Cognotes 2017 Annual Conference Highlights - 12

COGNOTES

ALAANNUAL.ORG/MOBILE-APP|#ALAAC17

2017 CHICAGO HIGHLIGHTS

Joint Council of Librarians of Color Hold Reception

n June 24, ALA President Julie B.
Todaro hosted the annual social/
fundraising reception for the 2018
Joint Council of Librarians of Color (JCLC)
to be held September 26 - 30, 2018 in Albuquerque, N.M.
In her welcoming remarks, Todaro announced her strong and strategic support of
the JCLC through a $10,000 donation to
the conference, a reflection of her Libraries
Transform campaign, which has focused on
"librarians - the experts in the library" and
her deep commitment to equity, diversity, and
inclusion in ALA and the library profession.
Her announcement was enthusiastically and
gratefully received by Dr. Kenneth Yamashita,
president of the JCLC board of directors,
sponsor of the 2018 Joint Conference.
The gathering saw JCLC advocates enjoying the collegial networking and the opportunity to contribute to the JCLC through a
raffle and sales of JCLC memorabilia. Longterm supporters of the Joint Conference in
attendance included ALA President-Elect
Jim Neal, 2017-18 President-Elect Loida
Garcia-Febo; Treasurer Susan Hildreth; Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels; Senior
Associate Executive Director Mary Ghikas;
ODLOS Director Jody Gray; Governance
Program Officer Cheryl Malden; ALA Past

Presidents Camila Alire; Carol Brey-Casiano,
Molly Raphael, Barbara Stripling, Maureen
Sullivan, Ann Symons, Betty Turock, and
Whitney Young; Deputy Librarian of Congress Robert Newlen and ARL Director of
Diversity and Leadership Programs Mark
Puente, as well as officers and members of
the five national associations of librarians of

color - AILA, APALA, BCALA, CALA, and
REFORMA.
The theme of the third National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color is "Gathering
All Peoples: Embracing Culture & Community." It is a conference for everyone - librarians
and library staff of color and the people who
serve and advocate for communities of color.

Watch for the call for JCLC program proposals as well as early bird registration coming
in Fall 2017 at www.jclcinc.org. Exhibitor
and sponsorship information is available by
contacting jclc2018exhibits@gmail.com. Individual supporters may send their donations
to Dora Ho, Treasurer, JCLC Inc., P.O. Box
71644, Los Angeles, CA 90071-0644.

Members enjoy themselves during the Stonewall Awards program.

Let the Screen Be the Tool, Not the Teacher
2017 ALSC Charlemae
Rollins President's
Program
Kelcey Stewart/Clarion University of Pennsylvania

n June 26, speakers Chip Donohue, Sarah R. Lytle, and Lisa
Regalla shared their wisdom and
latest research on digital-age technology
and its relationship to childhood development and literacy. This program provided
attendees with innovative ways for librarians
to enhance their professional development

and grow into their role as media mentors
for children and caregivers.
Research shows that children between
the ages of 0 and 8 spend an average of one
hour and 55 minutes in front of a screen
each day. More than 36 percent of parents
report that the television is almost always
on and running in the background and at
least 58 percent of parents have downloaded
an app for their child.
Let the screen be the tool, not the
teacher.
Instead of handing your child a device
and expecting the apps to do the teaching,

Sarah Jessica Parker on the Joys of Reading

Lisa Regalla presents her work
about "Plugging into Digital Age:
Libraries Engaging and Supporting
Families with Today's Literacy" at the
ALSC Charlemae Rollins President's
Program.

interact with the child and use the device as
a means of joint engagement. If you want
the child to have successful early learning,
you need the social component.
Content that helps the learning process
includes familiar characters, songs, audience
participation, and repetition. If you utilize
these main forms of content, you will see
an increased growth in the child's brain
development, memory, and interpersonal
relationships.
Parents are the number one media role
models. The use of technology should be
beneficial and the parents need to be aware
of the technology they are using. Because
parent media use is a strong predictor of
child media habits, reducing parental media
use and enhancing parent-child interactions may be an important area of behavior
change. When you strengthen the parent,
you strengthen the child.

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