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.

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Library Surveys
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
11:00 am PT/2:00 pm ET
“Surveys can be rich sources of information about your community’s needs and your library’s services and resources. When should you conduct a survey? What are the essential elements of an effective survey? How can you best evaluate your survey results? Colleen Eggett, Training Coordinator from the Utah State Library will be presenting and she has developed a Participant Guide as an option for those attending this session.”

If you’ve never attended a WebJunction webinar before, take a few moments to review the joining the webinar instructions in advance to make sure you’re all set up for the session. Also, feel free to post questions and comments here.

Offered biennially, the PLA National Conference is the premier event for public libraries, drawing librarians, library support staff, trustees, friends and library vendors from across the country and around the world. The conference includes more than 100 top-quality continuing education programs, preconferences, talk tables, several social events, networking opportunities and a bustling exhibit hall. PLA 2008, the PLA’s 12th National Conference, will be held March 25-29, 2008, in Minneapolis, Minn.

For more information about PLA 2008, visit the National Conference Web site at www.placonference.org.

Nancy Pearl
First I arrive bright and early to see Nancy Pearl speak. It was fascinating to hear how each of her books came into being, especially her lastest book, Book Crush. She gave some suggestions of books for children and teens such as :
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
Alex Rider Series by Anthony Horowitz
The Paperboy by Pete Dexter
Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Lee
Each Little Bird that Sings by Deborah Wiles
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
The Great Good Thing by Rod Townley
Ragweed by Avi
The Teacher’s Funeral by Richard Peck
Thirsty by MT Anderson
Feed by MT Anderson
Looking for Normal by Betty Monthei
Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis

Off the Chain: Reader’s Advisory for Exploding Genres
I really enjoyed this program. I won’t go into too many details because one of my fellow bloggers have done a great job detailing the program. I know that RUSA/PLA CODES will be having the handouts from their program on their websites. I found the program very interesting and has given me more authors and books to add to my list of books to read. I liked the many ways of finding out about new literature online, such as lit blogs and email lists as well as MySpace.

English Only: Censorship and its Impact on Latino Children and Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries
I came into this program about half way through but I am glad I did. This program was given by AFL REFORMA. I missed the presentation part, but I did come in just as they started the discussion groups for different types of libraries. The public library discussion group was led by Rose Trevino. This gave people from different library systems a chance to ask questions and talk about how their library systems have their foreign languages materials placed in the collection and any programming that they have in foreign languages. Suggestions were also given on how to start a collection or to grow your current collection.

Future Friends: Marketing Reference and User Services to Generation X
This program was given by RUSA RSS. The handouts for this program will also be posted on RUSA’s blog. First the presenters went into defining Generation X and the facts about this generation. They then presented what this particular generation are looking for when it comes to services and potential segments of this generation. After defining Generation X, the presentation then went into how this would pertain to advertising to this generation and the different stages to planning advertising.
The next part of this program had St. Charles Library system in Illinois talk about their programs that they have for 20- and 30-somethings’ as well how they market those programs. They also gave examples of different programs, such as a cooking for 1 or 2 program, white elephant exchange, creating a safe online presence, a course on wine, and an history crawl of the town. Then they followed with some of the challenges that they have had with marketing as well as what they have learned.
Following this presentation was another presentation on the Young Friends of the Kansas City Public Library a.k.a BooksEnds. They went over what the group was and also how they marketed to their Generation X population.

Final Thoughts on ALA Annual Conference 2007
Unfortunately this was my last day at the conference. After attending different programs on Sunday, I took the time to go to the Library School Reunion Event at the Rennaissance Mayflower Hotel. It was great being able to see some fellow alumni from University of South Florida along with some of the professors that I had taken classes from. It was a good way to end my last day at the conference. I have had a blast at this year’s Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. I am looking forward to the next time I can attend an Annual Conference. I have found out a lot of useful information to take back to my library. I also have had a great time blogging about my experiences and the different programs that I have attended. So it’s been fun and I hope all those staying through Tuesday ave a great rest of conference. This is Catherine Moffatt signing off.

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 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.  

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!

After a brief introduction from PLA president Susan Hildreth. The author of What Should I Do With My Life? and Why Do I Love These People? spoke about recent research in child learning and self esteem (you can read more about it in his New York Times article and on his blog) and how it pertains to librarians, inspirational stories from his childhood and his travels, his family’s 45 books per month library habit, and so much more.

Have a listen, and feel free to add your feedback about the presentation by posting a comment here.

On Wednesday, December 13, 2006, at 12 noon (EST), you are invited to join students, educators, librarians, and fans of Charlotte’s Web who will gather in schools, hospitals, libraries, and community centers to read a passage from E.B. White’s classic tale of friendship, kindness, selfless giving and miracles. The passage highlights the moment when Charlotte and Wilbur meet for the first time. It is our hope that this event will introduce Charlotte’s Web to new fans and to reintroduce the story to adults who read it in their youth.

Visit www.walden.com for complete information, activity ideas and to register for this exciting event.