PLA Blog

Wow.  I’m impressed!  I didn’t think I would be, but the keynote speaker at the opening session, John Wood, impressed the heck out of me.  He was a fantastic and engaging speaker, and with a cause like Room to Read under his belt, his presentation ended up being a truly brilliant 90 minutes.  And even though he was talking about a much grander goal; bringing literacy and books to developing nations, I couldn’t help but feel proud that I’m in a profession that does much the same thing, if on a slightly smaller scale.  I’m sure most of us who work with the public have had those moments where we realized that we have just provided a service that ended up being to that patron, more than just the simple answering of a question.  so John Wood’s experience and his ambitions helped to remind me why I stick with this sometimes frustrating job, and even why I can get all “advocatey” about public libraries.  One of the comments to my last post mentioned that they felt PLA was a way to “recharge” and I certainly felt that way today after the opening session.

And after that “opening” came the opening of the exhibit hall.  I took my time getting there – with a quick and very expensive stop a the ALA shop — and I was amazed as always at the wide variety of services and products that it takes to keep libraries running.  Naturally I saw tons of stuff that I could have spent hours drooling over, knowing full well that my library system would be hard pressed to afford any of it.  But one can always dream.  I think the furniture vendors are where I get that drooly feeling the most (despite being a geek).  Oh to be able to redesign a library with an unlimited budget!

Of course I had to make a stop at Baker and Taylor to get my picture taken with the cats.  Two harder working cats you’ll never meet (and trust me, I do know what I’m talking about).  a little more roaming burned up time pretty quickly, so I settled down to a quick demo of the Graphic Novel core collection product from H. W. Wilson and then finished up my first visit with a run through the publisher tables.  Still more to see, so rest assured, I will be back.

And here’s a completely unsolicited plug that I can’t resist adding.  Check out the book “He Said Beer, She Said Wine” at the DK booth.  I’ve had the pleasure to meet one of the authors of this book, and if you like either beer or wine (or, like me, both) you’ll find this book a real hoot.

Okay, one more aside.  Is it just me or are public librarians some of the most polite people you’ve ever met?  Is it because of our job or does the job just attract that type of person?  I can only say that being in a jam packed exhibit hall with hundreds of people moving about and still being surrounded by “thank you’s” and “excuse me’s” is just an amazing feeling.

Okay, back on track.  My final activities for my first day were short visits to the New Members Reception and also to a reception hosted by Overdrive.  Both were enchanting (except perhaps for the part where I ended up walking up 14 flights of stairs…but that’s a story for another time) but I must confess that even on the best of days I’m not really a “reception” person, and after a long day like today, I am even less so.  But I do understand that a large part of PLA is the networking and the efforts taken by the PLA committees and the vendors are appreciated even by those of us who are a little less social than most.  So maybe I’ll give the All Members Reception a go on Friday.  so if you see a San Antonio librarian/blogger there, doing a fair imitation of a wall flower, do come on over and say hello.  I promise I don’t bite.

 Tomorrow, the programs begin.  I am excited!

John Wood, author of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, officially opened the Public Library Association National Conference with a very inspiring presentation about his Room to Read organization, which is building schools and libraries in Asia and Africa. If he writes as well as he speaks, his book should be a very inspiring read. His message is very similar to that of Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, but it sounds like he is working on a grander scale.

Wood thinks that there is a basic right for every child on our planet to learn to read. He believes that if every child received a good education, our world would change drastically for the better. The dichotomy of haves and have-nots at present is shameful and must be addressed:

• 110 million school age children are not in school.
• 800 million people can not read.
• Two thirds of the people in both of these groups are girls or women.

Wood became involved accidentally. When on a hiking vacation in Nepal, he promised to buy books for an impoverished rural school. When the local leader was skeptical that Wood would actually return (for many promises are made by hikers and tourists but then broken), he vowed to bring the books back himself. When he personally handed out the books and saw the looks on the students’ faces, he decided to quit Microsoft and build schools and libraries. After the emotional rush, he sat down and devised a business plan.

Room to Read has a seven point plan, which you will find in his book. The most interest part of the plan is that paying for buildings and books is not enough. Local commitment must be earned, local sweat must go into the building. Teachers and librarians must be trained. Wood hopes that his organization will have trained 40,000 librarians by the year 2020, much by the “paying forward” method of passing on the skills.

Many of the countries into which Room to Read has gone had no children’s book publishers, so there were no local language materials. The organization has commissioned local authors and artists to create appropriate works, which it publishes in brightly colored books. Wood is particularly proud of this because many advisers said it was not possible. So far, 250 titles have been published and there will be another 100 this year.

Wood says his organization has already helped 1.7 million children and is well on its way to educating 10 million by 2020. The dream is big. Some day, if this all works, Wood hopes to be know as Andrew Carnegie with a Yak.