All Sessions

This year ALAPlay combines gaming, comics, costumes, and your favorite Time Lords (and ladies)! We invite attendees to dress up in the style of the Doctors, Companions, aliens, and artifacts of Doctor Who OR with the gleaming gears, goggles, corsets and hats of the steampunk aesthetic. Feel free to combine the two (as fans know, Doctor Who has built in quite a bit of steampunk flair to its (?) universe over the years.) We welcome all kinds of costumes, from the simple to the more elaborate: we'd love to see fans takes on a Tardis dress or perhaps a Dalek hat. There are some excellent gender swapping opportunities out there as well -- why not a Time Lady instead of a Time Lord?

The point is to have fun! Games and activities will be provided by the Games and Gaming Round Table (GameRT) while the costumed fun will be led by the Graphic Novel Member Initiative Group.

Did we mention there will be prizes? Because there will. All attendees can enter our raffle at the door for exciting prize packs from a variety of publishers.

Oh, and this year we're kicking off a conference ribbon game called These Aren't the Droids You're Looking for (http://ala12.scheduler.ala.org/node/4292). To play, you'll need to come to ALAplay to get your game packet and ribbon.

Research shows that adults who play tend to be more creative and curious in their approach to learning and work. The panel of speakers will share their research findings about the benefits of play and give an overview of current library play programs offered at their respective academic libraries. This presentation will also provide an opportunity to try some play activities yourself!

Bookmobiles are the perfect Outreach Vehicles. Come join our panel of experts and discuss serving communities outside the walls of a library--- the urban poor, suburban, rural areas including town centers, ranches, gathering places, and farmer’s markets. Learn about some unique programs and ways to reach out to all parts of your community including children, seniors and non-English speakers.

The role of librarians as trusted navigators leading patrons to the most useful information is increasingly valuable. Smart investing@ your library is building the capacity of public libraries and librarians to provide reliable, unbiased financial education and resources to those who need help. Librarians are building collections, delivering programs to people of all ages and economic circumstances and creating a national network of replicable service models. Using data to tell the story, reaching out and working with community partners, and integrating market research into program design are helping build the foundation for a leadership role in financial education.

Writing programs in correctional settings have produced dramatic results for those who experience them. This program will include successful inmate writers, program instructors and correctional librarians who manage or assist in the programs.

The newly revised Every Child Ready to Read recognizes that play is an important part of early literacy development and if play is a child's work then what better tools than toys! This will be hands-on fun for everyone as you learn the tips and tricks of effectively using toys to educate and entertain in your library and beyond.

Addressing Global Diversity Program Description International student enrollment in higher education in the United States reached an all-time high of 723,277 students in 2011. This panel presentation will provide various perspectives on meeting the unique needs of international students in academic libraries. The panelists will represent several types of institutions and will discuss ways of effectively improving programs and services, developing partnerships with other campus units, and raising staff awareness of cross-cultural issues.

A generation more exposed to online gossip, chat rooms, Twitter, and Facebook now expect more from their reading experience. Join YA authors in a discussion of how modern teens' use of social technologies has influenced the evolution of story arcs, plot pacing and character interaction.

Come hear two fascinating presentations and participate in a special game of Interactive Fiction.

Exploring Stories through Interactive Fiction
Remember ZORK? Text-based interactive fiction is a game genre that has existed for decades, but has not been heavily used in libraries. Interactive Fiction is still going strong today, and allows players to explore stories and to create their own interactive stories. Libraries looking to support traditional literacy with gaming activities can look to Interactive Fiction at the core of an easily justifiable and low-cost gaming program. Join Scott Nicholson, associate professor from the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University and experts from the Interactive Fiction domain to learn about how to use and create Interactive Fiction in both digital and analog forms for your library!

Lemon Tree
We like to bring an element of active learning, including fun and games, into our information literacy teaching when we can, whether that is using crosswords, treasure hunts, or light hearted videos, but we hadn’t before brought games, along with the technology and social nature of web 2.0, into the core of the library. We’re currently changing this and have introduced a social, online game based around using the library resources, developed for us by an external company (Running in the Halls).

Lemon Tree takes ideas of virtual rewards and inbuilt social networks and turns common interactions with the library into a game. Users are able to link Lemontree to their library record, winning points and badges by activities such as taking books out, leaving comments on books, and accessing our online resources. There are social elements built into Lemontree, but the system also pushes key acheivements to Facebook.

Andrew Walsh from the University of Huddersfield will cover some key elements of Lemontree, how they promoted the system, and early feedback from users.

Using LSTA funds as seed money, public libraries and state libraries can collaborate to provide library users with current resources and quality programs. Programs from Pennsylvania and Arizona will be showcased, showing how they creating family spaces in small libraries, developed an online Mother Goose Rhymes portal and provided developmental activities for children. Pennsylvania will also share the results of a recent evaluation of one program.

This session focuses on how public libraries in regionally, economically, and ethnically diverse communities deliver, promote, fund, and sustain essential literacy services for adult learners -- native English speakers and English language learners . This broad examination of library literacy services will illustrate the importance of establishing the public library as a literacy partner and community asset, resource, and advocate. Attendees will have access to print, digital resources including toolkits, assessment tools, and tips sheets. Sponsored by ALA’s Committee on Literacy in collaboration with California Library Literacy Services (CLLS), a service of the California State Library.

The King County Library System, 2011 Library of the Year, adopted a “Future Services Strategy” in 2008 that gave outreach services equal importance with in-library and online services. The strategy required a dramatic shift for staff to focus on out-of-library activities and provide direct service to in-home childcares. The primary service goal is to bridge the gap between low-income children and reading readiness through early literacy. Presenters will discuss why KCLS gave outreach such a prominent role and provide practical information on developing the service; gaining local staff support; service evaluation; and vehicle logistics.

Smart investing @ your library grantees are at the forefront of financial literacy programs that reach all economic and interest levels. Learn how they are creating models that use social media to capture attention, design games that appeal to kids, teens and adults, partner with social service agencies and market school programs to provide unbiased, financial education and resources. As more people need and want to learn how to manage their personal finances, these innovative libraries are leading the way.

Three RA experts will explore the changing ways our patrons browse our collections and learn about titles outside our walls. Come join this annual RA community event and be part of the conversation about the impact of the digital age on how readers stumble upon their next great read.

Workforce Development is an expanded and new service role for libraries. Join us for a discussion with grant recipients of e-government grants focusing on workforce community development as they discuss their innovative programs for connecting people with jobs.

Featured speakers are:

Sheri Shafer and Tiffany McClary from “NJ Works @ your Library,” a New Jersey State Library Program on partnerships and resources that help in the economic recovery of the state by giving libraries the tools they need to expand services to the unemployed and underemployed;

Janice Collins, Technology Supervisor for Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach, Fl. will discuss the “Career Catalyst Program” a career motivating program initiative that is a partnership with Palm Beach County’s Workforce Alliance that creates and manages employment initiatives to assist unemployed library users in one setting;

Jeff Scott, Deputy County Librarian, Tulare County, Calif. will focus on their innovative “ Job in a Box” grant program that reaches the unemployed through a book vending machine with resources targeting job seekers at One Stop locations;

and Kevin Cherry, Ph.D. of the Institute for Museums and Library Services (ILMS) will discuss their innovative partnership with the state of North Carolina that trained library staff throughout the country to assist patrons with job and career skills through their COMPASS Program.

This program will present information on using the updated ECRR toolkit. Topics will include: parent tip sheets, childcare provider classes, staff training, serving children with special needs, tracking children's skills, and more!

An interactive workshop, presented by GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) staff will focus on ways libraries can create safe, respectful and healthy environments for all youth, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. RSVP required - http://bit.ly/fabhavens

A panel representing public, academic, school, and special libraries will present the programs and activities that promoted the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in their libraries and communities to “Keep the Dream Alive.”

During the Audience Exchange attendees will have a two-minute opportunity to tout their own special events. Everyone is asked to bring at least 25 copies of each handout to fully participate in the closing Materials Exchange.

The shift from traditional reference desk activity has become an accepted reality in most academic libraries. Librarians now offer a variety of reference services including live chat, “roving” reference in the library, embedded or personal librarian service for classes, and research services in residence halls, gyms, and campus centers. This program will focus on the challenges that college libraries face in deciding how to provide and assess reference services that best meet local needs without straining resources.

Participants in this program will learn how to identify at-risk youth populations in their communities and how to advocate, plan, design, implement, and evaluate your library’s program for at-risk teens.