Alumni Events, 2008-2009

2009 Frances Clarke Sayers Lecture

Author and illustrator Brian Selznick addressed more than 200 alumni and friends of the Department at the 16th Annual Frances Clarke Sayers Lecture on Sunday, April 5. Selznick spoke about his creative process, the relationship between images and words, and the creation of his most recent work, the Caldecott Medal-winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Prior to the Lecture, three California students representing the national Letters About Literature program read their winning letters to the audience.

Brian Selznick

Frances Clarke Sayers (1897-1989) was a distinguished children’s librarian, teacher, author, storyteller, and member of the UCLA faculty from 1954 to 1965, first in the Department of English and later at the UCLA School of Library Service. In 1991, friends and colleagues of Ms. Sayers established the Frances Clarke Sayers Fund to recognize her lifelong dedication to children and early literacy.

The fund has made possible an annual Frances Clarke Sayers Lecture, bringing luminaries from children’s literature to UCLA and the greater Los Angeles area. Previous lecturers include Katherine Paterson, Lois Lowry, Robert Cormier, Walter Dean Myers, Richard Peck, Sharon Creech, and Jim Murphy.

2009 LISAA Spring Brunch

Alumni, current students and friends gathered at UCLA's Covel Commons on March 21, 2009 to celebrate at the annual LISAA Spring event.

The event honored Joyce Pellerano Ludmer MLS '69 with the LISAA Distinguished Alumni Award. Mario Ascencio MLIS '99 was the keynote speaker.

Anniversary Celebration

In celebration of the beginning of two years of anniversaries and milestones, including the 50th anniversary of the Master's program and the 30th anniversary of the Doctoral program, the Department of Information Studies will hold a special anniversary kick-off event on Saturday, January 31, 2009.

2008 Fall Colloquium featuring Dr. Anne Gilliland

The 7th Annual UCLA Library and Information Studies Alumni Association (LISAA) Fall Colloquium

Professor and Department of Information Studies Chair Anne Gilliland on "The Archive in a Digital Age"

More than 50 alumni and friends gathered at the Rare Books Department at the Los Angeles Central Library on December 13 to hear Professor Gilliland discuss her current research relating to the nature, scope, activities and role of the archive in a digital age - with particular emphasis on the dimensions of technology, cultural memory and identity, and human rights.

This talk was part of an ongoing series of colloquia featuring the Department of Information Studies' faculty and their research interests, established with the intent of furthering the alumni's engagement with the vibrant intellectual life of the Department.

Alumni Events 2007-2008

Alumni Reception at 2008 ALA Conference

Chair Anne Gilliland and Dean Aimée Dorr hosted a special reception for alumni and friends of the Department at the American Library Association's annual conference in Anaheim, CA.

ALA 2008 Alumni and friends catching up over a buffet at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

2008 LISAA Spring Dinner

Alumni, current students and friends gathered at the UCLA Faculty Center on April 28, 2008 to celebrate at the annual LISAA Spring Dinner.

The dinner honored Yolanda Retter Vargas, MLS ’83, with the LISAA Distinguished Alumni Award. Awarded posthumously, Vargas’ award was accepted on her behalf by her partner, Leslie Stampler. Stampler and Professor Chon Noriega spoke about Vargas’ life, career and passion for archivist/activist issues.

Max Marmor, MLS ’87 and President of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, was the keynote speaker for the night. In a speech entitled “Evolution or Intelligent Design? The Career Path of a Librarian in Exile”, Marmor spoke about his unconventional career path.

From left to right: Chair Anne Gilliland, Max Marmor MLS '87, Dean Aimée Dorr.

2008 LISAA Mentor Mixer

The LISAA Mentor Mixer was held on February 5, 2008 in the IS Salon. Alumni and students had the chance to meet one another and discuss career paths and other opportunities.

2008 Frances Clarke Sayers Lecture

This year's Frances Clarke Sayers Lecture featured a distinguished panel whose work spans three decades of children’s literature:

1987 Newbery Medalist Sid Fleischman, author of "The Whipping Boy"
1995 Caldecott Medalist David Diaz, illustrator of "Smoky Night"
2005 Newbery Medalist Cynthia Kadohata, author of "Kira-Kira"

The panel conversed on a variety of topics and answered questions from the audience, moderated by author and children's literature expert, Michael Cart.

From left to right
Picture 1: back: Sid Fleischman, Michael Cart, David Diaz; front: Virginia Walter, Cynthia Kadohata

Picture 2: David Diaz, Michael Cart, Cynthia Kadohata, Sid Fleischman

Picture 3: Cynthia Kadohata, Sid Fleischman, David Diaz

2007 Fall Colloquium featuring Dr. Virginia Walter

The 6th Annual UCLA Library and Information Studies Alumni Association (LISAA) Fall Colloquium

Professor Virginia A. Walter

"Kid Library: Thinking about Children and Libraries in a Post-911, Reality Show World"

Saturday, December 8, 2007 at the Westchester-Loyala Public Library

Virginia Walter received her Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Southern California, and her MLS from the School of Librarianship at UC Berkeley. She has been on the faculty of the Department of Information Studies since 1990, and is past Chair of the Department. Her research interests include children's information needs and information resources; the sociology of children's literature and childhood reading; childhood and family literacy; the evaluation of library services; and citizen participation and volunteerism in public libraries. She has written and taught extensively in the areas of Library Services for Children and Young Adults, Children's Information Needs, and Children's and Young Adult Literature. She is also the author of the children's books "Making Up Megaboy" and "Hi, Pizza Man!" LISAA welcomes all alumni - all former students are members.

Updated: 6/15/09