The PLA Blog | Official Blog of the Public Library Association
Oh, I Wish I’d Said…. (aka: Dealing with Difficult People)
My favorite session of the conference yet! Gail Johnson and Pam Parr started off my morning with laughter by waltzing through the dramatics of every day interactions in libraries. In dealing with difficult people, they outlined their session with 5 questions they would answer: Who are they? What was it really about? What do they [...]
Advanced Blackbelt Librarians
At my old library, I was known as a Ninja Librarian, so I attended this session with avid interest, eager to be further trained in the art of war this morning. Just kidding. Actually, my nickname was more related to a storytime I lead, rather than any martial arts skills I possess, but I really [...]
Extreme resume makeover
Since I’ll be graduating in just six short weeks, I was a little disappointed to see that there wouldn’t be a job placement center this year at PLA. I checked out ALA’s site on finding a job, but I wanted something more personal and dialog-driven, so I made sure to sign up for the resume [...]
Queering the library
[Please note: throughout this post, I'll be using "queer" to refer very broadly to the LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer, intersex, and asexual/ally) community.] The first session I attended today was Spanning the Generations: Serving the GLBTIQ Community of ALL Ages. Unfortunately two of the speakers, Nancy Silverrod and KR Roberto, were unable to [...]
From Not to Hot: Turning Your Unknown or Mediocre Library into the Happening Place in the Community! – Victoria Ashford
Former Circulation Clerk and Library Director Victoria Ashford took over a “good” library with a vision to make it great. She believes she has a system, a formula, a plan, to do this for libraries. With an annual operating budget of around $250,000, she was running a small library with big ideas. She looked at [...]
Visit “Ramona’s World” in Portland
Beloved by children, librarians, and the entire world for sixty years, Beverly Cleary’s Ramona Quimby calls Portland, Oregon home. I know without a doubt one of the reasons I am a librarian today is because I loved books so much as a child and so much of that love existed thanks to the works of [...]
Technical Services: Engine of the library
Despite a late-in-the-day time slot, Cindy Orr, Library Consultant at Cynthia Orr Consulting and Deborah Ensor, Director of Technical Services at Cuyahoga County Public Library spoke to a full house about returning the Technical Services department to its role as the “central engine of the library.” They spoke from their experience revamping the technical services [...]
Technology, readers, lunches and partners — oh my!
by Michael C. Steffens What a packed day! Have you ever wished you had a futurist on staff to help you become aware of emerging trends for your library? Well, LITA had some excellent information for attendees, despite a room and time slot not optimized for dissemination of detailed technical information. One of the most [...]
Faking it
I just attended “How to Get the Library DIrector Job You Want” presented by Dan Bradbury of Gossage Sager Associates, not assoicated with the Goose. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goose_Gossage Dan was joined at the podium by June Garcia, and another member from Gossage Sager Associates. If you are thinking of shifting jobs, even if it isn’t to a [...]
Visit PLA @ Booth #2255
The Exhibits opened yesterday to a large crowd of public librarians eager to score freebies from publishers and mingle with vendors. The reception featured hot appetizers and a friendly atmosphere to kick off the beginning of the Exhibits. Public librarians from as far and wide as Australia, Canada, and Lithuania were spotted amongst the cheerful [...]
