Since 1908, the American Library Association’s (ALA) Midwinter Meeting has taken place 107 times, with only a few pauses. Held virtually, this year’s Midwinter was the last in its current format; next year ALA will launch LibLearnX, a learning, networking, and collaboration experience scheduled for January 21–24, 2022, in San Antonio.
Though this year’s event was the final meeting, it was a consequential one with more than 7,100 participants and marquee speakers such as Ruby Bridges, Ethan Hawke, Ziggy Marley, Cicely Tyson, Emmanuel Acho, US Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and new US First Lady Jill Biden. Many sessions centered on two major themes: equity, diversity, and inclusion; and library responses to the coronavirus pandemic.
“He said whaaat?!”
“Sticks and stones …”
Through that simple incantation, the idea of words as malign projectiles was supposed to be nullified. Nah, nah, nah, boo, boo. Despite this workaday defence, it didn’t mean that you didn’t run home crying.
Words do hurt.
The line itself has an interesting background. It dates from the mid-1800s, first appearing in a book about the Crimean War. Alexander William Kinglake, an adventurous young Englishman, set out to tour the Middle East in the early 1800s. He wrote a book, Eothen: Traces of Travel Brought Home from the East. If you know nothing of Eothen or Kinglake and why would you? you have him to thank for your first line of peaceful defence on the playground.
CA's Amanda Gorman To Become The Super Bowl's First Poet - Los Angeles, CA - The poet laureate who gained national attention at President Joe Biden's inauguration will recite an original poem at Super Bowl LV.
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During the preparation for Joe Bidenâs inauguration, Dr. Jill Biden remembered a young poet she saw recite a work called âAmerican Lyricâ at the Library of Congress in 2017. She asked the inauguration committee to invite her, Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, to offer a poem for her husbandâs big day. Days after the event, I am still inspired by her work âThe Hill We Climb.â Gorman, only 22 years old but as powerful and poised as a venerable philosopher, was the poet to meet this moment. She was the exact right person to acknowledge the nationâs heartache at the attack on the U.S. Capitol, to lead us beyond fear and rancor, and to root us in words and ideals.
Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman is making waves once again.
On Wednesday, January 20th, America’s first-ever Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman soaked up the limelight as being the youngest performer ever at President Joe Biden’s inauguration. But it wasn’t just her age she’s only 22 that captivated people, but the incredible poem she read that she had written for the inauguration, “The Hill We Climb.”
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Since that performance, Americans have been deeply excited about her two upcoming books one is a children’s book. And for those who were holding their breath until they could see her perform again, luckily, she’ll be on live national television again very soon. If you want to know how to watch the performance, keep reading.