#teamala

Meet our #TeamALA

Keri Cascio

Executive Director, Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS)

What do I do at ALA:

I'm the Executive Director of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS). ALCTS members work in collections and technical services, specializing in acquisitions, cataloging, metadata, collection management, preservation, digitization, continuing and electronic resources, and more! As Executive Director, I support the governance of ALCTS by assisting the board, committees, and members in doing the work of the Association. Some days I feel like I get to talk to everyone about everything!

Favorite library memory:

Being old enough to check out books out from the adult section was a pretty big deal. I was lucky enough to grow up at the Middle Country Public Library in Centereach, NY, a finalist for the 2015 National Medal for Museum and Library Service.

What do I love about my job:

My members generally appreciate a good cataloging pun.

What do I do outside of ALA:

You'll usually find me at the dog park (or dog beach) with Violet, my chocolate lab mix. Her photo makes it into most of my presentations and Twitter posts. 

ALA pro tip:

ALCTS sponsors Preservation Week in April each year, but we have a year-round advice column for the public called Dear Donia. There's lots of great answers in the archive, and if you submit a question you'll be entered in our monthly drawing for a document preservation kit.

What I’m Reading:

The Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time 3) by Robert Jordan

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

What I’m listening to:

Okay, so you heard we’re updating ALA Connect...now what? Check out Pam’s latest videos for more details, and check out two important dates below:

August 7th: live training sessions will be available Mondays and Wednesdays. Details about the training schedule and resources are available on the support site

Pamela Akins, Community Engagement Specialist with another update on the New ALA Connect!

The announced “gray-out” begins at the end of business on August 10, 2017. Although public content will be viewable without a login, private content, viewable to members only, will not.

Starting August 7th live training sessions via Adobe Connect will be offered on Monday mornings and Wednesday afternoons.  Details about the training schedule and resources will also be available on the ALA support site (http:www//ala.org/support).

On launch day, August 31, 2017, you will get an all clear message containing a link to the site asking you to login.

Did you hear about the updates coming to ALA Connect?

Since 11 a.m. last Thursday (and as of 5 p.m. this afternoon), there have been 3,838 tweets under the #saveIMLS hashtag on Twitter. That is over 767 tweets a day. Or, sliced another way, there are currently 1,800 people who are participating in the conversation on Twitter. Anyway you dice it, we need this momentum to continue.

#TeamALA Staff Profiles

Meet Keith Michael Fiels, Executive Director, ALA

What do you do at ALA?

I have been ALA’s Executive Director for 15 years now. Before coming to ALA, I was the Director of Massachusetts’ state library agency. I’ve moved around a lot and been a librarian since I was 20.

What is your favorite library memory?

As the director of the state library agency in Massachusetts, I had the opportunity to tour the nuclear-bomb proof vault deep  beneath the Massachusetts state house in Boston. There, I got to hold the Bradford Diaries in my cotton-glove-clad hands. This is the journal kept by William Bradford on the Mayflower, where 41 passengers signed what was the first document that would govern the colony they were about to establish in Plymouth. Very cool!

Why do you think libraries / librarians are important?

I grew up very poor, and libraries and the books they offered made an enormous difference in my life and opened up worlds I would never have known nor imagined. I see libraries making this opportunity available to all.

 What do you love about your job?

I feel that the work we do at ALA makes a difference in lives all around the world. Everywhere I go around the world, people hold our American libraries in awe.

What is something cool you’ve accomplished lately at ALA?

We’ve gotten involved with Sara Jessica Parker, who turns out to be a library lover, and will be working with us on a new Book Club Central resource for libraries and the public.

What do you like to do outside of ALA?

Travel, archeology, writing, painting, antiquing, gardening, being off the grid in the wild or foreign lands.

ALA Pro Tip?

Get involved with ALA. You need to make an investment in your future as you would in any endeavor. The time you spend in ALA will repay you hundredfold in terms of new ideas, opportunities to stretch your limitations and grow as a professional. It’s the difference between punching a clock and a satisfying and fulfilling career.

What are you reading?

Often read a couple of things at once. Read a lot in archeology and history, now digging into the Mayan and Anasazi cultures. On the fictional side, I tend to alternate between “literature” and murder mysteries.

What are you watching?

Have discovered the Midsomer Murders, a BBC detective series set in small village England. Great central character – a seasoned chief inspector with a lovable but bumbling younger side kick – and a mixture of whimsy and bloody murders that only the English can carry off. So many murders – at least 2 or 3 an episode – that one wonders why the countryside has not been depopulated. Ran for something like 17 seasons, so I have months of rather pleasant viewing ahead…

What are you listening to?

#TeamALA Staff Profiles

Meet Tina Coleman, Membership Specialist, ALA Membership

What do you do at ALA?

My official title is Membership Specialist and I most of my work is with membership engagement projects. If ALA has a booth at a conference, it’s likely I helped to put it together. I also am the co-lead on ALA’s social media team, I organize the ALA Lounge and the Networking Uncommons at ALA Annual and Midwinter, and I’m the staff liaison to the Gaming Round Table, the Graphic Novels & Comics in Libraries Member Interest Group, and the Virtual Communities and Libraries Member Interest Group.

Why do you think libraries / librarians are important?

I think libraries are important because they offer a space for everyone with no questions asked. Libraries provide materials for study, entertainment, and enrichment no matter what your interest is. Librarians are important because it’s hard to navigate the vast landscape of available information on your own. Having a guide that is trained in how to evaluate information is vital in the modern world.

What do you love about your job?

I absolutely love the librarians I get to work with every day. To see and hear about the passion and creativity they bring to their work is humbling. I feel very lucky to be able to learn so much from our community.

What is something cool you’ve accomplished lately at ALA?

I have a couple of things I’m pretty proud of lately. One is these staff profiles. J Having the chance to highlight the wide range of smart and creative people that I work with is pretty amazing.

Working with the Graphic Novel MIG I’ve also helped to build a presence for libraries and librarians at some of the biggest comic conventions in the country. We’ve had programs and booths and events at New York Comic Con, C2E2, Denver Comic Con, San Diego Comic Con, and this year we’re working on some things for Emerald City Comic Con. This is something I’ve worked on for more than five years, so to see it grow and take off has been a lot of fun.

What do you like to do outside of ALA?

I’m pretty crafty, so I like to make things. I sew, and embroider, and I love photography. I really like to make art.

ALA Pro Tip?

If you want to get involved in the Association, find your niche and dig in. It’s not always so easy you might need to try out a few things before deciding what you want to work on. Ultimately, though, it your voice – YES YOU – that makes the wheels move.

What are you reading?

I usually do audiobooks, so I can absorb books on the go. I’m re-listening to the Harry Potter books and I’m about a quarter of the way through Order of the Phoenix. It’s so good!

What are you watching?

At the moment I’m re-watching Smallville. It was easy to do during the holiday season while I was too busy to focus fully on something new. I’m just over halfway through the run already. It’s still one of the best retellings of Superboy ever done!

I did go see a lot of movies recently, though so shout out to Hidden Figures and Rogue One and Moana!

What are you listening to?

At this very minute it’s Los Lobos “I Got Loaded” but I’ve also been jamming to the Hamilton cast album, Frank Tuner, and a bunch of francophone bands from Quebec – karkwa, Malajube, Les Trois Accords.