Hawaii Celebrates Sandy Berman Appreciation Month

[LIS NEWS] "Jenna Freedman declares the six weeks or so from now until his birthday on October 6, Sandy Berman appreciation month. She's asking for participatiion by sending him cards, flowers, subject heading suggestions, and low fat schnitzel.

Sanford Berman
Room 615 - Bed 2
Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital
6500 Excelsior Blvd.
St. Louis Park, MN 55426

He'll probably be at the above address for at least a month. While his condition isn't life threatening, it is very serious. He has two broken vertebrae in his neck and secondary injuries from the surgery and will be in a series of body, back and neck braces for some time. But don't feel that you have to know him to write to him. Sandy has long been a friend and mentor to librarians, LIS students, and activists that he's never met.

Further reading:

• Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sandy Berman but Were Afraid to Ask
• Kiss My Filing Indicators
• Press Release: ALA Honorary Membership
• Sandy Berman's Last Stand

Sandy was one of many mentors who encouraged me to become a librarian back when I was an undergraduate. He helped me to see that one could make a difference as a librarian, and that it was such an exciting career.

I will put a card on my door from now until October 1st. If you've been touched by his vision or inspired by his life, I encourage you to sign the card and share your appreciation for all that he's done.

Good news from the 2007 Conference

Thanks to the HLA Board, and the Constitutional Revision Committee, HLA can now have roundtables. Folks, that means we are in business. I am a bit busy as LIS Chair, so I would welcome anyone interested in working with Elena to help us get running. We need your ideas, energy, passion, and time.

Thank you again to all of the HLA members who supported the many changes needed to adapt the Bylaws, Constitution, and Handbook in order to create roundtables. I understand that there was some concern about how our Social Responsibilities group could impact the profession, but I was pleased that the motion passed. We will certainly remember that we operate within HLA, and that we cannot speak for the larger body on our own. I was very pleased that you trusted our professionalism and respected our intellectual freedom. I am sure that we will all benefit by having another venue for discourse.

Impact of Media Concentration on Libraries

Aloha SRRT-folks,

If you have a chance, you might want to download an interesting 17-page report from the ALA - Intellectual Freedom Committee - Subcommittee on the Impact of Media Concentration on Libraries.

Cheers,
Drew

Starting Page

This blog will is for members of the Hawaii Library Association who are interested in establishing and running our Social Responsibilities Round Table. Please use this blog to introduce yourself, and briefly discuss what you might like to do as a round table.

Mahalo
Drew