directed to Liz Markel, ASCLA marketing specialist and event coordinator at lmarkel@ala.org.

The New York Board of Regents announced the appointment of Bernard A. Margolis as the New York State Librarian. He will assume his new responsibilities in January 2009.

New York State Education Commissioner Richard Mills says, “We live in an age of information, and libraries play a critical role in providing us with access to that information. They are vital to our economy and our communities. They promote literacy and lifelong learning. And in these trying economic times, they are vital to people seeking information about jobs. I am thrilled that the Regents have appointed a dynamic and innovative person like Margolis to serve in the critically important position of State Librarian.”

Margolis served as the President of Boston Public Library (BPL), Boston, Massachusetts, from 1997 to 2008. Margolis’s achievements as BPL president include expansion of branch library hours; appointment of a children’s librarian in every branch; creation of a nationally recognized Homework Assistance Program and online tutoring program; implementation of Reading Readiness to prepare preschoolers for school success; creation of local history centers in eight branch libraries; creation of the award-winning Norman B. Leventhal Map Center; development of a collection conservation program; and growth of the BPL’s trust funds from $37 million to $55 million. Under Margolis’s leadership, BPL secured $7 million of direct grants and $18 million in federal funds for technology improvements and many foundation grants, designated gift funds, and major bequests.

Margolis led the effort to restore and renovate the historic central library building, securing funding from a number of sources. He worked with the City of Boston to establish a critical repair fund, allowing BPL to address building and equipment repairs in a timely manner. BPL collaborated with other cultural institutions and more than 4,500 different community groups and organizations.

Margolis’s service includes a number of elected positions within the American Library Association, leadership in the Association of Research Libraries, service as a professional delegate to the White House Conference on Libraries, and service on the boards of library organizations in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Michigan. He has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Library Administration and Bottom Line: The Magazine of Library Financial Management. He has contributed to several books and has published articles in American Libraries, Public Libraries, and Library Journal.

This article is a response to the article “PLEASECOME: New Discussion Forum Addresses Library Service to People with Learning, Social, Cognitive, or Medical Disabilities” by Carrie Banks (ASCLA Interface, Fall 2008, p. 11).

The new forum discussed in the cited “PLEASECOME” article is very worthy of all ALA and ASCLA members’ support and everyone’s attention. By definition, being human, everyone has learning, social, cognitive, and/or medical access issues.

However, with all due respect, is the establishment of this new forum in the best interest of ASCLA, LSSPS, and, most importantly, of the new forum itself?

1. ASCLA, the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies, otherwise fondly referred to as the “Awesome Super Cool Library Association,” is a microcosm and the American Library Association (ALA) division most inclusive of the diverse interests of library and information science (LIS) professionals. For other ALA divisions, ASCLA is the model for effective sharing and pooling of limited resources, including human resources, so essential for every organization’s sustainability (indeed, ASCLA shares ALA staff with another ALA division).

Questions:

a. Does this new forum with its separate agenda, information gathering mechanism, and conference meeting time and venue, serve the best interests and promote the resource sharing goals of its ASCLA and LSSPS parent groups and the existing LSSPS forums?

b. Does the new forum serve its own best interests? Will new forum members miss learning opportunities by not being able to share in the work, discussion, and ideas generated by other LSSPS forums?

c. What workaround will new forum members have for the two major perennial universal ALA (and thus also ASCLA and LSSPS member) conference access issues, notably those of limited time and logistics and the human inability to be physically present at two or more conference commitments held at the same time in different locations?

1. A second question is whether the new forum’s topics of discussion are mutually exclusive of those of existing LSSPS forums, thus justifying its existence as a separate entity. Evidence-based brain research demonstrates that multimodal-Universally Designed for Learning (UDL) interventions (for example, library services and materials) are beneficial across the spectrum of access needs (CAST, 2008). Captioning and its companion audio description benefit not only people with hearing or sight issues, but also people with learning/cognitive differences and second language learners (King, 2002), raising all students’ literacy levels and comprehension of complex literary texts (Snyder, 2006, 2007; Walton, 2006). Captioning, in particular, is very popular with the general public (Harniss, Amtmann, Cook, Johnson, 2007, p.S49). Examples of the popularity of captioning include: subtitles for foreign language film translation (King, 2002), as a documentation tool for verbal communication, and for noisy venues such as airports, train stations, stock exchanges, health clubs, and sports bars (Amtmann & Johnson, 1998).

2. Thirdly, many access issues, including those designated “physical” (i.e. in the purview of both LSPVPDF and LSPDHHF forum concerns), are etiologically neurological: brain-based (Farmer, Donders, & Warschausky, 2006). Indeed, most, if not all access issues are an intricate, complicated web of diverse, but interrelated issues that all have learning, social, cognitive, and medical components. Multimorbidity is a very common occurrence, and with age, becomes a virtual norm (Schram, Frijters, van de Lisdonk, Ploemacher, de Craen, de Waal, et al. 2008).

Perhaps a paradigm shift would be beneficial to the cause. There is power in positive framing (Farstrup, 2004); positively naming and advocating for what people can do and what LIS professionals can do to provide high quality, universally accessible services and materials (evidenced-based interventions) for our diverse patrons with diverse access needs. To recall a couple of precedents: the once “ADA Assembly” now is ASCLA’s “Accessibility Assembly” and the LSSPS forum on aging issues now is the “Library Service to Older Adults with Special Needs Forum.” Positive wins, every time.

Armed with the ASCLA/LSSPS-authored ALA Accessibility Policy 54.3.2, all ASCLA and LSSPS members have the unique ability and expertise to come together as one to share the power of evidence-based Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning strategies with all ASCLA and ALA members, as well as with our patrons. With unity, comes sharing, and the ability to do more with less. The more sharing of information and ideas that occurs within ASCLA, the more power ASCLA has. The success of the ASCLA Century Scholarship diversity initiative is proof positive of the power of ASCLA unity and unified action. We in ASCLA, the home of the ALA expertise in accessibility and UDL, among so many other areas of LIS specialization, have the power. Let us use it wisely. Come join ASCLA.

Works Cited

1. CAST. (2008). Universal design for learning guidelines, Version 1.0. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/publications/UDLguidelines/version1.html
2. Amtmann, D., & Johnson, K. (1998). Internet and information technologies: consumer empowerment. Technology and Disability, 8, 107-113.
3. Farmer, J. E., Donders, J., & Warschausky, S. A. (2006). Treating neurodevelopmental disabilities: clinical research and practice. New York: Guilford Press.
4. Farstrup, A.E. (2004). Clear, simple, positive: framing education issues. Reading Today, 22(1), 8.
5. Harniss, M., Amtmann, D., Cook, D., & Johnson, K. (2007). Considerations for developing interfaces for collecting patient-reported outcomes that allow the inclusion of individuals with disabilities. Medical Care, 45(5): (5 Suppl 1), S48-S54.
6. King, J. (2002). Using DVD feature films in the EFL classroom. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 15(5), 509-523.
7. Schram, M. T., Frijters, D., van de Lisdonk, E. H., Ploemacher, J., de Craen, A. J.M., de Waal, M. W. M., et al. (2008). Setting and registry characteristics affect the prevalence and nature of multimorbidity in the elderly. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 61(11), 1104-1112.
8. Snyder, J. (2006). Audio Description – An Aid to Literacy. Paper presented at the Languages and the Media,” the 6th International Conference & Exhibition on Language Transfer in Audiovisual Media, Berlin, Germany. Retrieved from http://www.audiodescribe.com/about/articles/adaidto_literacy.doc
9. Snyder, J. (2007). Audio description: the visual made verbal. International Journal of the Arts in Society, 2(2), 99-104. Retrieved from http://ija.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.85/prod.188
10. Walton, B. (2006). Thank you, Kenneth Branagh. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49 (7; 7), 556-559.

Note: The author, a self-identifying member of the class, is an ASCLA LSSPS member, current Chair of the ASCLA Century Scholarship Committee, among ASCLA Century’s founders, and a member of the ASCLA Accessibility Assembly.

The Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records was awarded the 2008 Community Support Award from the Museum Association of Arizona. Recognized internationally for excellence, this state agency serves the information needs of Arizona citizens and has provided unprecedented support to the state’s museum community on many levels. Through their annual Convocation, they offer professional resources for libraries and museums. Through workshops, partnerships, grants, and public access, they have assisted numerous museums and museum organizations to reach higher potential.

Under the leadership of Agency Director, GladysAnn Wells, this recipient is recognized for its work in state government digital information , online access, web based government information collection and digital preservation. Known for their innovation in records management, this agency provides museum outreach services, historical access for local cultural institutions, supports local tribal libraries and archives, and supports literacy and education.

Through New York’s participation in the Spanish Language Outreach Program, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation U.S. Libraries Program, WebJunction, the Mid-Hudson Library System, the New York Library Association and the New York State Association of Library Boards, the State Library continues its commitment to library service for people whose first language is not English. Because of the Spanish Language Outreach Program, New York’s library staffs are better trained and the state’s diverse population is even more welcome in libraries. Spanish speakers are more likely to find needed library services in public libraries and libraries of all kinds across the state.

The national Spanish Language Outreach Program began in 2004. Since then WebJunction has conducted state level training for library trainers and facilitated the WebJunction online community. The program’s goal is to help library staff sharpen skills and increase knowledge in how best to serve this growing population. Use of public-access computers is another focus of the program.

Through its participation in the program, New York’s public library system trainers conducted 48 workshops across the state and trained 756 librarians, library staff, trustees and graduate students in library science programs. The workshops teach participants how to connect with community leaders and learn what the library can do for the Spanish speakers in their community.

Nationally there have been over 342 workshops that have trained more than 5000 library staff members on how to better connect with this key demographic. The workshops have stressed the importance of the involvement of local community leaders and members to ensure the relevance of the program. Best practices are shared throughout the library community via WebJunction and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation U.S. Libraries Program.

Please see the New York report, or for a print copy contact Cassandra Artale, New York State Library, 518/474-1479 or cartale@mail.nysed.gov.

Each year, more than 100 blind or visually impaired citizens of New Jersey receive personalized computer literacy training on loaned computers as a result of a unique partnership between the New Jersey Library for the Blind and Handicapped (LBH) and The New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CBVI).

In this partnership, the New Jersey Library for the Blind and Handicapped (LBH), a bureau of the New Jersey State Library,  delivers and sets up a fully accessible computer at the Commission’s client’s home or workplace anywhere in New Jersey. These systems are on loan for up to six months. When the Commission’s councilor has completed the training with the client, the library arranges to pick up the computer.

The state of the art computer systems includes monitors, printers and scanners. Library staff preloads each system with adaptive software to enable the user to access the various online and Windows applications. This includes internet access using screen reading (JAWS) and screen magnification (Zoom Text) software. Scanning and reading text is also accomplished with text to speech optical character recognition programs such as Kurzweil and Open Book.

The clients are identified in the Commission’s Vocational Rehabilitation Unit. This unit assists people in the development, acquisition or updating of skills that will enable them to secure and maintain employment. This may include working in the labor force, operating their own business, supportive employment, or managing their own home.