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Page 2 • Cognotes 2015 Midwinter Meeting December Preview

Ignite Sessions Join 2015 ALA Midwinter Meeting

The popular five-minute “Ignite” sessions are coming to ALA Midwinter Meeting for the first time in 2015. The 18 selected topics to be covered in the three lunchtime sessions include: diversity in collection development (especially in materials for youth); how geek culture can help you diversify your collection; effective web writing; using gamer theory in making digital learning objects; a crash course on Creative Commons; evidence-based librarianship; connecting alumni to the library; creating improved materials for exploring a famous Chicago cemetery; and many more.

Each five-minute Ignite Session is accompanied by 20 slides that advance automatically every 15 seconds. There will be six Ignite sessions each day from 12:00 — 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Check out the full schedule and add the sessions to your calendar now.

“Ignite sessions offer the unique opportunity to quickly get exciting ideas for new programs and services in a fast-paced and entertaining setting. No other program offers such a wide array of new ideas in such a short time,” said Patrick “PC” Sweeney, Administrative Librarian, Sunnyvale Library.

The proposals went through a public voting process that counted for 30 percent of the selection process (staff votes accounted for another 30 percent, while the remaining 40 percent was decided by an advisory group of ALA members).

New Monday ALA Masters Series Event Announced

In 2013, the Soon to be Famous Illinois Author project was created to demonstrate the power of libraries to influence readers. Libraries across Illinois responded. As readers continue to signal their real thirst for indie books, the Soon to be Famous project is also about library collaboration to discover new good reads among the tens of thousands of books self-published each year. Sundance is about indie movies and YouTube is about user created videos. Soon to be Famous is a librarian-created space for quality indie/self-published books. Learn how to get this cutting edge project started in your community. This event features Denise Raleigh, Donna Fletcher, Julie Stam, and Lucy Tarabour on Monday, February 2, from 11:45 a.m. — 12:30 p.m. in McCormick Place West, W184bc.

See page 9 for additional ALA Masters Series sessions.

Cece Bell, Françoise Mouly, Jeff Smith, and Gene Luen Yang in ERT/ Booklist Author Forum

Cece Bell has written and illustrated several books for children, including the Geisel Honor book Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover. In her most recent book, El Deafo, she shares what it is like to grow up deaf. El Deafo has received starred reviews and widespread praise. Watch and hear Bell talk about the book and demonstrate the Phonic Ear in this video: https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=Cnj 5STG0SZo.

Françoise Mouly is art director at The New Yorker (where she has been responsible for more than 1,000 covers) and is also publisher and editorial director of TOON Books, an imprint of comics and visual narratives for young readers. She founded and coedited, with collaborator and husband

Art Spiegelman, the groundbreaking comics anthology RAW, the New York Times bestselling Little Lit series, and the TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics. She has received many awards including the Eric Carle Museum Bridge Award for “sustained achievement in the realm of the illustrated book for young people.”

Cartoonist Jeff Smith was an early adopter of the graphic novel format and is best known as the creator of the comic book series BONE, started in 1991and now a New York Times best-selling series that has won numerous awards and honors including 10 Eisner Awards and 11 Harvey Awards. He is a board member of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, guest edited the 2013 Best American Comics anthology, and is the creator of TÜKI and RASL. His other books include Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil and 2009 Geisel Honor recipient Little Mouse Gets Ready.

Gene Luen Yang's first book, American Born Chinese, is published in more 10 languages, won the Printz Award and was a National Book Award finalist. His other works include the popular comics adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the New York Times bestselling graphic novel diptych Boxers & Saints--also a National Book Award Finalist. The Shadow Hero, the story of the first Asian-American superhero, is Yuen's most recent graphic novel. His next book, Secret Coders (with Mike Holmes, Fall 2015), is about kids and computers, plus a mystery.

The authors are appearing thanks to the generous sponsorship of their publishers: Abrams (Bell); TOON Books (Mouly); Scholastic (Smith); and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group (Yuen).

The Exhibits Round Table is pleased to sponsor the E_RT/Booklist Author Forum as one of the many ways they collaborate with ALA staff and members to make the exhibits a dynamic part of ALA conferences. The latest books by participating authors can be found at their publishers’ booths in the Exhibit Hall. Some authors sign copies of their latest books right after the ERT/BOOK-list Author Forum during the Exhibits Opening Reception.

Booklist is the book review magazine of the American Library Association, considered an essential collection development and readers’ advisory tool by thousands of librarians for more than 100 years. Booklist Online includes a growing archive of 160,000+ reviews available to subscribers as well as a wealth of free content offering the latest news and views on books and media. Booklist subscriptions offer essential integrated print and online access for the most efficient and effective workflow.

Add this event to your schedule now.

Cece Bell

Françoise Mouly

Jeff Smith

Sunrise Celebration Marks MLK Holiday

Internationally renowned intellectual Dr. Cornel West will keynote the 2015 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Observance and Sunrise Celebration. The event will be held Monday, February 2 from 6:30 - 7:30 a.m. in McCormick Place West, W181.

Cornel West is a prominent and provocative democratic intellectual, a professor, recipient of more than 20 honorary degrees, and author of many important books including Race Matters and Democracy Matters. He appears frequently on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” “The Colbert Report,” “Democracy Now,” CNN, C-SPAN, and other national and international media. Dr. West's participation is sponsored by Beacon Press.

Coffee and tea will be served thanks to the generous sponsorship of World Book, Inc. Attendance is open to all attendees of the 2015 ALA Midwinter Meeting.

Dr. Cornel West