The PLA Blog | Official Blog of the Public Library Association
PLA Facebook Forum – Join our E-Devices Chat
When: Friday, December 16 · 1:00pm – 2:00pm (Central Time) Where: PLA’s Facebook Page You know they’re coming. Patrons and their brand new, fresh-from-the-gift-wrap e-readers. And they’re going to look to you for answers. Be ready for the challenge by attending the next PLA Facebook Forum. For one hour, PLA will chat with Lynnette Hopwood, [...]
Save up to 50 percent on PLA training kits this December
Four digital training kits from the Public Library Association (PLA) are on sale until Dec. 31. Each kit is 40 percent off (or 50 percent off when combined with an ALA member discount). PLA training kits, authored by Sandra Nelson, tackle topics like stress management, time management, customer service and library advocacy. Designed to guide [...]
literal place vs. personal place
I just finished a brief talk and discussion about mobile library services for Library Journal’s Tech Summit, and I wanted to pick up very briefly here on a subject that’s been tickling the back of my mind for a couple of weeks. This is an unfinished thought.. feel free to complete it. The trend to [...]
Your Library on Ebooks – How is your library responding to the post-print environment?
Share your library’s ebooks experience by contributing a short essay for the JanFeb 2012 issue of Public Libraries. How have ebooks affected your library’s staffing patterns, your library’s website, library services, etc. Has your library implemented any new programs or services? How are you handling e-device questions? We want to hear all about it! Essays [...]
Highlights and Opinions from the National Digital Public Library Conference in Los Angeles, CA
The Digital Public Library of America needs a public-facing laboratory; an experimental beta space where we can prototype ideas, curricula, interfaces, strategies, and experiences. I’m home again after a very interesting session about building a National Digital Public Library at the Los Angeles Public Library and I’d like to recap it while offering a few [...]
A PLA Facebook Forum with Carson Block
Save the Date! Nov. 21, 2011 ~ 2:00 p.m. CST Get your e-reader and e-book questions ready and visit the PLA Facebook page on Monday! For one hour, Carson Block, library IT consultant and the moderator of PLA’s e-book webinar series, will answer “e-questions” from PLA’s Facebook fans. www.facebook.com/pla.org
The National Digital Public Library (DPLA) conference
I’m in Los Angeles now for the National Digital Public Library conference, which promises to be a group of forward thinking, influential public librarians and library administrators thinking through how they might contribute to, benefit from, and provide end users with valuable services from a Digital Public Library of America. Here is the agenda. Briefly, [...]
Refresh your customer service skills with PLA’s upcoming webinar
At 1 p.m. CST on Wednesday, Nov. 30, the Public Library Association (PLA) will host a live, hour-long webinar, “Fully Engaged Customer Service at Your Library” as part of PLA’s “Public Libraries at Work” monthly webinar series. During this webinar, participants will learn a fresh approach to customer service and discover ways to reduce work [...]
What’s Your Perspective?
“Perspectives” is a regular feature in Public Libraries, the journal of the Public Library Association. Each issue has essays on a particular topic of interest to public library practitioners. For the January/February, 2012, issue, you’re invited to write about: • How your library is balancing its resources? Print? AV? Electronic? What about realia (puppets, toys, [...]
DLF Presentation Monday: What a National Digital Library means for Public Libraries
On Monday I’ll be giving a brief talk and moderating a panel discussion at the Digital Library Federation Forum in Baltimore. I’ll be speaking on “What A National Digital Library Means For Public Libraries”, and our panel will be answering questions on related topics. Panelists include Michael Lascarides (NYPL), Toby Greenwalt (Skokie PL), and Jefferson [...]





