In case you haven’t seen the RUSA election results, they are here. Congratulations to the newly elected RUSA Vice-President/President-Elect Liane Taylor and RUSA Directors-At-Large Danise G. Hoover and Stephanie Atkins Sharpe. Thank you to the Nominating Committees and everyone who stepped up to run for elected offices within RUSA and the Sections. RUSA is a member-driven organization and you are what make RUSA work!
RUSA is about a lot more than just in-person conferences, but at this time of year a lot of our focus is on the upcoming ALA Annual Conference. There are a lot of RUSA activities happening in Las Vegas from programing to discussion groups to awards and to opportunities for fun with other RUSA librarians. A lot of that is detailed in the information from the sections below in RUSA News and in the Section Reports and on the RUSA Annual Events page, so I’ll highlight some of the events at the RUSA level.
RUSA 101: Friday, June 27, 3:00-4:00 PM. The place to start if you want to learn more about RUSA, our sections, or get help figuring out the best things to attend at a packed conference. There will raffle prizes!
RUSA President’s Program: Saturday, June 28, 4:00-5:30 PM. Our Values, Ourselves: Examining Our Values and What Others Value about Us. Are our own values and self-perceptions interfering with providing services that our patron communities both need and want? Are we on the right track or off the rails? Join us this thought-provoking session that will cover the past and the future, public and academic libraries, and feature speakers with a range of perspectives. The co-chairs of the RUSA President’s Program, Liane Taylor and Paul A. Sharpe, along with the hard-working members of the committee, Alicia Finley, Elizabeth A. Kocevar-Weidinger and Sydney Leigh McCoy, have planned a wonderful set of programs for Las Vegas.
Carnegie Award for Fiction and Non-Fiction: Saturday, June 28, 8:00-10:00 PM This is the third year for the Carnegie Award and this is always a fun event with noted authors as speakers and the announcement of the award winners. Tickets are still available.
RUSA Awards and Volunteer Recognition Party: Sunday, June 29, 5:00-6:30 PM. Our premiere networking event, meet new people and connect with old friends as we honor people and organization who have won achievement awards.
Literary Tastes: Sunday, June 29, 8:00-10:00 AM. This is another great author event which used to be ticketed but is free and open to all! This year’s authors are:
- Daniel J. Brown , author of 2014 RUSA Notable Book The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (Penguin)
- Tessa Dare, author of Any Duchess Will Do (Avon)the top pick for The Reading List’s Romance category in 2014.
- V. E. Schwab, author of “Vicious” (Tor Books), the top pick for The Reading List’s Fantasy category
RUSA Executive Committee and Board meetings are open if you are interested in the operational aspects of the organization. For that matter all committee meetings are open unless otherwise noted in the program as closed meetings. These are a great way to learn more about RUSA, to get involved, and meet people. Many committee appointments have been made for the next year but some committees are still seeking members. All of these meetings are listed in the ALA Conference Scheduler.
Lastly, thank you for the opportunity to serve as your President for this year. After Annual I will transition to Past-President and hand leadership over to Joe Thompson. If you don’t know Joe, look for him at conference and say “hi.†He’s a great guy and will be an amazing leader for RUSA. I’m looking forward to what the next year will bring!
Best,
Kathleen
RUSA President, 2013-14