Ilovelibraries.org, the American Library Association’s (ALA’s) Web site for the public, has been updated to make it easier than ever to show your love of libraries. The site continues to feature news about libraries from around the country, with a focus on particular services and collections from all types of libraries.

Improvements include an updated look and information about library issues in an expanded “Get Informed” section. “Share” links will let readers post their favorite stories to Facebook, My Space, blogs and other social networking applications.

Other features include a YouTube feed highlighting library-related videos. Advocacy software will allow users to share their library stories, connect with other library lovers and contact Congress about library issues.

An initiative of 2006-2007 ALA President Leslie Burger, Ilovelibraries.org, which launched at the ALA 2007 Annual Conference, was designed to keep America informed about what’s happening in today’s libraries, focusing on public, school, academic, corporate and institutional settings.

If you’re on Facebook, become a fan of I Love Libraries. Why? Because you love libraries. Currently there are 5,686 fans!

I bet your friends love libraries, too. Encourage those who aren’t fans to become fans!

By Beatrice Calvin, Program Officer, Placement/Recruitment, HRDR/ALA

I know that not everyone can attend the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago this July, but for those who can, this is a great opportunity to network with people who will be your professional peers. It is also the perfect time to get quality one-on-one face time with employers. The employers who have recruitment booths onsite in the Placement Center have come to the conference specifically to recruit. They are eager to demonstrate that their recruitment funds are getting at least a modest return on their investment. So they want to find quality candidates and possibly extend job offers before they leave the conference. This opens the doors for you to make real connections.

As you probably know, a successful job search can take quite a bit of time—as much as a year. So even if you are not about to graduate, it would still be beneficial for you to go to the Placement Center and talk to employers. You can gain a better understanding of what employers are looking for in new hires.

In addition to talking to employers, you can also get some help with your resume while you are in the Placement Center. The New Members Round Table (ALA) will provide resume review service. They can give you some helpful tips on how to present yourself in your resume.

If you have never attended an ALA Annual Conference, you might find it a bit overwhelming. If this happens, you can always go to the Placement Center. There are comfortable sofas for you to just sit down on and relax. There are also tables where you can just plop down all of your stuff (and you will have plenty of stuff) and catch your breath while deciding what sessions to attend.

Being library students, you’re probably aware of the plethora of titles available on job searching. But you may not have had time to look at any of them. Well, you can do that too in the Placement Center. The Placement Center has a wide variety of publications for you to peruse, including topics such as negotiating salaries, interviewing strategies, etc.

If you have questions and would like to talk to a “live” person on these topics, you should consider attending one of the workshops sponsored by the Placement Center. These include the following:

• Careers in Federal Libraries – Friday, 8:30am – 5:30pm; Held at Chicago Public Library, Free but registration is required
• Networking for Career Success – Saturday, 1:30 – 3:00pm; McCormick Place South, S101a
• Interviewing Strategies – Sunday, 10:30am – 12:00pm; McCormick Place South, S101a
• Practical Tips for Finding an ARL Librarian Position in a Tough Economy – Sunday, 1:30 – 3:00pm; McCormick Place South, S101a

“But how does it actually work?” you ask. Job seekers should register and search for jobs on the JobLIST web site. There is no cost to register. Registration is not required to view job information. However, it is to your advantage to register. It will give registered employers access to your resume information and allow them to contact you to schedule an interview.

If you plan to attend conference, you should check the box to indicate this. While looking at the jobs that are posted on JobList, you can send a message directly to the representative requesting an interview if you see one that you are interested in applying for (if you are registered).

If you connect with an employer before the conference and agree on a day and time to interview, the employer will contact Placement staff. If the employer has a booth in the Placement Center, you would go directly to their booth at the appointed time. If the employer does not have a booth, you would wait for him/her in the interview waiting area, which will be located near the rear of the Placement Center. That’s all there is to it! Just be sure to log in to JobLIST often and check your messages. If you register, employers can and probably will contact you before the conference even starts.

There is open access to the Placement Center. This means that you DO NOT have to register for the ALA Conference in order to use Placement services. You can go to the Placement Center any time it’s open. The Placement Center will be located in McCormick Place South, and will be open Saturday and Sunday, July 11^th & 12^th. If you have questions, you can contact the Placement Center Manager, Beatrice Calvin at bcalvin@ala.org or via phone at 800/545-2433 ext. 4280. You can also attend the orientation for job seekers on Friday, July 10 at 4:00pm in the Placement Center.

Hope to see you in the Placement Center. It’s the perfect place to meet your new employer.

ALA President Jim Rettig has created a special task force that is working with the Office for Library Advocacy to produce a web resource on the topic Library Ecosystem, which encompasses the idea that all types of libraries are interrelated. For example, the closing of a school library in a community will have impact on the public library in that community, which now has to deal with overflow from the school; as well as the college library, which now has to teach remedial information literacy skills to incoming freshmen. In order not just to survive but to thrive in today’s economy, libraries of all types must come together and advocate with a unified voice.

The Building Coalitions web resource will be part of Advocacy University, and will launch at our annual conference in July.

Your input is needed! President Rettig is asking you to take a survey to help identify libraries and library organizations which are involved, or have been involved, in advocacy coalitions. Your input is important in helping us continue to serve libraries and library organizations in their advocacy efforts.

Please pass this information along if you don’t feel qualified to complete the survey.

Either way, if you are attending the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, please attend President Rettig’s panel discussion, Coalition Building for All Libraries in a Tough Economy, Saturday, July 11, 4:00 to 5:30, McCormick Place West, Room 196B.

Help spread the word!

Thanks!

Dr. C. James Schmidt, professor in the School of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University, has been selected as the recipient of ALA’s 2009 Beta Phi Mu Award. This annual award, donated by the Beta Phi Mu International Library Science Honorary Society, is presented to a library school faculty member or to an individual for distinguished service to education in librarianship….

ACRL, in collaboration with the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, recently completed revisions to academic library position descriptions included in surveys covering salaries, benefits, and other benchmarks. Now, CUPA-HR has released the results of its 2009 Administrative Compensation and Mid-Level Salary surveys, with the first surveys conducted using the updated position descriptions. Survey results are available on the ACRL website….

The next installment in the series of ALA President Jim Rettig’s ALA Connections Salons will be an online discussion with Connie Paul, director of the Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, and Julie Brewer, coordinator of personnel and staff development at the University of Delaware Library. Paul and Brewer will discuss recruitment and education for librarians. The discussion will take place 2–3 p.m. Eastern time, May 15….

Over at the ALA Marginalia blog ALA Librarian Karen Muller writes: “When we launched the current version of the ALA website in September 2008, we stressed that there would be ongoing usability assessment followed by reworkings to the site, both minor and visible, from time to time. One major change is a revamp of our Professional Resources page, which we have consolidated into a Topics A–Z format that serves somewhat as an index to the website.”. Read the rest of Karen’s post for more details on how the ALA website is changing.

ALA President Jim Rettig held a press conference (32:00) at the National Press Club in Washington May 11 as part of National Library Legislative Day. He spoke about key library issues, including the many ways libraries are assisting a growing number of individuals during this time of economic downturn and the importance of funding libraries so that they can continue to meet the needs of the American public.

Evidence continues to accumulate that supports what the library community has known for a long time: libraries benefit children and teens in a big way. From preschool through high school, both school library media programs and public libraries are crucial to the academic performance and development of the students who use them.

Add It Up: Libraries Make the Difference provides research and statistics to help advocates make the case for libraries at every stage of youth development and education.

Learn more about Add It Up: Libraries Make the Difference.

You can register for a drawing to win ProQuest-sponsored travel to the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. The winner will get:

• Registration for the 2009 ALA Annual Conference
• Roundtrip airfare
• Hotel Accommodations A $500 gift card to cover meals, transportation, and expenses
• 1 ticket for the ALA Scholarship Bash at the Art Institute of Chicago, sponsored by ProQuest
• Admission to the ProQuest Customer Reception at the Art Institute of Chicago
• Admission to the ProQuest Customer Breakfast

SLJ talks about it here.

Good luck, everyone! ^^