PLA Blog

PLA has extended the application deadline for the 3M Leadership Institute to November 16. Applications may be submitted through an online form available at www.pla.org. PLA will notify applicants of their acceptance by the end of November.

Presented by PLA and 3M, a PLA partner, the Leadership Institute is a daylong preconference focused on developing leaders and encouraging change within the library profession. Participants will learn how to set a strategy for change, how to handle various challenges and what innovations will best implement, drive and define change. The preconference will be held on Tuesday, March 25, preceding PLA 2008, PLA’s 12th National Conference in Minneapolis.

Registration is limited for this free event. Submit your application today to have the best chance of being selected for this special opportunity from PLA.

PLA and 3M, a PLA Partner, will be offering a special daylong preconference focused on developing leaders and creating transformational change agents within the library profession. Participants will learn how to set a change strategy, how to handle various challenges, and what innovations can be most productive in implementing, driving and defining change. The preconference will be held on Tuesday, March 25, preceding PLA 2008, PLA’s 12^th National Conference in Minneapolis.

Costs to attend the Leadership Institute are covered by 3M, including registration fees for the day, conference supplies, transportation from the Minneapolis Convention Center to 3M’s “Innovation Center,” lunch, snacks, and an evening reception. PLA 2008 registration costs and travel expenses, such as airfare and hotel rooms, will not be covered by 3M and are the responsibility of the participant.

A limited number of participants will be selected to attend the Leadership Institute. Applicants must be PLA members registered for the 2008 National Conference, and have at least five years of experience at a supervisory and decision-making level within their organization. Participants must submit a 250-words-or-less essay on a substantial change to be made, their role as change agent, and the effect that this change would produce for their library. An online application form is available at www.pla.org.

The deadline for applications is November 1, 2007. Candidates will be selected by PLA leadership and are not the responsibility of the sponsors 3M. Applicants will be notified by the end of November. For more information on PLA 2008, visit www.placonference.org.

Hello. My name is Catherine Moffatt and I am a Public Services Librarian in the Reference Department at a public library in Southern Maryland. This is my first time blogging for PLA at an ALA event so here is goes.

Friday
I arrived at the ALA Annual Conference on Friday afternoon. After checking in, getting my badge holder, and bag of conference materials, I sat down and became acquainted with the materials and where all of my events were going to be located. As this was my first time going to events other than just visiting the exhibits, I decided that going to the Conference 101 sponsered by ALA NMRT at 4:00 pm that evening was a very good idea. I was glad I did. It was very informative and gave me much information that has been helpful as far as navigating not only the conference events, but also the materials given at check-in. From this I also noticed in my program guide that my alma mater, University of South Florida, had a booth at the exhibits and was going to be at the Library School Reunion Event on Sunday evening. One more fun activity to go to and to hopefully see some old professors and classmates. From there I went home, since I live locally, and got myself prepared for my exciting first full day.

Saturday
Saturday I arraived bright and early to the Convention Center at around 8:30 am. I had my rolling bag with me so I was all prepared for going through the exhibits. I moved my way over to the The Stacks area and waited for the exhibits to open up at 9 am. I wondered up and down each row looking through all the different booths of interesting products to buy, both personal and for libraries. Even after wandering around until 12:30 pm, I still hadn’t seen everything there was to see. So loaded down with my goodies, I went to my next program I wanted to attend during the conference. At 1:30 pm I attended the Electronic Databases: Training that Works presented by RUSA MARS/RSS over in one of the conference rooms at the Grand Hyatt. It was a very easy walk on such a beautiful day. At this program I saw Marty Onieal, Margaret Mohundro, and Michelle Y. Roubal each present ways that their library systems went about training their staff on different databases that their systems had available. I came out of there with many ideas to take back to my library to help with training our staff on the different databases that we have available. When it was completed I returned to The Stacks to try and look at the booths I didn’t manage to see before the program I attended. So all in all it has been a good conference so far and I am looking very forward to another full day on Sunday.

I am thrilled to be blogging this year’s ALA. My name is Nanette Bulebosh and I direct a small public library in Kiel, Wisconsin (population 3,700). This is my first PLA blogging experience. 

I spent most of Friday at Webjunction’s Rural Libraries Sustainability Forum at the Embassy.  I am one of the lucky 185+ librarians from around the U.S. who won an all-expense paid trip to ALA 2007, compliments of Webjunction and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there is no way I, or my small library, could afford to pay for this trip without Webjunction’s support. This is true of the four other Wisconsin librarians who joined me at yesterday’s forum. 

I have long been impressed with and inspired by the whole Webjunction concept. Their website is full of resources on a large variety of topics, including fundraising, library advocacy, marketing, and technology. I’ve gone to download curriculum materials when designing computer instruction courses for my patrons. I’ve gone to the discussion boards for advice on solving a particular problem. And sometimes I go to rant about someone or something (stress on the job, tight purse strings on the part of public officials, etc.) with folks who, I know, are in similar situations and will understand my frustrations. 

As was made clear when we all introduced ourselves at the forum, sometimes small-town librarians are working in very isolated situations. We are often the sole voice in our communities advocating for libraries in the wilderness of municipal politics and tightening belts.

You couldn’t listen to all the stories about the creative and resourceful ways librarians are surviving, and even thriving, in these tough budgetary times and not be inspired. They are making a genuine difference in their communities.  I am always so darn proud of my profession when I attend things like this.

I’m attaching some photos from the Webjunction forum, as well as from last evening’s premiere of The Hollywood Librarian. What a treat that was! What an absolutely wonderful film!  Director Ann Seidl spent years raising the funds and building support for this project; she is clearly passionate about this project, which features librarians working in a variety of situations - from prisons to school media centers - and juxtaposing them with the myriad of librarian images, both good and bad, in American film.

For me the most moving segments of the film were the interviews with librarians and patrons in Salinas, California, where a financial crisis temporarily closed down three community libraries.

I’ll have much to to say about this inspirational documentary, but for now I just wanted to share some of the images I’ve been able to gather so far.  

I must say, the wifi at the Washington Convention Center is *fabulous*. It’s free, strong, and available just about anywhere. If you’re here at the conference, look for “ALA2007″ in your list of available wireless networks.

Free wifi is also available at all of the District of Columbia Public Library branches.

Hi everyone! I’m Anne Robert, a children’s/teen librarian with the Jacksonville (FL) Public Library system. This is my 5th time writing for the PLA Blog, and I’ll try to cover as much as I can! I arrived in DC this afternoon and took in the sights. I went to the Library of Congress Open House, and the building is fantastic! We toured the Main Reading Room and went downstairs to the stacks. LoC is closed Sunday, but open the other days of the week… I recommend everyone go and check it out!

Tonight I attended the NMRT Meet & Greet. I am the Leadership Director with NMRT, and it’s a great roundtable for all new librarians (besides PLA, of course!). The 3M/NMRT Social is Sunday night, and I invite any librarians (or library school students) to come and see what NMRT is all about!

Hi. I am Rick Roche, and I will be blogging for the PLA Blog for the next few days. I will be attending various programs of interest to staff from public libraries and reporting on for you. I will also be writing some on my own blog ricklibrarian and posting some photos on my Flickr site. I hope you enjoy the pieces. I will not tell you everything that was said, as some talented bloggers are able to do on the spot. I will instead reflect on the main points and highlight some important details. When possible I will link you to sources for further study.

As we start this conference in our nation’s capitol, it is natural to think back to last year in New Orleans. The setting of that gathering was emotion charged, as the people of the Crescent City welcomed us. Librarians made a big statement by being the first group to return for a conference in the storm-damaged city. This year we are in the most media rich city in the world. Let’s make ourselves and our issues known. In a small way, I hope these pieces add to the effort.

One of the more useful presentations at today’s Rural Library Sustainability Forum was a talk by conference junkie John D. “Danny” Hales, who shared his handy tips for making the most of this year’s ALA.

Hales, director of Suwannee River Regional Library in northern Florida - and a member of the WebJunction advisory committee - was speaking to the fortunate 180+ rural and small-town librarians (from 34 states) who are attending the conference as guests of WebJunction. But his advice is equally useful to any of the other 25,000 others - newbies and conference veterans alike - converging on the Capital city this weekend. Here are a few of Hales’ tips, some tongue-in-cheek:

• Tip the maid. You’ve got the funds to spare if you’re here on WebJunction’s dime, Hales said. But it’s also, simply, the right thing to do.
• As you go through the program planning out your weekend, always pick two workshops scheduled in the same time frame. That way you’ll have somewhere else to go in case the program you’re in is boring.
• Speaking of which, don’t hesitate to leave a session if it stinks. No one will care. Just get up and go somewhere else.
• Check the cog notes online or at conference headquarters for updates. There may be last-minute scheduling changes or cancellations.
• About the 223-page ALA Program Guide: Don’t think you have to cart it with you all over DC. Tear out the maps and bus schedules and leave the rest of the guide in your hotel room. Travel light (or try to).
• Get to all your sessions early and introduce yourself to the speaker. Offer to help pass out handouts or something. The speaker will be grateful, and you might learn something interesting and unusual.
• Drink lots of water. Carry a bottle of water with you all day to keep yourself hydrated and energized in this hot DC weather. It wouldn’t hurt to bring along a few snacks too.
• Recon, recon, recon … plan your trips in advance, from hotel to hotel or from even from room to room. You’ll save time, and you’ll reduce frustrations.
• Always know where the bathrooms are.
• Take your business cards along with you everywhere. Pass them out to folks you meet and use them at the Exhibition Hall to win prizes.
• About the Exhibition Hall: You KNOW you’re going to collect a lot of freebies (isn’t that part of why you came?) Go ahead and hoard away. There’s a post office right at the conference center; the folks there will gladly help you mail all your goodies home. You don’t have to stuff it all in your suitcase if you don’t want to.
• The free shuttle service between conference events is good. It’s even better Saturday afternoon and all-day Sunday (the drivers will have figured out the route by then).
• Schedule yourself some down time. Go to your hotel room, lie down on the floor and put your feet on the bed. Or use one of the Pilate balls in the Exhibition Hall booths. You need to be good to your body this weekend.
• Remember the 5, 2, 1 rule: Get 5 hours of sleep, treat yourself to 2 good meals each day, and take at least 1 shower.
• Go visit a DC site or do something else away from the conference at least part of the time. Make a point of getting away from your fellow librarians to get a different perspective.
• Get to know the PLA staff. Ask for help. Ask for advice. “They really can get you the good stuff.” 
• Don’t be intimidated by the eggheads and the prima donnas. At ALA, all librarians are equal, whether you’re from one of the big hotshot libraries or from some small burg in the middle of nowhere.
• Talk to people, introduce yourself to unfamiliar faces, and network as much as you can.  Join committees and be useful. Don’t waste your time with the slackers. Identify who the real go-getters are and align yourself with them. Think of ALA as a family, Hales said. “It’s sort of a dysfunctional family, but a family just the same. And just like your own family at home, they know that you’re good. But they also know when you’re not, and when you don’t produce.”

…one by one. After many flight delays (apparently, this was a common occurrence yesterday), I finally got to my hotel at midnight last night. After a day which included a 7:30a breakfast meeting, registration, and crashing the Library Journal Movers & Shakers luncheon, I’m *finally* making my first post. On the docket for this evening is the world premiere of “The Hollywood Librarian: A Look at Librarians Through Film,” and pre-party before that. I’m still ironing out the rest of my conference schedule, but I promise whatever I cover, it’ll be interesting!

Keep an eye on the blog over the next week or so for more conference blogging from our awesome crew.

The PLDS Statistical Report, a project of the Public Library Association, is designed to meet the needs of public library administrators and others for timely and effective library-specific data that illuminates and supports a wide variety of management decisions. This data is now available in a dynamic, Web-based format via the PLDS Database (for detailed information on the database, download the .pdf datasheet).

If you’re planning on attending ALA in Washington, DC, you can attend a live demo of the database on Saturday, June 23 at the following times:

• 2-3 pm, PLA booth, ALA Membership Pavilion in the Exhibits Hall
• 4-5:30 pm, Grand Hyatt Washington, Roosevelt/Wilson room

We’ll also be posting highlights from the presentation here on the blog.