Arrowhead Library System (ALS) has a long-standing commitment to maintaining a collection of current publication titles of interest to librarians, library staff and library trustees. The collection is housed at the ALS Headquarters in Mountain Iron, but all titles can be requested via the online catalog (if you have a borrower’s card from an ALS library) or via the statewide MNLINK catalog (if you have a borrower’s card from Duluth Public Library). If you have questions about borrowing titles from the ALS Professional Collection, feel free to call ALS staff! Here are the latest additions to the ALS collection:
Creating Fundable Grant Proposals: Profiles of Innovative Partnerships
Bess G. de Farber
ALA Editions, 2021
025.1 DEF 2021
Grant money can make all the difference in developing new services, creating worldwide access to your unique collections, or enabling you to showcase awarded projects that advance your career. But competition for grants is as fierce as ever. To get a leg up, you need an insider who will share proven strategies for success. In this book, Bess G. de Farber, who has led the management of 187 awarded grant projects from under $5,000 to more than $1 million at the University of Florida, does just that. Drawing from profiles of 57 grant proposals, sponsored by 31 funders including federal agencies, foundations, and library organizations, her detailed 10-step workflow guides you through submitting and managing collaborative grant proposals. You will learn
- about successful projects related to digitization, preservation, research, technology, and more, including such initiatives as digital publishing on Black life, audio of the sounds of the Panama Canal, digitization of scientific fieldwork from the 1960s, and supporting learning with smart pens;
- the crucial components of a fundable project plan, with a particular emphasis on collaboration, both internally and with external organizations;
- the fundamentals of crafting your own grant proposal, using as models the successful grant proposals included in full, with budgets, as weblinks;
- how to recruit partners and shape ideas;
- ways to incorporate assets and supporting materials into your plan; and
- advice on anticipating the unexpected, how to stay in communication with your partners while the proposal is being reviewed, what to do once you receive notification, and fostering a culture of grantsmanship at your institution.
Strategic Planning for Public Libraries
Joy L. Fuller
Public Library Association, 2021
025.1 FUL 2021
Strategic Planning for Public Libraries provides a framework that any library, whether it serves urban, suburban, or rural communities, can use as a basis for its strategic planning. Supported by research conducted across more than 200 public library professionals and in-depth interviews with more than twenty library directors and leaders throughout the country, this book addresses some of the key areas of strategic planning that librarians care about most:
- Engaging the community
- Measuring progress against the plan
- Reaching non-users
- Creating a living document that can be continually updated
- How to conduct a community assessment
- Engaging staff
Implementing Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Handbook for Academic Libraries
Edited by Corliss Lee and Brian Lym with Tatiana Bryant, Jonathan Cain, and Kenneth Schlesinger
Association of College and Research Libraries, 2022
025.1 IMP 2022
Academic library workers often make use of systemic, bureaucratic, political, collegial, and symbolic dimensions of organizational behavior to achieve their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, but many are also doing the crucial work of pushing back at the structures surrounding them in ways small and large. Implementing Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion captures emerging practices that academic libraries and librarians can use to create more equitable and representative institutions. 19 chapters are divided into 6 sections:
- Recruitment, Retention and Promotion
- Professional Development
- Leveraging Collegial Networks
- Reinforcing the Message
- Organizational Change
- Assessment
Chapters cover topics including active diversity recruitment strategies; inclusive hiring; gendered ageism; librarians with disabilities; diversity and inclusion with student workers; residencies and retention; creating and implementing a diversity strategic plan; cultural competency training; libraries’ responses to Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action; and accountability and assessment. Authors provide practical guiding principles, effective practices, and sample programs and training. Implementing Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion explores how academic libraries have leveraged and deployed their institutions’ resources to effect DEI improvements while working toward implementing systemic solutions. It provides means and inspiration for continuing to try to hire, retain, and promote the change we want to see in the world regardless of existing structures and systems, and ways to improve those structures and systems for the future.
The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Blends for Children and Young Adults
Pauline Dewan and Meagan Lacy
ALA Editions, 2022
025.2 DEW 2022
It’s no wonder that genre blends are some of most popular books for children and teens. When you mash up two different traditional genres, it’s like doubling what makes each one pleasurable on its own. This guide, the first of its kind, will help public and school librarians, teachers, and collections staff identify genre blends for readers’ advisory, curriculum development, or creating core collections. Profiling more than 200 titles, inside its pages you’ll
- learn about six of the most in-demand genre blends for young readers, including Fantasy Mysteries, Magical Realism, Steampunk, and Verse Novels;
- be introduced to each genre blend’s most compelling novels and contemporary authors;
- understand both book appeal factors (such as genre and theme) and reader-appeal factors, assisting you in matching readers with the perfect book;
- receive guidance on finding genre blends for children who are facing difficult circumstances, such as their parents’ divorce, cliques in school, lack of popularity, poor body image, or self-blame; and
- find what you’re looking for quickly and efficiently with the help of succinct annotations and a thorough index.
The Disaster Planning Handbook for Libraries
Mary Grace Flaherty
ALA Editions, 2022
025.8 FLA 2022
Your library is a vital information hub and resource provider every single day, and that’s doubly true when calamity strikes. In fact, your library’s role as an “essential community function” during disasters is now encoded in U.S. law. Engaging as a partner in planning and preparedness will build much-needed community support should disaster strike, and even a basic plan will also save you time and stress later on. No matter where your library is in the disaster planning cycle, this handbook will make the process clearer and less daunting. You’ll get tools, activities, easy-to-adapt templates, and hands-on guidance on such topics as
- the six phases of disaster response;
- 15 first-hand accounts of library disaster planning or responses, helping you identify the library services most needed during a disaster;
- three essential factors that will shape the form of your disaster plan;
- preparing for hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, floods, and earthquakes;
- ideas for connecting with your community’s emergency response teams;
- federal government planning resources;
- pointers on working with state and local governments;
- a sample Memorandum of Understanding to outline mutual support for a speedier recovery;
- recommended courses and training, many of which are free;
- targeted advice for archives and special collections;
- sample building inspection checklists; and
- recommended games to help children and families prepare.
Library Programming for Autistic Children and Teens, Second Edition
Amelia Anderson
ALA Editions, 2021
027.6 AND 2021
Since the first edition of this landmark guide was published, there has been increased interest in services for library patrons on the autism spectrum; indeed, more people of all ages now self-identify as autistic. Those who understand the unique characteristics of autistic young people know that ordinary library programming guides are not up to the task of effectively serving these library users. Well qualified to speak to this need, Anderson is an educator, library researcher, and former public librarian who has helped to develop two IMLS funded initiatives that train library workers to better understand and serve autistic patrons. Here, she offers librarians who work with children and teens in both public library and K-12 educational settings an updated, comprehensive resource that includes
- an updated introduction to the basics of autism, including language, symbolism, and best practices in the library rooted in the principles of Universal Design;
- step-by-step programs from librarians across the country, adaptable for both public and school library settings, that are cost-effective and easy to replicate;
- contributions from autistic self-advocates throughout the text, demonstrating that the program ideas included are truly designed with their preferences in mind;
- suggestions for securing funding and establishing partnerships with community organizations; and
- many helpful appendices, with handy resources for training and education, building a collection, storytimes, sensory integration activities, and a “Tips for a Successful Library Visit” template.
Library Services and Incarceration: Recognizing Barriers, Strengthening Access
Jeanie Austin
ALA Neal-Schuman, 2022
027.6 AUS 2022
Include, part of a six-volume series on the Shared Foundations in AASL’s National School Library Standards, brings together a chorus of school librarians, scholars, and students representing a wide range of races, ethnicities, experiences, and identities. This book offers
- an understanding of why the concept of Include is paramount to school librarian practice, supported by key research to share and inspire the inclusion of learner and educator voices and experiences;
- an explanation of what it looks like to successfully integrate the Include Shared Foundation in terms of collection, space, and instruction;
- useable guidance that school librarians can confidently incorporate in their settings, including easy-to-implement ideas, inspiring stories, events, and transformation; and
- reflections, questions, and action steps to help readers move their practice forward.
Learning Centers for Schools (AASL Standards-Based Learning)
Maura Madigan
ALA Editions, 2021
027.8 MAD 2021
Learning Centers for School Libraries presents innovative, engaging, and fun ideas to target the AASL National School Library Standards and content-area standards. It contains almost everything needed to set up learning centers in a school library. The ideas are flexible and can fit different grade levels and lesson lengths. Suggestions for collaboration with classroom educators are also included. This book offers
- Step-by-step directions for both the educator and learner and all necessary handouts, including directions and worksheets. The reader can use the book to quickly and easily set up centers. Some centers require only photocopies and basic materials to get started.
- Guidance on how to create cross-curricular centers that target the AASL Standards and other content-area standards. A table is provided to enable educators to create centers that address specific standards or content areas. Centers for distance learning are also identified.
- Suggested modifications for both struggling and advanced learners, plus ideas for collaborating with other educators. These features broaden the potential audience beyond elementary school learners.
School Libraries Supporting Literacy and Wellbeing
Margaret K. Merga
Facet Publishing, 2022
027.8 MER 2022
Student literacy is a perennial concern in and across nations, with measurement and accountability continually ramped up at both individual student and school levels. Debates about literacy and how it can best be improved are never far from media headlines. However, relatively little consideration is given to the role that school libraries and their staff play in building and maintaining student literacy, despite research linking school libraries and qualified staff to student literacy gains. With the number of students who struggle with basic literacy skills increasing in many nations, school libraries can play an important role in improving the academic, vocational and social outcomes for these young people, thereby increasing their opportunities. Fostering student wellbeing is also a key priority for schools given the challenges young people face in current times.
This book seeks to promote greater understanding of the links between reading, literacy and wellbeing that could help students cope with these challenges, and the role of the school library in leading this approach. It explores the current role of school library professionals and highlights how literacy and wellbeing education and support sit within this, paying specific attention to how school library professionals build reading engagement and promote student wellbeing through various approaches, such as fostering health literacy and creating nurturing environments.
Readers will be empowered to build a case for the importance of their role and library, and audit their current literacy and wellbeing offerings, and adjust or extend them where applicable based on best practice. The book also explores some of the many challenges facing school libraries and their professional staff that may need to be mitigated to ensure that they can reach their full potential for supporting student literacy and wellbeing.
Explore (Shared Foundation Series)
Sarah Culp Searles
ALA Editions, 2022
027.80973 SEA 2022
Explore takes readers on a journey through the broad and varied territory of school librarianship, sharing resources, ideas, and trends to help along the way. This guide is designed so that readers can Explore their practice on their own or with colleagues—so grab your compass, backpack, and boots and hit the trails! This book offers
- a deeper understanding of the Explore Shared Foundation, including how to connect to traditional practices while moving the school library profession forward;
- an examination of how the Competencies in the Explore Shared Foundation relate to other major ideas and concepts in school librarianship and the wider field of education; and
- ready-to-implement professional development programming for school librarians and those who support school librarians, including administrators, supervisors, and university educators.
Meeting the Challenge of Teaching Information Literacy
Michelle Reale
ALA Editions, 2020
028.7071 REA 2020
While the profession has generated many books on information literacy, none to date have validated exactly why it is so difficult to teach. In her new book, Reale posits that examining and reflecting on the reality of those factors is what will enable practitioners to meet the challenge of their important mandate. Using the same warm and conversational tone as in her previous works, she
- uses personal anecdotes to lay out the key reasons that teaching information literacy is so challenging, from the limited amount of time given to instructors and lack of collaboration with faculty to one’s own anxieties about the work;
- examines how these factors are related and where librarians fit in;
- validates readers’ struggles and frustrations through an honest discussion of the emotional labor of librarianship, including “imposter syndrome,” stress, and burnout;
- offers a variety of approaches, strategies, and topics of focus that will assist readers in their daily practice;
- looks at how a vibrant community of practice can foster positive change both personally and institutionally; and
- presents “Points to Ponder” at the end of each chapter that encourage readers to self-reflect and then transform personal insights into action.
Trusting Readers: Powerful Practices for Independent Reading
Jennifer Scoggin and Hannah Schneewind
Heinemann, 2021
372.4 SCO 2021
Trusting Readers is an essential and accessible guide that provides teachers with the inspiration, information, and tools needed to grow enthusiastic independent readers. The authors put the independence back into independent reading—and bolster that independence with collaboration and support. They offer a clear definition and vision of independent reading, while helping teachers craft reading experiences centered around students’ engagement, instructional needs, and identities as readers.
