After careful consideration I am running for ALA Councilor-At-Large this year.
Voting in the 2011 ALA election will begin at 9:00 a.m. Central Time on March 16, 2011. Ballots close at 11:59 p.m. on April 22 (you willl receive an email). Election results will be announced on April 29, 2011.
I would love to have your vote!
You’ll be able to see my complete bio once ALA opens the site for voting; in the meantime:
Statement of Professional Concern:
The challenge of the 21st century library will be to continue to offer equal access to information and equal opportunity to all regardless of economic standing, physical location, or technological platform. It is both an exciting and challenging time for libraries, and ALA Council must be positioned to be forward-thinking, to adapt and to provide direction for libraries for their continued future existence. My professional mission is to move libraries into their rightful place in equality of access in the growing digital information age.
My professional interests and experience include implementing digitally- and technologically- based services, bridging the digital divide, and improving existing services through expanding traditional methods while creating innovative new practices. My career path and professional involvement have brought me face to face with these issues and the search for solutions. I believe that the ALA Council can make a difference through an active leadership role in this new shared future.
Additional info:
Professional Service
- Incoming member, Advisory Committee, OITP
- Chair, Transliteracy Interest Group, LITA, ALA
- Contributor, ALA Learning
Awards and Accomplishments
- Mover and Shaker, Library Journal, 2011
- Founder, Libraries and Transliteracy
- Founder, Library Day in the Life Project, a semi-annual grass-roots, international initiative
Publications
- Contributor, No Shelf Required II, 2012
- Contributor, The Readers’ Advisory Handbook, 2010
Select Upcoming Presentations – a complete list can be found on my Presentations and Publications page
- Why Transliteracy? ALA Annual, June 2011
- Working Towards Transliteracy, ALA Annual, June 2011
- Choose Your Own Adventure: The Future of eBooks and Libraries, Keynote, Midwest Collaborative for Library Services, April 2011
Job History
- Employment history can be found in detail on Linkedin
Please consider voting for these candidates as well:
I also strongly urge you to read up on our president-elect candidates
Librarian by Day 
Bobbi’s reputation precedes her, and a number of people in the profession whom I respect and trust think highly of her. I have, however, had the good fortune of meeting her and talking with her. She’s sharp, and she genuinely strikes me as a person who accomplishes things. And really, that last part is a key reason to support her for Council. I certainly do.
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I fully endorse Bobbi for ALA Council. Bobbi’s reputation in promoting both libraries and services to patrons is impeccable and well respected in the profession. She will bring skills lacking on ALA Council. For example, Bobbi has expertise in innovation, change management, leadership, technology and transliteracy. In particular, Bobbi’s understanding 21st Century skills will pull the association into the future. In getting to know Bobbi, I have seen her engage diverse points-of-view with tact and courteous.
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I am delighted to endorse Bobbi’s candidacy for ALA Council. She will bring some much needed attention to the real-world issues surrounding library service delivery; not only does she ask the right questions, she stays focused and contributes to the answers. Her love of appropriately engaged technology should set an example for Council as it attempts to move the profession forward. I like it that Bobbi is a thinker, and possesses a good sense of perspective (and humor), too!
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Having known Bobbi for several years and having worked with her this past year with the Transliteracy & Libraries Project, I can attest to Bobbi’s passion for libraries. She is very knowledgeable about trends and keeps abreast of many important issues facing libraries. Her blog is a main source of information for many of us and the combination of her knowledge and passion make her an ideal candidate for ALA Council.
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Did you ever admire someone from afar? (OK, like almost stalk, but not quite) and you follow their blogs, their writings, and nod your head in agreement and quote them to other people? You know what I mean, THAT kind of change agent who is generous, innovative and yes….I must say DARING!?? Well, Bobbi Newman is that kinda person..that kinda librarian.
Like someone just hand her a cape already – she’s a Super Hero!
I wholeheartedly endorse Bobbi Newman for ALA Councilor-At-Large – you know why else? Because she’s the kind of voice we need to have out there…for ALL of us! Having her on that council will make me sleep better at night. Yeah, not kidding. Really. Her passion, professionalism, leadership, and thoughtfulness (in every sense of the word!) is what we need to be our advocate on that council.
Please consider voting for this oh so worthy mover & shaker librarian.
Thank you and Cheers!
~Gwyneth Jones
The Daring Librarian
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I am happy to endorse Bobbi Newman for ALA Councilor-at-Large. What impresses me most about Bobbi is her energy level and curiosity about other areas of librarianship besides her areas of expertise. I also appreciate her forthrightness about existing library policies and her willingness to offer thoughtful solutions to challenges facing libraries.
Bobbi Newman knows when to put up, shut up, show up and dress up.
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That’s an awesome last sentence, btw.
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It is my pleasure to endorse Bobbi Newman for ALA Councilor-at-Large. Having worked with Bobbi on a number of projects, presentations, and system initiatives, there is no doubt in my mind her passion for libraries. Bobbi is an innovator, change agent, leader, listener and transliterate communicator. Her zeal for education and advancement for patrons and staff is inspiring. This is why I feel she would be someone who could create change for the better within ALA.
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Bobbi Newman is the model of the 21st century librarian. With her focus on transliteracy and reaching across the digital divide, Bobbi is forward-thinking and will be one of the key people to help shape libraries of the future. Having worked with Bobbi on ALALearning.org and having presented with her at national conferences, I can say that Bobbi has an unfaltering work ethic. She is true to her word, honest, and reliable. Bobbi has my full endorsement for ALA Council.
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Why Bobbi? Look, there’s like a gazillion librarians out there who are furiously tweeting, messaging, and above all blogging away. But there’s only 24 hours in the day, and most of that is taken up by other stuff. So reading time is precious, scarce.
Bobbi’s blog is one of the very few – in fact, one of just three – I make a point of reading every entry on. Why? Because she knows her stuff; she writes honestly and without ego or political machination or spite; she writes about the important issues that matter to the library sector; she writes in a timely way (her blog entry on #hcod became the ‘go to’ one) and, it’s worth repeating, in an honest way.
And, I’ll just repeat this as well: she knows her stuff.
So she gets my vote – one of the very few people I don’t have to think hard about whether to vote for, or not.
Still not made up your mind? Go and leaf through her blog. It’s a substantial enough reason to vote for her.
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When I first became a librarian, I’ll admit that I had no idea what I was expected to do with myself. Library school can only take you so far; what it can’t do is show you how to *be* a librarian. This is why Bobbi Newman’s Library Day in the Life project was invaluable as I began my career. In collecting the voices of librarians themselves, Newman created a foundational resource for librarianship and a signpost for beginning librarians like myself. The Day in the Life project alone warrants an endorsement, but Newman has contributed so much more. From her enormously influential Librarian by Day blog to her leadership in introducing librarians to cutting-edge concepts like transliteracy, Newman is a tireless advocate with a keen understanding of what matters most to librarians. I appreciate her dedication to the profession and I proudly endorse Bobbi Newman for ALA councilor-at-large.
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I fully endorse Bobbi Newman as ALA councilor-at-large. Bobbi listens to librarians, stays informed, is thoughtful, and has her finger on the pulse of our ever-changing profession, especially its digital future and the overarching social concerns of lifelong learning and the digital divide. At a time when ALA is criticized by some for being slow-moving and slow-reacting, having a person like Bobbi involved with the organization can only help overcome this criticism.
Bobbi is already a leader in our profession — just look at her projects that have impacted the profession around the globe. It’s time to make her an official leader and decision-maker in ALA. I strongly urge everyone else to vote for Bobbi! Voting decisions can be difficult ones. This one is most certainly not.
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Bobbi Newman is always ahead of the curve when it comes to best serving the needs of users in an increasingly electronic environment. Having Bobbi on ALA Council would ensure a techno-savvy infusion of ideas there, but also a common-sense perspective for maximizing our human and digital investments in a difficult economy. I know Bobbi will represent libraries and information agencies everywhere well and look forward to her serving as a conduit from librarians at large to the representative body of our professional organization.
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I’ve known Bobbi for only a short time, but, in that time, I have been nothing but impressed with her accomplishments. It’s repetitive to mention “Librarian by Day,” “Transliteracy,” and “Library Day in the Life”–so many others have mentioned these things before me: it’s clear that Bobbi works hard to promote her ideas. What strikes me about her, though, is her dedication to librarianship, libraries, librarians, and users. Not simply on an intellectual level, but on an emotional level that surprises. She actually feels strongly that information access should be a level field, and that what one group can do, others should be able to, also, regardless of socio-economic or educational level. I admire her ability to accept no compromise in that matter and her insistence that libraries and librarians have a duty to ensure this access.
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