PLA Blog

Today I went on one of the tours mentioned in the pre-conference PLA newsletter - the Tour of Boston. It was a four-hour tour, and we saw everything! We went to the Financial District, Fenway Park, USS Constitution, Freedom Trail, and so much more. I highly recommend taking one of these tours; we saw so much of Boston that I would have never seen on my own.

Tomorrow I’ll be attending the conference sessions; there are so many great sessions that will definitely give me great ideas for work. Unfortunately I will only be able to attend Thursday’s sessions, as I have to travel back on Friday to be back to work on Saturday. But I will make the most out of tomorrow!

I had just gotten off the Acela after a 6 hour ride from D.C. and took this shot on my way to checking in at my hotel. First, I’m thrilled that we are back in Boston (one of my favorite cities) for another event. For those that were here last year at ALA Midwinter, Boston is the scene of the first ever national library association sponsored blogging event. Since then, the traffic has increased on the blog and PLA has been very agreeable to many of the changes we’ve made and policies put into place. They should be applauded for their forward thinking ideas.

So, here we are again. This year, we have over 15 bloggers (some new some veterans) who will be attending sessions, parties, receptions, and more and telling you about what they saw and did. This blog was specifically designed for those who couldn’t attend the conference. We hope that you will follow along virtually at home.

If you have any requests, comments, or questions, please feel free to contact us.

Onward!

Today I walked around Boston with my co-worker and roommate, Keli. First we went to Cambridge via the T (the local transit system). We had never been to Harvard before, and it’s such a beautiful campus. However, the Widener Library isn’t open to the public, so if you want to visit the library (but not the stacks), you have to have some id to prove you’re a librarian. Keli had her ALA card, so she was able to get in; unfortunately my ALA card is 1000 miles away in Florida! We did visit the Fogg Art Museum - it is definitely worth the $7.50! We saw beautiful pieces of art by so many artists, including Van Gogh, Manet, Jackson Pollack, and Degas, among others.

After Harvard, we went to the Boston Public Library (open to all!). For those who have never been to BPL, there are two buildings connected by a courtyard - visit both! The older building, the McKim building, currently has a Joan of Art exhibit. I took so many pictures - the architecture of the McKim building is breathtaking.

Tomorrow, after a good night’s sleep, Keli and I are taking an official tour of Boston, followed by a visit to the Boston Public Garden to see the statue of the ducklings from Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. Then it’s off to the Exhibits!

(Charles Morris, circa a long time ago)

Well, as I read about my fellow bloggers en route to Baaston, I have to stop to blog as well. I don’t leave until this afternoon, but I am in meetings all morning so I really should be packing right now. Alas. One thing I’m looking into, and hey, I’ll do it now so you might benefit too–and guess what? It will only benefit folks that are traveling out of the airport between 7am and 7pm. What is it? A water taxi from the airport to town. Alas, I won’t get to try it out this time! But maybe you can. Here’s the info: Massport water taxi info.

I’m a children’s librarian half of the time and a copy-cataloguer that does lots of other stuff in the technical services dept librarian the other half. Being a librarian is my favorite job, and if you had told me I would love this job this much ten years ago, I would have laughed in your face, too. I’ve been a librarian for almost four years. I work at Northland Public Library in the North Hills of Pittsburgh and am very excited as I’ve only been to ALA conferences previous to this one. And I love Boston. I have directives from friends already to pick up certain items, one of which being Improper Boston. (Sorry, I really have to get back to packing or I’d google the link for you.)

Good morning! I am finished with my packing and about to leave for the airport with a co-worker, Keli, to visit Boston and attend the PLA Conference for the first time. The weather will be slightly different from what I’m used to- I’m a children’s librarian with the Jacksonville Public Library system in Jacksonville, FL, and yesterday I wore shorts. Today, I’ll have to wear a sweater with all those cold temperatures up north!

I can’t wait for the conference to begin on Thursday - I plan to attend “Leave No Preschooler or Toddler Behind” and “Homeschool Happenings @ Your Library”, among other sessions. I don’t know how much access I’ll have to a computer while in Boston, but I’ll update as much as I can! See y’all there!

Update: It’s so easy to find access to a computer here at PLA - the Internet Cafe’ is close to the Exhibits, and doesn’t have a line later at night.

I’m on my way from a librarian delegation trip to China back to Boston, where I happen to live, to attend PLA. My trip to China, the librarians I met, and the libraries I visited, have contributed to my choice sessions to attend at PLA. I also find it very interesting that many of the programs have a very community-building relationship-centric feel to them, which harkens a recent trend in librarianship philosophy. It’s intriguing to see how it will play out.

Tomorrow will be my jet lag recovery day, but I’ll be at PLA starting Wednesday.

I am getting ready for an early flight out of Denver International Airport. I feel like I am in an episode of the Amazing Race as several of my co-workers and I are flying the same airline but are leaving at different times tomorrow and flying through different cities to get to Boston. In one case, my co-worker and I leave within 10 minutes of each other, connect through different cities with different layover times, and arrive within 15 minutes of each other at Logan Airport. I can almost hear Phil Keoghan saying, “The librarians now have to fly to Boston- each on a different flight. Who will arrive and make it to the pitstop first?”

I am thrilled to be going to Boston. It is almost 20 years to the date that I traveled with my mother to check out a college in Boston. If you had told me that I would be a public librarian back then, I would have laughed in your face. Today, I wouldn’t give up my job as an Adult Reference Librarian at the Philip S. Miller Library in Douglas County for the world. (Ok, maybe the winning numbers for Powerball but it would be close.) I am excited at seeing what we are doing to keep ahead of the curve. What are the innovations that show our patrons that we are a 21st century institution? I am especially interested in seeing John Beck’s presentation how to meet the needs of the gamer generation.
Amy Phillips

My traveling companions and I are hitting the road this morning armed with an iPod and Walkman Bean for our daylong drive from Rochester to Boston. The weather’s looking pretty good for March, and we’re excited about the week’s events.

As a Children’s Librarian serving youth through grade 5 at the Webster Public Library in suburban Western New York, I’m particularly looking forward to Tuesday and Wednesday’s “The Fun and Facts of Early Literacy” Preconference. Of course, I only noticed that I had homework last night (bring a favorite story time book and plan), but, thankfully, I was up to the challenge and have favorite story time books, if not actual children, at home. In addition to posting about conference events here this week, I’ll be posting entries of a more personal nature in my usual little corner of cyberspace, What Adrienne Thinks About That.

See you there!