Volunteer With Me: #alaac25 Day Four!

Today, one of my colleagues referred to Monday of ALA as the day of “zombies.” While I definitely felt a bit sluggish after a jam-packed weekend, I was also still rearing to go because today was a day full of ALSC programming. I started my morning at the 2025 ALSC Awards Breakfast hearing about the amazing honorees and winners of the Robert F. Sibert Medal, Mildred L. Batchelder Award, Theodore Seuss Geisel Award, and Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award. I then headed back over to the exhibit hall for one last walk-through. 

After my quick stroll to purchase a few tchotchkes from the vendors, I then made my way to the ALSC Membership Meeting. While this session was only an hour, it certainly packed a lot into the 60 minutes. Awards and honors were presented, along with announcements about the ALSC National Institute, book lists, and more. The largest focus of the meeting, however, was the upcoming reunification of YALSA and ALSC. Current ALSC president, Dr. Rob Bittner, answered questions from the audience and questions that were asked of him throughout Annual. He also highlighted some next steps for the president, board members, and other committee members over the next year including:

• Scheduling virtual membership meetings and town halls to discuss the merger
• Creating a longer survey, in addition to the one sent to members on June 5th, to obtain feedback, concerns, and thoughts from current ALSC and YALSA members

Dr. Bittner also assured attendees that over the next year, ALSC activities and committees would proceed as usual.

After this informative session, I went to my final shift at the Zine Pavillion. I had the opportunity to walk and talk with my mentor and past ALSC president Caroline Ward (‘99-’00). On our way to the exhibit hall, we passed none other than Jerry Craft! My mentor and I shyly walked by, fangirling about the sighting, before Caroline said “Oh, I know Jerry!” and quickly backtracked to say hello. He was standing by the poster advertising his new book with Kwame Alexander –  J vs. K. After briefly chatting with us, he asked which of the three of us was the best at taking photos because he wanted to take a photo with the display. And THAT is how I wound up taking a photo of Jerry Craft and with Jerry Craft! As Judy Zuckerman said earlier in the day during her ALSC Distinguished Service Award acceptance speech, “…the connections you make through ALSC will help your career!” (Little did I know those connections would occur so quickly!)

Keep following along for one final post with reflections on my conference experience!

Anna Melvin (she/they) is a children’s librarian at the Cleveland Park Library in Washington, D.C. She is originally from the Philadelphia suburbs, and is happy to head home for this year’s conference to where her love for libraries began. As an elementary school student, Anna used to come in early to help her school librarian reshelve books and to discuss their most recent reads. This is her third time attending ALA, but her first working at the Zine Pavilion. She is very excited to be able to volunteer this year, and hopes to be able to connect with a larger range of library professionals while working at the Pavilion. Anna is most looking forward to this year’s conference because at the conclusion, she will begin a two-year term serving on the Library Service to Underserved Youth and Their Caregivers Committee. Anna is also eagerly anticipating attending sessions on serving patrons with disabilities, expanding her at-home library with some great reads from this year’s conference, and fan-girling over Geena Davis. Come say hi to Anna at the Zine Pavillion, or at the ALSC Membership Meeting! 

The post Volunteer With Me: #alaac25 Day Four! appeared first on ALSC Blog.

 Today, one of my colleagues referred to Monday of ALA as the day of “zombies.” While I definitely felt a bit sluggish after a jam-packed weekend, I was also still rearing to go because today was a day full of ALSC programming. I started my morning at the 2025 ALSC Awards Breakfast hearing about the amazing honorees and winners of the Robert F. Sibert Medal, Mildred L. Batchelder Award, Theodore Seuss Geisel Award, and Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award. I then headed back over to the exhibit hall for one last walk-through.  After my quick stroll to purchase a few tchotchkes from the vendors, I then made my way to the ALSC Membership Meeting. While this session was only an hour, it certainly packed a lot into the 60 minutes. Awards and honors were presented, along with announcements about the ALSC National Institute, book lists, and more. The…
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