Internet privacy and the corrosion of civil liberties through surveillance, data collection and government censorship will be the focus of the Opening General Session at the 2012 ALA Annual Conference.

The keynote speaker at the event, held from 4 – 5:15 p.m. on June 22, will be global Internet policy expert and author Rebecca MacKinnon. An expert on privacy rights, MacKinnon believes that technology should be harnessed to support the rights and liberties of users around the world; a belief that libraries and librarians fight to uphold every day.

In her new book, “Consent of the Networked” (Basic Books), MacKinnon warns that a convergence of unchecked government actions and unaccountable company practices threaten the future of democracy and human rights everywhere.

MacKinnon works on global Internet policy as a Schwartz Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, where she conducts research, writes and advocates on such issues as global Internet policy, free expression and the impact of digital technologies on human rights. She is co-founder of Global Voices, an international citizen media network and a former fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. She also serves on the board of the Committee to Protect Journalists and worked for 12 years as a journalist in Asia, including as CNN’s Bureau Chief in Tokyo and Beijing.

Submitted by Jennifer Petersen, Public Information Office

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In celebration of two American classics, baseball and libraries, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and the American Library Association launch Step Up to the Plate @ your library just in time for summer.

This year’s program is a whole new ball game. With a greater emphasis on social media, people of all ages are encouraged to use the resources at their library to answer a series of trivia questions developed by Hall of Fame staff.

Each week a new trivia question will be posted on atyourlibrary.org/baseball. Players will have a week to visit their library to use the print and electronic resources to answer the question correctly. All correct answers will be entered for a weekly drawing for a prize pack from the Baseball Hall of Fame.

All correct answers provided throughout the season will be entered into a final grand-prize drawing for a chance to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum to attend the World Series Gala and a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum and archives in Oct. 2012.

Libraries can post the questions on their own websites, Facebook and Twitter pages to have ready-made content throughout the summer and to plug in to the national contest.  Baseball-themed programming ideas and sample social media content are also be available on atyourlibrary.org/baseball.

Players and librarians can follow atyourlibrary.org on Twitter (@atyourlibrary) or Facebook (facebook.com/atyourlibrary) for updates and reminders about new questions and content available on atyourlibrary.org.

Developed by ALA’s Campaign for America’s Libraries and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Step Up to the Plate @ your library teams up two American classics—libraries and baseball—to promote libraries and librarians as essential information resources.

Step Up to the Plate is part of the Campaign for America’s Libraries ALA’s public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians. Thousands of libraries of all types—across the country and around the globe—use the Campaign’s @ your library® brand. The Campaign is made possible by ALA’s Library Champions.

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For more than two decades, he was a constant guest in your living room as the anchor of CBS Evening News. On June 25, Dan Rather will share some of his experiences in bringing you the news as he joins an exciting roster of speakers at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference held June 21 – 26 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Rather will be one of 10 distinguished speakers at the conference’s Auditorium Speaker Series. The speakers are noted for their contributions as authors, journalists and national newsmakers.

On Saturday, June 23, best-selling author John Irving will speak from 8 – 9 a.m. Irving will discuss his 13th novel and latest release, “In One Person” (Simon & Schuster). After a successful career in professional wrestling, Irving’s novels have been translated into 35 different languages with nine becoming international best-sellers. In 1980, Irving won the National Book Award for “The World According to Garp,” and in 2000 he received an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for “The Cider House Rules.”

Later in the day, actor and children’s book author Chris Colfer will appear from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Best known for his starring role as Kurt Hummel in the award-winning comedy “Glee,” Colfer is now the author of his first children’s book, “The Land of Stories,” to be released June 17.

At the age of 20, Colfer was the youngest actor to ever win a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series for his performance as Kurt Hummel, a fashionable yet bullied gay teen on FOX’s “Glee.” Colfer has also received two Emmy nominations, a SAG nomination and was named one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” by TIME magazine in 2011.

On Monday, June 25, award-winning journalist and author Dan Rather will appear from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. As the anchor of the “CBS Evening News” for more than two decades, Rather is one of America’s most decorated news journalists of all time. In his new memoir titled, “Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News,” he looks back throughout his legendary career and reviews his personal thoughts and reflections on some of the highlights and controversies.

Other speakers in the series include: behavioral economist and New York Times best-selling author Dan Ariely (“Predictably Irrational”); 2007 TED Global Fellow William Kamkwamba (“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope”); child philanthropist Talia Leman; youth activist Gaby Rodriguez (“The Pregnancy Project”); best-selling author Sapphire (“Push”); Internet philosopher and author David Weinberger (“The Cluetrain Manifesto”); and actor/author Henry Winkler with Lin Oliver (Hank Zipzer series).

Submitted by Jennifer Petersen, Public Information Office

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Teen lit fans, library staff, educators, parents and teen readers with Apple devices can now visit the Apple App Store and download the free Teen Book Finder, the first app created by the Young Adult Library Services Association(YALSA), a division of the American Library Association.

The free app, which highlights books and media from YALSA’s awards and selected book and media lists, can be run on an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad. YALSA’s Teen Book Finder is available thanks to generous funding by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

“The Teen Book Finder is a great way for teens, parents, teachers and librarians to get suggested titles from our wonderful recommended lists and awards for teens,” said Sarah Flowers, YALSA president. “We’re proud of the work our members do in selecting titles for lists and awards, and we want to share those excellent titles with a wide range of readers. I had the opportunity to demonstrate the app at the U.S.Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. while we were in beta testing, and the people who saw it were very excited about it—and so am I!”

The Teen Book Finder’s features include:

• books and media from all of YALSA’s awards, including the Alex, Edwards, Morris, Nonfiction, Odyssey and Printz;
• the past three years of YALSA’s selected book and media lists;
• all books selected for the Teens’ Top Ten;
• three Hot Picks, featuring different titles from the database, refreshed each day;
• the ability to search for books by author, title, award or list year, genre, by award and by book list;
• a Find It! button, powered by the OCLC WorldCat Search API, that will show users where to find the book in a nearby library and a book’s available format, including audiobook and e-book;
• a Favorites button, to create an individualized reading list;
• the ability to share books from the Teen Book Finder on Twitter and Facebook.

The app was developed by Ora Interactive. An Android version is planned for later in 2012.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos and audiobooks for teens.  For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading, viewing and listening, go towww.ala.org/yalsa/booklists, or contact the YALSA office by phone, (800) 545-2433, ext. 4390, or email, yalsa@ala.org.

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Bookmobiles provide vital library services to their communities, offering free access to the latest technology and materials to users of all ages. In many ways, they are rolling library ambassadors.

At this year’s Annual Conference, attendees will have the chance to learn more about bookmobiles and mobile outreach services on Saturday, June 23, during “Bookmobile Saturday.”

The all-day event is presented by the Office for Literary and Outreach Services (OLOS).  It will provide attendees the opportunity to learn about the importance of mobile outreach services and their future in communities across America. Concluding the event will be a “Parade” of bookmobiles in the exhibit hall, which will be open to all conference attendees.

Bookmobiles, like libraries, continue to meet the needs of their communities by offering free access to the latest technology and materials to users of all ages. By offering the same quality services available in libraries, patrons can search the Web, take a computer class, participate in resume workshops, listen to preschool story hours or check out books and DVDs.

Bookmobile Saturday will start with “Serving Communities outside the Walls of the Library – Using Mobile Library Services to reach the Underserved,” from 8 – 10 a.m. in room 206A of the Anaheim Conference Center (ACC). Panelists will explore the many ways bookmobiles extend the reach of the library in communities of all sizes and provide services to children, English language learners and seniors.

A second panel discussion, “Outreach as a Core Principle: How the King County Library System put outreach out front and won the Library of the Year award,” will follow from 10:30 – noon. Representatives of the King County (Wash.) Library System, 2011 Library of the Year, will discuss how they put their bookmobile plan into motion with their Future Services Strategy. The strategy places library outreach on the same footing as in-library and online services in order to combat illiteracy through early literacy programs.

Following the panel discussions, attendees will have the opportunity to attend a ticketed author luncheon from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. with special guest and social entrepreneur Gerald Chertavian, founder and CEO of Year Up, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching young adults in urban areas. Year Up’s intensive one-year program provides high school graduates and GED recipients between the ages of 18-24 with a combination of hands-on skill development and corporate internship opportunities.

Concluding the event is the Parade of Bookmobiles, held from 3 – 5 p.m., in the exhibits hall in conjunction with the ALA Diversity and Outreach Fair. Attendees will be able to board and explore some of the latest bookmobiles as well as speak with bookmobile staff.

Submitted by Jennifer Petersen, Public Information Office

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