RUSA 2017 President’s Program: Forget the Future: Our Time is Now

David Lankes will be the keynote speaker at the President’s Program hosted by RUSA at the upcoming ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. The program takes place Saturday, June 24 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM Location: McCormick Place, W190a. Add it to your schedule!

David Lankes is the Director of the University of South Carolina’s School of Library & Information Science, the 2016-17 Follett Chair at Dominican’s Graduate School of Library & Information Science, and recipient of the American Library Association’s 2016 Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship.

Our communities-our colleges, our towns, our schools, our businesses-need us. As those we serve face growing tensions of nationalism, xenophobia, racism, extremist politics, and social media sites that seems better at building filter bubbles than societies there is a need for a community of professional dedicated to the common good and founded on knowledge. However our communities don’t need us to gate keep a collection, offer up workshops, or staff a building. They need us adding value to their lives with them in their homes, classrooms, offices, and devices. This talk will explore how reference and user services not only remain relevant, but mobilize to addresses the real challenges of today’s community.

Responders:
Valerie Gross has served as President & CEO of Howard County Library System (HCLS) since 2001. Gross has developed a 21st century vision for libraries that reclaims the profession’s original purpose: Libraries = Education and has authored Transforming Our Image, Building Our Brand: The Education Advantage. For her game-changing vision, HCLS was recognized in 2013 as Library of the Year by Gale and Library Journal.

Roberto C. Delgadillo is a Research Support Services Librarian at the University of California, Davis. His areas of responsibility include: Chicana/o Studies, English Language and Literatures, Latin American Studies, Military Science, Native American Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Literatures. Roberto was the 2012 recipient of the Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award.

RUSA President’s Program is a part of RUSA’s programs and event offerings at the ALA Annual Conference. Further scheduling details to come soon. There is no cost for this program, but conference registration is required in order to participate in this event–you can register on February 2, 2017 on the ALA Annual Conference website.

About RUSA
The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services and collection materials they need. Learn more about RUSA.

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