Professional Associations

This week the task at hand is to select two professional associations and share information about them.  I chose to research the American Library Association (ALA) and the Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC).  I work in a small library and I am a member of the ALA at present and plan to continue to be a member throughout my career.  Membership in my local state organization, SDLA, has been key to furthering my education and networking.  Joining my local professional organization has always been a priority for me in my career.  I had an opportunity to network with other library professionals at a tri-conference between NDLA, SDLA, and the Mountain Plains Library Association last fall.  My local library colleagues and I presented a workshop.  We were well received.  I appreciated the larger variety of workshops available at the tri-conference.  I met an incredible amount of people across several states.  I look forward to attending a Public Library Association Conference and an ALA Conference in the future.  Furthermore, I am not currently a member of ALSC but plan to add that to my membership as I am in charge of children's programming at my library.

American Library Association (ALA):

The mission of the ALA is to advocate for librarians, libraries and library patrons.  This is accomplished at the national level by leading the way in forming legislation and policies that affect libraries and information services.  Benefits to individual members include online learning, weekly e-newsletters, and countless resources from across the profession.  The website offers a new members section which I found to be very helpful.  It helped me sort out what I need to do to get more involved immediately. Individuals may join for $133 per year, with a first year discount of $66.00.  Students may join for the bargain price of $34.00.  The journal of the organization is the American Libraries Magazine.

Association of Library Services to Children: (ALSC)

The ALSC is the children's division of the American Library Association.  I know it best as the organization that awards the Newbery and Caldecott book awards each year.  (This year I was able to watch history as I watched the awards ceremony "live" via live stream.)  One may join the ALSC for $50.00 more than the basic ALA membership fee.  Students pay an additional $20.00 to join and you must be a member of ALA to join ALSC.   The mission of the ALSC is to "support library service to children and advocating for better library services and materials for all children." The journal of the ALSC branch of ALA is aptly named Children and Libraries.  Beginning this spring it will be published quarterly instead of 3 times per year.  "Benefits of ALSC membership include: connecting professionally and socially about children's librarianship; sharing knowledge and expertise by becoming involved in one of 60 active committees, including the Newbery and Caldecott award committees; encompassing ALSC's exciting initiatives into your programming; growing your career by attending one of ALSC's many continuing education programs; and playing a part in advocating for better library services and materials for ALL children."

"American Library Association", American Library Association, dynamically generated page. http://www.ala.org/index.php (Accessed February 2, 2014)