PLA Blog

How will the business of public libraries shift to meet the needs and preferences of next generation learners? How will libraries support knowledge creation in communities in 2020 and beyond?

That’s what I’m hoping to find out today.

I landed in Anaheim yesterday, and I’m doing a twofer this trip.  The day before the beginning of the ALA 2008 Annual Meeting, I’ll be blogging the Foresight 2020 conference, presented by the Urban Libraries Council.

The one-day program includes sessions like “What Does Learning Look Like in 2020?” presented by Dr. John Seely Brown, Visiting Scholar and Advisor to the Provost at the University of Southern California and Independent Co-Chairman of a New Deloitte Research Center, and “Taking Action and Innovation Ideas Further – Key Tools, Partnerships and Strategies to Consider, Pitfalls to Avoid” presented by Omar Wasow – NBC Internet Analyst and BlackPlanet.com founder.  The program is delightfully rounded out by interactive Talk Tables to discuss and learn from the presenters and each other.

I’ll likely be tweeting the session like a fiend, so if you want to follow along real-time, check out my Twitter stream for anything hash-tagged #fs2020.  I may even post a few Utterz from the conference, we’ll see.

If you could ask Jamie Lee Curtis a question, what would it be and why?

I have been granted the distinct pleasure of interviewing Jamie Lee Curtis after she speaks at the PLA Preisdent’s Program on Monday night, and posting the interview to the blog (in text format). Since the interview is for you, our readership, we at the PLA Blog thought it would be fitting — nevermind just super keen — to gather some questions from our audience.

Please click on the “Leave a reply” button at the bottom of this post to leave a comment with your question, as well as your name, title, and library, if you’d like us to quote you. Tell us what you want to know!

The Public Programs Office is offering 5 sessions by talented and interesting presenters at the upcoming 2008 ALA Annual Meeting, with a focus on arts and humanities programs in libraries (see the PPO Upcoming Events page for session descriptions):

• Traveling Exhibits for Libraries: New Opportunities
  Speakers: Denise Smith and Frank Summers, Space Science Telescope Institute, Baltimore, MD; Susan Brandehoff, Program Director, ALA Public Programs Office.
• We the People Picturing America: Presenting Programs in Your School or Public Library
  Speakers: Thomas Phelps, Director, Division of Public Programs, National Endowment for the Humanities; Lainie Castle, Project Director, ALA Public Programs Office; Nancy Davenport, Acting Director of Library Services, District of Columbia Public Library; Mary L. Chute, Deputy Director for Libraries, Institute of Museum and Library Services; Kathie Burns, Library Media Technician, Arnold O. Beckman High School, Irvine, CA; Dornel Marie Cerro, Head Librarian, Sequoyah Educational Center, Pasadena, CA
• Soul of a People: Voices from the Writers’ Project
  Speakers: Andrea Kalin, President and Executive Producer, Spark Media, Washington, DC; David Bradley, Author and Associate Professor, University of Oregon; Susan Brandehoff, Program Director, ALA Public Programs Office.
• PRIME TIME FAMILY READING: Bilingual Programs Expand Nationally
  Speakers:Thomas Phelps, Director, Division of Public Programs, National Endowment for the Humanities; Lainie Castle, Project Director, ALA Public Programs Office; Faye Flanagan, Director, PRIME TIME FAMILY READING TIME, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities; Pat Lawson-North, Executive Director, Vision Literacy, Santa Clara County Library, California; Anne Masters, Director, Pioneer Library System, Oklahoma.
• Let’s Talk About It: Love & Forgiveness (speakers not posted)

The PPO is also presenting an impressive line up of authors for the LIVE! @ your library Reading Stage.

If your division, roundtable, or committee doing something interesting at ALA? Want us to post your upcoming ALA session, social, or other event on the PLA Blog? Send us email with the session/event details.

An announcement from our friends over at the Library Administration and Management Association
(LAMA):

LAMA MAES is sponsoring the pre-conference workshop “Living the Balanced Scorecard” Friday, June 27, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm during the ALA Annual 2008 conference in Anaheim. The workshop will feature Joe Matthews, Director of Mathews and Associates and author of the soon to be released Scorecard for Results (Libraries Unlimited, May 2008, $45 retail cost).

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is an organizational tool enabling library management to develop a method for focusing on customers, understanding their needs and demands for library services, and demonstrating accountability for using public funds. The BSC provides library management with supporting data needed to implement data driven decisions.

Attendees will receive as part of their registration a copy of Scorecard for Results at no extra charge. Using case studies as examples, presenters will guide workshop attendees through how to develop strategy, performance measures, targets and initiatives, and then how to integrate these results and communicate them effectively. Other presenters are Susanna Pathak of the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA and Kathryn Robinson of the Orange County Public Library System in Orlando, FL.

We invite you to register and learn more about how to practice the Balanced Scorecard technique, a valuable tool for your library’s assessment needs!

Please click this link to go directly to the list of Anaheim preconferences and look for the listing for LAMA and then “Living the Balanced Scorecard.”