Library Worklife

Volume 2, No. 9 • September 2005

ALA-APA News

DEMCO New Leaders Travel Grant

The DEMCO New Leaders Travel Grant is designed to enhance the professional development and improve the expertise of public librarians new to the field by making possible their attendance at major professional development activities. Plaques and travel grants of up to $1,500 per applicant are presented annually at the ALA Annual Conference. Established in 1993. The name of this grant was changed in October 2004. This grant is sponsored by DEMCO, Inc.

http://www.pla.org/ala/pla/plaawards/planewleaders.htm

Understand Poverty Before Judging

Your Voice

By David Winkler-Schmit

Published in the Cincinnati Enquirer, September 7, 2005.

I was on Williams Boulevard in Jefferson Parish, just outside of New Orleans, the morning before Katrina hit. People were struggling to get into any vehicle, many barely operable, to get out of the area. They were in for a long haul. I have worked as a children's librarian for New Orleans Public Library for more than 10 years, and I have experienced firsthand how vicious poverty can be. Illiteracy, homelessness and desperation fortify its horrible foundation. But we are making a difference.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050907/EDIT02/509070304/-1/all

David Winkler-Schmit is a librarian and freelance writer who lives in uptown New Orleans. He is staying with friends in the Cincinnati area, then moving on to visit relatives in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y. He does not know what has become of his house in New Orleans.