Dear Colleagues, These past four months have been incredibly difficult. The disproportionate deaths of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people from COVID-19 delivered the first blow, and now the recent murders of Black people by police officers, adding to the centuries-old terror of state-sanctioned violence against the Black community, magnify this pain. We are sickened by these…
Daniel J. Leab, 1936-2016
It is with deep respect and sadness that we acknowledge the passing of Dan Leab. The Leabs’ vision and commitment in establishing the Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab American Book Prices Current Exhibitions Awards has enriched the professional lives of the RBMS community in wide-ranging and innumerable ways since its inception. He will…
UPDATE: Another scholarship matching donation
I am pleased to announce that the response to my first announcement of a matching donation for the RBMS Scholarship Fund was immediately and overwhelmingly successful. In just the first eight days of August, 15 donors combined to give $810, in amounts ranging from $10 to $200. I am grateful to you all. Your generosity…
Double Your RBMS Scholarship Donation in August
This is my first post to the RBMS Chair’s Blog, so let me first say thank you for the honor of being asked to serve as Chair. I could not believe more strongly in the work we do in RBMS, and I’m delighted to have the chance to assist in that work. One of the…
Call for Candidates: RBMS Liaison to IFLA
Dear Colleagues, A final reminder regarding submissions to serve as the RBMS liaison to IFLA. IFLA Committee Applications Due May 6 Would you like to serve as the RBMS Liaison to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) section standing committee? The biennial appointment process to represent ALA/RBMS on the relevant IFLA standing…
RBMS 2016 Election Results are In!
Dear Colleagues, The results are in! Please join me in congratulating our newly elected RBMS Section officers. I know we all appreciate their willingness to serve and look forward to working with them in the coming years: Vice-Chair/Chair Elect: Athena Jackson RBMS Member-at-Large: Heather Smedberg Also please join me in offering our whole-hearted thanks and…
RBMS 2016 Registration Almost to Capacity
Dear Colleagues, RBMS 2016 Conference Opening Doors to Collaboration, Outreach, and Diversity Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, FL Registration – Almost to capacity! Tuesday, June 21, 2016 – Friday, June 24, 2016 http://conference16.rbms.info/ I hope that you all have noticed the reminders that our conference committees have been posting on various list serves. The conference is…
RBMS 2016: Opening Doors to Collaboration, Outreach and Diversity
Dear colleagues, RBMS Conference 2016, “Opening Doors to Collaboration, Outreach and Diversity,” http://conference16.rbms.info/ , is now officially open for business and I urge you all to join the over one hundred members and friends of RBMS who have already registered for a truly special three and a half days of professional and personal enrichment. I…
Core Competencies draft comments — keep them coming please!
Dear Colleagues, Many thanks to those of you who have already posted the very helpful comments on the draft of the Core Competencies document available at this digressit site: http://rbms.info/digress/competencies/guidelines/ As all of you know, particularly those who have served on a Task Force, a great deal of “people effort” goes into the creation of…
Welcome!
Dear Colleagues, As fall arrives and we enter this bountiful season, I want to thank each and every one of you for your past generosity to the RBMS Scholarships fund. This past June, I was honored to attend the Scholarship Awards breakfast, to meet many of this year’s winners, to listen to their testimonies of the…