GOOD question!

Today I heard from a school librarian friend who congratulated me on my candidacy and then asked me a serious question. How do I see myself able to be ALA President and not be unfair to my students and faculty? The person asking is a very good librarian who sometimes does conference and professional development presentations that take her out of her library and she is somewhat uneasy herself.

I let her in on my secret. If I hear that I win the election on May 1, my retirement papers will go in the next day. (I am eligible to retire and can do so anytime). My school is really good about my professional days, but I want to be more flexible than I can be while working. After I do that, I will hire a cleaning person for my house.I want to clear the way to do a good job for libraries.

I appreciate the opportunity for a school librarian to speak for ALA. representing all librarians. I know that my background as a public library trustee and as an adjunct professor for 19 years gives me that focus.

My husband is on a boat trip with his bandmates from Double Axel. They started in the Thousand Islands near the Canadian border and they are currently docked in Cape May, NJ, headed across the Cheasapeake Bay tomorrow morning. Last night when Frank called, he asked what I was doing and, when I told him about working on a design for an eye-catching sticker for badges at conferences, Alex volunteered to work on it for me. A couple of hours later, he sent me one that was new, not a clean-up of the one I was working on. I sure appreciate his taking that out of my hands. Sent to a local store this morning, the design was translated and stickers were ordered.

Here is the sticker, ready to catch eyes and encourage support. They will be done by Monday and packed for my 7.5 hour trip to Niagara Falls and the New York Library Association annual conference. I'm looking forward to getting ideas and concerns from my NYLA friends.

All of this was done around the fun of the seventh grade Native American project, sixth graders working on summarizing current events articles from databaes and citing them for their CNN Live project where they are newscasters, and planning for the astronomy project that starts tomorrow.

Comments

[Jane Lofton]

I am soooo excited that you are running for ALA President, Sara Kelly! You will be wonderful. And I love the sticker.

[Katie Williams]

Hi Sara,
I love that you are running for ALA president. You did such a great job as AASL President the years that the new standards were being developed and adopted. I will definitely support you.

While you are with the NYLA, it would be awesome if you could talk the creator of the Library Value Calculator into creating one that applies to school libraries! I would love for my school board and the public to realize (in dollars and cents) the treasure that they have.

I think his name is Luke Charde. :)

[Sara Kelly Johns]

That's a great idea, Katie! I may be able to track him down at Midwinter since I didn't find him at NYLA. Thanks for the support! Sara