This year AKLA will celebrate its 50th anniversary at the AKLA 2010 conference in Anchorage March 4-7, 2010. The conference, which will be held over Iditarod weekend, has attracted several notable speakers.

Award winning author Sherman Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Willpinit, Washington and tells the story of his life in novels, poetry and film.  Alexie is a prolific writer. His book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian published in 2007 has won numerous awards. Two new books were published in 2009; War Dances, which is a collection of short stories, and a book of poetry titled Face.  Alexie will speak at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium the evening of Thursday, March 4th. The event is cosponsored with University of Alaska Anchorage Student Activities.

 

Daniel Russell will open the conference as the keynote speaker. He is a research scientist at Google where he works in the area of search quality, with a focus on understanding what makes Google users happy in their use of web search. Dan is best known for his work on sensemaking behavior of people dealing with understanding large amounts of information and for his earlier work on the IBM BlueBoard system, a large, interactive display that allows simple shoulder-to-shoulder collaboration.  Before joining Google, he also held research positions at IBM’s Research Almaden Research Center (San Jose, CA), Apple’s Advanced Technology Group (ATG), and Xerox PARC.  Dan was also an adjunct lecturer in computer science at University of Santa Clara for 10 years and at Stanford University  for 3 years.  Dan enjoys long-distance running, music and wordplay, becoming disgruntled when all three don’t happen in a single day.

 

Keith Michael Fiels has served as Executive Director of the American Library Association since 2002. In 2008, he created ALA’s new Office for Library Advocacy, designed to increase support for advocacy at the state and local level. Keith is orignally from Massachusetts where he served as Director of the Board of Library Commissioners. He was the recipient of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) Leadership Achievement Award, a Perkins School for the Blind Advocacy Award and a Library Public Relations Council Award. He has also been named to the ALA Association for Library Trustees and Advocates National Advocacy Honor Roll and the Massachusetts Library Association Hall of Fame..

 

Chris Crutcher is an author, educator and family therapist known for his realistic fiction. He taught primary and secondary school, at one point directing a "last chance" alternative school in Oakland, CA. Returning to the Pacific Northwest, he wrote his first book, Running Loose, in the early 1980's. Eight other novels and his autobiography, King of the Mild Frontier followed. Other books and several motion picture projects are also in development. ALA named eight of Crutcher’s young adult books “Best Books for Young Adults,” and four of his books appeared on Booklist’s Best 100 Books of the 20th Century, compiled in 2000 – more than any other single author on the list.  Crutcher received the ALAN Award in 1993, the NCTE SLATE Intellectual Freedom Award in 1998, the Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 and Writer Magazine’s Writers Who Make a Difference Award in 2004. Crutcher will be the speaker at the Authors to Alaska luncheon.

 

Rooted in Naparyarmiut (Hooper Bay), born in Bethel, and raised in Anchorage, Jack Dalton is a professional storyteller, writer and teacher. Jack has been honored by the World Indigenous Peoples' Conference on Education as a Distinguished Dignitary, featured as the cover story for the premiere issue of First Alaskans magazine and considered by many people around the world, indigenous and non-native alike, to be "The Storyteller." He was also chosen as one of Alaska’s Top 40 Under Forty. He has created and produced three theatrical works of epic storytelling, written a book, and has both a DVD and a CD of his storytelling available. He travels extensively around Alaska, the US and Canada sharing his culture and stories in schools, universities, theaters, and on summer Alaska cruises to a wide variety of audiences. He teaches the importance of storytelling to the continuation of all cultures and works with students to create their own stories, thus, continuing the tradition.

 

David Petersen is an author and illustrator best known for his series Mouse Guard. He says it’s a steady diet of cartoons, comics, and tree climbing that fed his imagination as a child and is what still inspires his work today. David won the 2007 Russ Manning Award for Most Promising Newcomer. In 2008, David won the Eisners for Best Publication for Kids (Mouse Guard Fall 1152 & Winter 1152) and Best Graphic Album – Reprint (Mouse Guard Fall 1152 Hardcover). He is the creator of the Mouse Guard series and is excited to be working on projects he dearly loves doing. Petersen will be presenting at the conference as well as participating in a book signing event. He is willing and able to participate in school visits. Please contact him directly for pricing and availability. http://www.mouseguard.net/

 

Jessamyn West is a librarian living in rural Vermont. Jessamyn works to help libraries and librarians make sense of technology. She also teaches adult education classes in basic technology. Jessamyn has been speaking on the intersection of libraries, technology and politics since 2003. She has given presentations in twenty-six U.S. states, three Australian states and four Canadian provinces. Jessamyn’s areas of interests include: The digital divide and its effect on library services, Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 and how they reflect many of the things libraries are already doing, the U.S. political climate and specific legislation that affects library services such as DOPA and the USA Patriot Act and rural libraries and ways in which they can use new technologies to make the most of their small budgets, spaces and staff..

 

Pat Wagner and her husband Leif Smith own Pattern Research, Inc., a 35-year-old research and training business in Denver. Pat has been working with libraries, universities, schools, and local government as a trainer and consultant since 1978. She focuses on customer service, personnel, management, leadership, marketing, and library development issues. Pat is a trainer regional and national library associations including SLA, Infopeople (California), the LLAMA/ALA Regional Institutes, and the MLA (Medical Library Association), as well as contributing to the SirsiDynix Web Seminar Institutes. She is a frequent presenter at state and national conferences, including the American Library Association, SLA, and the Public Library Association. Pat is also a subject matter expert and the library relations associate for the University of North Texas Lifelong Education @ Desktop virtual library education program. From small rural one-person libraries to large urban systems, from Alaska to Florida and across the spectrum of library types, Pat has worked with diverse institutions, issues and individuals. She is known for down-to-earth, practical and entertaining programs and advice that focus on real library issues. She works with her clients to design programs that meet the needs of each customer and provides personalized service. She has worked with libraries and library associations in 46 states and Canada.

 

Patti Sinclair has worked as a children’s librarian and in other library settings, including organizing the research library at American Girl. She served as editor of Children’s Magazine Guide and is the author of E for Environment, an Annotated Bibliography of Children’s Books with Environmental Themes (Bowker, 1992), and is a regular contributor to “LibrarySparks” magazine. She has been the editor of the Summer Library Program Manuals since 2003, a job she loves. She earned a degree in Library Science from the University of Wisconsin—Madison where she lives with her husband, two dogs, and when he is on break from college, her son.

 

Jenny Levine is the Internet Development Specialist and Strategy Guide at the American Library Association, where she works in the Information Technology department. As part of her job, she blogs, creates wikis, bugs her colleagues to instant message, tests podcasting and vodcasting, teaches RSS, posts pictures on Flickr, responds to members on Twitter, and does similar work with other emerging technologies and tools in general. In 2007, she organized the first ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium, as well as the successful follow up in 2008. She also helps coordinate ALA's annual National Gaming Day initiative. In April 2009, she led the development of a professional online network for ALA members called ALA Connect. In addition, Jenny is the author of The Shifted Librarian blog, a site that helps librarians understand the coming impact of ubiquitous, mobile, always-on internet (and hence ubiquitous, always-on information) on our profession.

 

Jenny Lynne Semenza is the Head of Reference and Instructional Services at Idaho State University's Eli M. Oboler Library. She has been working at the Oboler Library for the past 15 years in varying public services capacities. In August of 2008 she returned from a sabbatical where she visited academic and public libraries throughout the West. She has served on many University committees including Faculty Senate, Curriculum Council, Budget Council, University Library Committee, and University Web Development. Her service has also included committees at the library such as Space Planning, Public Relations, and Travel. She is actively involved in the information literacy program at ISU, particularly in the areas of web 2.0, social software, business, law, and science. She is a frequent presenter at regional and state library conferences including Utah, Nevada, PNLA and Idaho. Additional information about Jenny and her sabbatical can be found on page 4 of “Between the Lines” .

 

Nancy MacKay is head of Technical Services and Coordinator for the Oakland Living History Program at the Mills College Library in Oakland California, and part-time faculty at the School for Library and Information Science, San Jose State University. Nancy has been straddling the line between library science and oral history for almost 20 years. As a librarian she has worked as a cataloger, music librarian, reference librarian, and instructor in various academic settings. As an oral historian she has worked as a project director, consultant, interviewer, writer, and teacher. Her book Curating Oral Histories: from interview to archive (2007) is devoted to increasing understanding between oral historians and librarians. She has degrees in anthropology and library science from University of California, Berkeley. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area, and is thrilled to come to Alaska and experience a real winter.

 

Nancy Warren is the Access Services/Systems Librarian at Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she manages the library's integrated library system, web site, blog and electronic resources. She also provides legal and non-legal research services to law firm personnel, specializing in social networking and Web 2.0 research, Internet research, and custom map images. Nancy has taught classes and seminars on research methods, online research, management of electronic resources, project management, and technical competencies. Prior to her career as a librarian, Nancy was a professional musician and played bassoon with various orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States.

 

Julia Gammon is Head of the Acquisitions Department at the University of Akron University Libraries and Marketing Manager for the University of Akron Press. Active in the library community, and a frequent speaker on acquisitions-related topics, Ms. Gammon was past President of the North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) and served on many ACRL and ALCTS committees. She was co-editor of Advances in Serials Management and is on the editorial board for Serials Review and Library Collections Acquisitions and Technical Services. She co-authored “Building Collections Cooperatively: Analysis of Collection Use in the OhioLINK Library Consortium” which was recently presented at the ACRL Conference in Seattle in 2009. On a regional level she is currently chair of the OhioLINK Collection Building Task Force, a key committee in Ohio’s statewide library consortium, which has been internationally recognized for its innovative approach to resource sharing. She has spoken to may library consortia on this topic. She was the recipient of the ALCTS Leadership in Acquisitions Award.

 

John Wohlers is currently employed as the Library Technology Coordinator for Waubonsee Community College. As the library's resident technology expert for the past 15 years he has been instrumental in the adoption, creation, and implementation of numerous technology initiatives. Recent initiatives include the integration of library services with social networking services such as Twitter, Facebook, and LibraryThing for libraries, as well as a complete redesign of the libraries web site using the open source content management system Drupal. John is also a regular presenter at the Unicorn Users Group International conference, as well as numerous Illinois library consortia workshops.

 

Click one of the links below to open ...

→ the detailed AkLA 2010 program

→ the AkLA 2010 Schedule-at-a-Glance

→ a floor plan of the Captain Cook Hotel

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Have registration questions or need assistance? Email akla2010conference@hotmail.com

The Alaska Library Association has partnered with ERA Aviation to offer a conference discount of 25% off all round trip fares (excluding companion, excursion or promotional fares) valid from any Era Aviation served city to Anchorage with travel dates from March1, 2009 to March 10, 2010. All reservations must be made by phone with Era Aviation at 1-800-866-8394. Passengers must reference Event ID Number ALA10 when booking to receive the conference rate. Travel that occurs outside the above dates will require an upgrade to the applicable fare.

The Alaska Library Association has also partnered with Alaska Airlines to offer a conference travel discount of 10% off any published fare, excluding Hot Deals, between any intra-state Alaska Airlines city and Anchorage. Valid travel dates are March 1, 2010 through March 9, 2010. Please use the following discount code when booking your conference flight: ECCTA0036 or call 1-800-445-4435.

Please join us at the Hotel Captain Cook, the headquarters for conference lodging and events. It is conveniently located in the heart of downtown Anchorage and within blocks of the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. Staying at the hotel and joining us for conference meals helps AKLA offset the cost of the conference facilities and rooms for our speakers so thank you in advance for reserving your room there.

Hotel Captain Cook
939 W. 5th Avenue - Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: 907.276.6000 Toll-Free: 800.843.1950

Conference Room Rates (single & double) start at $ 99 + tax. To get this rate please request the Library Association Conference Rate.