Carol K. Phillips – 2025-26 ALSC Vice President/President Elect Candidate

In an effort to help ALSC members make an informed decision before they vote, the blog posts for this morning and this afternoon consist of statements from the candidates for 2025-26 ALSC Vice President/President Elect; one to be elected. Both candidates submitted a written statement. This morning’s statement is from Carol K. Phillips; this afternoon’s statement will be from Ariana Hussain.

These are trying times as we all face

• threats to the freedom to read
• the desperate need for equity, diversity, and inclusion to be embedded into all aspects of our culture
• the crisis of information literacy and social isolation among young people
• the struggle to provide representative collections of materials for youth
• falling reading scores among children nationally

We all need to be advocates for children and the library services they need and should receive everywhere. Now, more than ever, it is important that we as children’s librarians work together. ALSC can make this a reality.

I am standing for the position of Vice President because I would like to give back to the organization that has given so much to me both professionally and personally. Through ALSC, I have had the opportunity to both serve and chair multiple committees and task forces, and have worked as a Priority Group Consultant for two different areas in our Division. I have had the opportunity to meet strong colleagues and leaders in our field with the same interests and concerns as mine, to work closely with them, to learn from them and to call on them for advice. A quick text to my colleague in Alaska has been known to save my day!

I am honored to be standing for election as ALSC Vice President/President-elect.

I started my career as a children’s librarian in a busy public library where I advanced to manage the Youth Services Department including children and teen services. After more than 30 years, I moved to a school library where I work today. Both positions have given me a deep understanding of all that can and should be done for children in libraries, and to appreciate the value of each.

My past experience as President of the New Jersey Library Association (the first working children’s librarian to be elected!) and my experience with various ALSC and ALA activities have given me a good sense of the challenges and opportunities to look forward to if I am elected.

I want to see ALSC membership and engagement grow as we continue to offer more virtual options for participation through educational opportunities and committee involvement. The ALSC NEWS column, the We Are ALSC Chats, ALSC Updates and ALSC Blog do a good job of providing news, volunteer information, tips, program suggestions and thoughtful reflections on our profession – easily accessible. ALSC online courses for members are free or low-cost. ALSC has so much to offer!

Let’s make a virtual orientation to our Division that could be available online; a link could be promoted in library school classes for students’ information to encourage them to join. That’s where I started. Let’s partner more with our state affiliates to spread the word, too.

I propose regularly-scheduled community forums for members. Whether it is ‘Membership Mondays” monthly, like PLA or something similar, we need to communicate more regularly so that members can hear from leadership and pose questions as they arise.

I had been invited and stood for election for ALSC Vice President in 2020. When asked if I would consider running again now, I agreed because I care about our organization. ALA is going through a critical metamorphosis. We know that ALSC is strong; we want it to stay that way.

I feel I have something to offer as president and I am willing to work hard, listen hard and learn hard as we face these existential and direct threats to libraries and our day-to-day work. We will stand together to validate the roles librarians and libraries play in supporting ALL children in order to build for them the path to healthy and successful futures.

Carol K. Phillips

The 2025 ALA Election opens Monday, March 10th and closes Wednesday, April 2nd. Don’t forget to vote!

The post Carol K. Phillips – 2025-26 ALSC Vice President/President Elect Candidate appeared first on ALSC Blog.

 In an effort to help ALSC members make an informed decision before they vote, the blog posts for this morning and this afternoon consist of statements from the candidates for 2025-26 ALSC Vice President/President Elect; one to be elected. Both candidates submitted a written statement. This morning’s statement is from Carol K. Phillips; this afternoon’s statement will be from Ariana Hussain. These are trying times as we all face We all need to be advocates for children and the library services they need and should receive everywhere. Now, more than ever, it is important that we as children’s librarians work together. ALSC can make this a reality. I am standing for the position of Vice President because I would like to give back to the organization that has given so much to me both professionally and personally. Through ALSC, I have had the opportunity to both serve and chair multiple…
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