Associate professor of practice and ALA president (2013-2014) Barbara Stripling (second from left) poses for a photograph with iSchool alumnae during an evening reception held in her honor.
By: J.D. Ross
(315) 443-3094
The American Library Association’s (ALA) annual conference wraps up tomorrow in Las Vegas. The event drew dozens of School of Information Studies (iSchool) alumni from across the country, and provided an opportunity for them to interact with each other as well as with students, faculty, and staff from the iSchool at the six-day long conference.
On Saturday evening, iSchool alumni joined associate professor of practice Barbara Stipiling at a reception in her honor. Stripling stepped down as the president of the ALA at the conference, a position she held for one year.
Striping’s leadership theme, “Libraries Change Lives,” continued the ALA’s support for fulfilling the promise of libraries by enabling libraries of all types to build transformative practice around community priorities. Her initiative was framed around three areas of transformative practice that enable community members to change their lives: literacy, community engagement, and innovation.
As Stripling stepped down, former iSchool adjunct professor Sari Feldman assumed the position of ALA president-elect. Feldman will begin her one-year term as ALA president in 2015. She is currently the executive director of the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library.
Striping and two other iSchool faculty members, associate professor Scott Nicholson, and professor Ruth Small conducted sessions during the conference.
Stripling gave a talk entitled The Future of Libraries. Nicholson held a session on gaming in libraries, Come Make a Game: Library Game Jams, as well as hosting the ALAPlay event and a pre-conference workshop on using gamification to motivate library users. Small, also the co-director of the Center for Digital Literacy at the iSchool, ran a session on providing library services and resources to students with disabilities.
In the ALA exhibition hall, library staff members visited the iSchool’s booth to learn about the new 25% tuition scholarship for library employees, as well as to talk with current students in the iSchool’s library science program.
ALA attendees try out board games during the ALAPlay session on Friday night.