PLA Blog

I attended another preconference session on Wednesday morning, Bridging the Divide: Libraries Transform Communities.

Before we started, a moderator said ominously, “Please fill in empty chairs so each table has eight people. You are going to do some work this morning. You can’t really understand the concept of civil engagement unless you actually do it.” And then: “Let me introduce our panelists, who should be called ‘civic entrepreneurs’ more so than ‘librarians.’”

According to the panelists, our democracy is in danger because people are becoming alienated and withdrawn. Instead of actively participating in democracy, citizens are turning into spectators and passive consumers. Robert D. Putnam’s book Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Community was cited as evidence of this problem.

Public libraries can save democracy, the panelists argued, by bringing people back together. Libraries can “bridge the divide” by providing public places where people can access and discuss a diversity of ideas. Librarians should not only be “at the table,” so to speak, we should “set the table.”

I agree that public libraries should promote and foster civic engagement, especially by using literature and information to enable individuals to empower themselves. If people are being alienated by consumerism, maybe librarians should stop overemphasizing “customer” service, I argued smugly in my group.

But when it was announced that after the session break our groups would facilitate a mock debate/forum about immigration, I bailed out. I gathered up my coat and bags and sneaked out. Luckily, I found refuge in Nancy Pearl’s mid-morning presentation, Book Buzz.

Nancy Pearl wondered if librarians should coin a new word to describe “the fear of being stuck somewhere without having something to read,” and then she told an amusing story about an author whose audience of one person actually collapsed and died during a disastrous book reading. Then a panel of publisher representatives talked about some of their best and most exciting upcoming books.

I was disappointed that Nancy Pearl didn’t talk more about her own favorite new releases, but I must thank her for the session. Thanks, Ms. Pearl, you literally saved me, at least this morning, with books!

Postscripts:

• Two interesting sites mentioned during Nancy Pearl’s session, bookclubgirl.com and earlyword.com.
• When I was greedily scarfing up free advanced reader copies of books at the exhibits, a New York librarian stopped me and exclaimed, “Hey! You abandoned my group this morning!”
• There actually is a session this coming Friday called Patron or Customer? From the description: “In short, the library is more than a business and patrons are more than mere customers.” Awesome!

It started off pretty relaxed this morning (a nice cup of coffee at Dunn Brothers) but things picked up pretty fast after that Unfortunately, not having an actual bus map, I calculated wrong as to where the bus stop would be, but that wasn’t a big problem. While a wee bit chilly this morning (by Minneapolis standards, hell frozen over by San Antonio standards) it turned out to be a nice day for a walk and a pretty walk it was through downtown. And even though I am staying in a “distant” hotel it didn’t take more than 30 minutes to reach the Convention Center. Fortune was with me as well, as not only did I find a MetroTransit center (and now I have a real bus map) but I also got to walk by the Mary Tyler Moore statue and the Minneapolis Public Library downtown (which I swear I will visit at some point).

Being a first timer, the whole sign-in process was a bit confusing to me (I completely missed the boothes), but using the tried and true method of asking somebody, I got my materials and still had some time to sip another cup of coffee while looking though the conference schedule. So far, I’m very impressed with the facilities here at the Minneapolis Convention Center, and the PLA folks have done a great job of making things as easy to find as possible (with the possible exception of teh sign-in booth…okay that was probably just me). If I had any complaint, it was the problem with finding a place to sit, but even that I eventually figured out as well (he typed, sitting in the “Seasons” on one of the upper levels of the Convention Center).

So on to the main event: Buzz Talk with Nancy Pearl: my first true PLA event. And it was…well, enjoyable. It ended up being a little too rushed for my tastes, but I do know I got some good tips on some upcoming books (the one that sticks in my mind is The Drunkard’s Walk by Lenard Mlodinow — a book about randomness, which is a subject near and dear to my heart) which is always a good thing. Tons of other titles were mentioned as well and now I have several publisher web sites I need to delve into further. Certainly a fun start to my first day.

I did have to slip out early, though, so that I could attend my first vendor event; EBSCO’s luncheon at the nearby Hilton (easily acessible though the skyway). Not only did I get an amazing lunch out of the deal, but also details about the new NoveList Plus (now with added nonfiction content) and the upcoming EBSCOHost 2.0 interface. I’d have to say that both impressed me greatly, and I look forward to finding out more about them.

So here I sit, listening to German Polka music wafting up from the floor below, typing up these small notes. Next up will be the Opening Session, then the Exhibit Floor, and finally the New Member Reception. No more slow time for the next couple of days I fear.

Okay, this is a blog, so I feel kind of obligated to post something that might actually generate some comments. So here, in my usual long winded way, are some questions for those reading this and attending the conference (or not, for that matter). I’m what I consider a “front-line” librarian. I work a public service desk about half of my day (i.e. the Reference Desk) so I guess I’d have to say my primary interest in attending the conference is in hearing how others do all the wonderful things I read about in the library journals (so I can…what’s the word…apropriate their great ideas). But I did notice that a lot of the people sitting around me seem to be more from the managerial side of things. So, the question, should you decided to answer it, is what brings you to the conference? And what kind of support does your library provide for those wishing to attend? Inquiring minds (or at least one mind) wants to know.