PLA Blog

During the conference, most attendees stayed near the Convention Center and French Quarter areas. Luckily those areas are on higher ground and weren’t severly damaged by the hurricane. Unfortunately not all of New Orleans fared the same way. Monday afternoon I went with two of my friends, Jennifer and Donna, to see what devastation Katrina had created on the city of New Orleans. We drove through one of the heavily damaged areas, Lakeview (next to Lake Pontchartrain and the 17th Street Canal). Entire streets of homes were destroyed, with no sign of life except for FEMA trailers. One of the most dishearting sights was a school’s sign stating “School starts August 8, 2005.”  

Afterwards we attended the PLA President’s Program, featuring Anderson Cooper. As one who weathered the hurricane and the aftereffects in New Orleans, Cooper had many emotional stories to share with the audience. One of the vignettes he shared was about himasking his mother for career advice. She said simply, “Follow your bliss.” Even though that’s not what Cooper was expecting his mother to say, it’s a good mantra to emulate (and I hope we’re all following our bliss!).

I want to thank everyone for visiting my home state and hope the conference was everything they wished it to be.  From all the locals being excited we were there (usually no one notices us!) to the energy of the conference attendees, this has been one of my best conferences. As we say in Louisiana, “Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler! (Let the Good TImes Roll!)”

 I attended the ALSC-sponsored program “Lyrics to Literacy” on Monday, June 26. This program caught my eye by the description: “Through song, story, rhythm and chant, learn techniques to develop early literacy skills. Participants will learn how to enhance self-esteem, strengthen reading readiness, language development and promote brain growth.” Doesn’t that sound fun?

I wasn’t able to stay for the entire program, but I was able to grab the handouts and learn a few songs. This program was presented by Debbie Clement and Carole Peterson, two singer/songwriter/performers. Some highlights:

Carole’s 7 Terrific Techniques For Using Active Music:

1. Eye Contact
2. Encouraging Nods and Smiles
3. EXPLAIN: Give clear instructions and expectations BEFORE activity begins, AND how as it ends!
4. Tempo - slow the song down to teach it, turn off the boombox
5. Be prepared - Have all materials ready and tapes cued
6. Use props, visuals, and manipulatives
7. Pace - vary the activity level, and bring excitement down to end session

Debbie’s Directions:

1. Have fun! Enjoy! Smile! Laugh!
2. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. (4x)
3. Follow your rituals and recipes.
4. Be willing to take a risk.
5. Begin slowly. Play with the speed.
6. Choose a comfortable key/pitch.
7. Animate and exaggerate your face.
8. Watch the children for clues/ideas.
9. Remember rule #1 at all times: have fun!

I don’t want to post the song lyrics (possible copyright issues, since the songs are all originals), but more information can be found on their individual websites:

Carole Peterson - http://www.macaronisoup.com/ (Music CDs - good for storytimes!)

Debbie Clement - http://www.rainbowswithinreach.com/ (Music CDs and more - check out those cute shaker eggs!) and http://kweezletown.com/ (the site isn’t fully up yet)

So this session was not absolutely about library services, but it was really treat for me and there was quite a bit to be learned.

The first speaker, Wendy Woloson, Curator of Printed Books at the Library Company of Philadelphia, told us the history of sugar in America (an abridged version of her book Refined Tastes: Sugar, Consumers, and Confectionery in Nineteenth Century America).  Especially interesting was the shift in attitudes toward sugar as it became more common and less expensive with time.  Initially, sugar was seen as a prized commodity, but eventually it was demoted to today’s junk food status.  From a luxury good available only to the wealthy it became a necessity for everyone and with it lost any glitter that it had previously possessed.

The second speaker, Gerald F. Patout, Jr. the Head Librarian at the Williams Research Center/Historic New Orleans Collection spoke about Louisiana food culture and culinary research.  This is his outline for culinary research which he applied in his own Louisiana cookbook collection, but which could probably be applied to any regional cooking research:

1. Bibliographies of cookbooks
2. Dissertations/Theses about culinary history will often include bibliographies of resources
3. Others’ book collections throughout history (for example, household inventories from previous eras)
4. The cookbooks themselves may include references to other books and resources
5. Serials
6. Newspapers- and where there is no index of early issues, this is quite the manual labor

He brought many examples of early Creole cookbooks, and spoke of the importance of these artifacts to the cultural history of a region.

The third speaker, Susan Tucker of the Newcomb Archives and Varhoff Library, Seltzer Gerard Reading Room, Newcomb College Center for Research on Women at Tulane University, is currently writing a book entitled Atomic Foods of New Orleans, which discusses in detail the twelve specific foods that reflect New Orleans. One such food: Bread Pudding.  In her words, this reflects the thriftiness in the home (i.e. using day old bread) and grandeur on the outside  (you’ll know what this means if you have ever tried good bread pudding).  Additionally, this shows the French influence of the region, since it is not a very sweet dessert; the French view of sugar is not to use it too excessively, instead to find a happy medium.

Tucker presented videos of oral history interviews about food that they had done prior to Katrina.  She spoke about the Slow Food movement and about the food-related problems in New Orleans, especially among the lower income neighborhoods, where no fresh produce is available and where the food culture has become more about fast food.  About Katrina and its aftermath she said that in the midst of the recovery effort you occasionally pause to think about how you can create a better society out of the disaster, but that living in the midst of it, you are basically in survival mode and have no time.  She encouraged the audience to think of ideas for improvement, since we might have more resources and time to do so.

She also handed out a list of food and drinks that we all must try in New Orleans: French Bread, Poor Boy Sandwich, Muffelletta, Jambalaya, Shrimp Remoulade, Gumbo, Turtle Soup, Stuffed Artichokes, Mirlitons and Shrimp, Red Beans & Rice, Jambalaya, Oysters, Crawfish, Boiled Shrimp and Crabs, Daube Glacee, Grits and Grillades, Creole Tomato Salad, Creole Cream Cheese, Beignets, Bread Pudding, Pralines, Calas, Cafe Brulot, Snowballs, Coffee & Chicocky and Sazerac Cocktail.  I’ll be sure to use this as a checklist for my next visit to New Orleans!

The fourth and last speaker was Jason P. Block, a doctore at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston who is originally from New Orleans and came back after the hurricane to help in Red Cross shelters.  Dr. Block’s role in the program came from an article he had co-written: “Fast Food, Race/Ethnicity, and Income: A Geographic Analysis” (American Journal of Preventive Medicine 27 (2004): 211-17).  His presentation focused around the obesity epidemic and its main factors:

- genetic
- physiological
- behavioral
- environmental (especially important to note: decreased availability of healthful products in low income, low education communities)

The solutions are complicated and much debated:
- educated people about portion size, calories
- Address problem of fast food as the only choice in many neighborhoods

One positive light: doctors who pay more attention to their patient’s  culture, background, etc. when instructing them about better habits (i.e. you can’t direct someone with a fixed income to shop at an upscale organic supermarket, but you can help them find a better diet with the resources they have).

The session ended up with a discussion to try and tie together all this food information and lore.  I am just beginning my exploration into library services and the library world in general, but as centers of information, libraries do have a role in educating people about better choices.

After recuperating for a week and getting back in the swing of things, here are some of my notes from a session I attended.
(I apologize, I came in late to this session and was unable to get the speakers’ names)
The title came from a statement made by journalist Cynthia Tucker quoted in the Conference program: “it’s easy to forget that there are people too poor to have a car, a credit card or a checking account, people stranded outside the magic circle.” This was said in regards to the Katrina evacuees, but in fact, this is the reality for many who are “too poor, isolated, displaced–people locked outside of circles of privilege.”

The discussion centered around New Orleans statistics and experiences, but could refer to any part of the country. Some interesting points were made.

The role of the library:
- Create access- find ways to engage people; libraries are for those who love books, but those with need are not of the book-loving culture. We must do outreach into the community.
- Technology is important, use it to engage the population, especially the young.
- Library should be used as a combined open space with other social services
- Form strong partnerships and become advocates: what happens when a librarian gets angry?

Other speakers spoke of how no life is completely inside the magic circle; a hard fact they discovered post-Katrina when individuals and institutions of all economic and cultural strata were hard hit. They discussed the lack of communication, the undependable nature of technology in times of natural disaster, and concluded that libraries must have a crisis communication plan for the event of such disaster, so that there is a way to contact everyone.

I’m sitting in the San Antonio airport, waiting for the second of my three flights home. I have all kinds of exciting conference sessions to blog about, but in the meantime, I wanted to point to a few of these pictures of hurricane and flood damage in Louisiana libraries.

On Friday, Heidi Dolamore and I had the opportunity to tour some of New Orleans and Slidell (a suburb about 30 minutes away, across Lake Ponchatrain) with a librarian from Delgado Community College. I can’t say much more about it than what the photos show, which is both devastating, awe-inspiring, and, strangely, full of hope.

Of course we librarians are fighting our stereotype down here in New Orleans.  They’re selling a T-Shirt on Bourbon Street that says “Librarians do it by the book,” and the nature of the street suggests what “it” is.  At a bar last night, I overheard a young man ask a young woman if she was a librarian.  He asked it in such a way as to suggest that being mistaken for a librarian was not another way of suggesting that the young lady was “hot.”  I leaned in and told him that I was a librarian.  I thought he might want to know.  He drank to that.  And, to his surprise, so did I.

Hey y’all!

I’m Anne Robert, a children’s librarian who works with the Jacksonville (FL) Library. I am a native Louisianaian; I lived in Baton Rouge (about 90 miles north of N’awlins) for 22 years. It’s great to be back in New Orleans - except for the humidity (one thing I don’t miss!).

I arrived here yesterday and acted like a tourist, taking pictures and absorbing culture. It’s nice to have time during a conference to look around before actually beginning the conference aspect.

Today I went to two sessions: That’s Tight! Teen Volunteer Success Stories and Tapping Resources: Serving Children Through Partnerships.

A brief summary of each:

That’s Tight!

• Teenagers should be treated with respect, just like the adult volunteers
• Three key words: Ideas, Investment, Reward
• Ideas: Create tasks for the teenagers before they volunteer at the library (so you won’t be flabbergasted when they show up)
• More Ideas: Have teenagers do more than just shelving, such as reading to the children, helping with projects, assist with collection development of popular items (CDs, DVDs, graphic novels), help with computers/databases, summer reading club helper, monitor programs
• Investment: Train them properly with verbal (words) and physical (paper) training; give customer service tips (as you would your staff)
• Reward: Always thank them for their help and hard work! Consider writing them a nice letter at the end of their volunteer term (could be used as a referral for college)

I have about 17 teen volunteers in my children’s department this summer, so this session helped me with new ideas on how to fully use them as great resources this summer.

Tapping Resources

• Develop community partnerships with groups outside your library, such as businesses, non-profits, and/or government agencies
• Partnership is a two-way street and each group should get something back
• Partnerships were compared to human relationships: they can be short-term (like a glance or date) or more long-term (like an engagement or marriage)
• Access your library’s strengths before beginning the process and use partnership as a strategic tool

Welcome to New Orleans! And as we say here, Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!

This afternoon, as I was walking through the conference center with Kathleen Hughes, I saw out of the corner of my eye a flutter of yellow balloons. Outside near the shuttle buses, a the McGuire family, Bob, Meg, Miles (the 8-year old Marketing Mastermind for the stand), and Callan (a.k.a Cal, the 7-year old Idea Man behind the brilliant idea) had set up a lemonade stand with the express mission of raising money for their library, the Smith Library in Lakeview, part of the New Orleans Public Library system. I had the pleasure of interviewing them for the very first podcast here on the PLA Blog.

Have a listen (the MP3 clip is just over 9 minutes long)! You can check out more pictures of their awesome operation here.

By all reports, the family will be back tomorrow, stationed right near the shuttle buses here at the Morial Conference Center. Stop by, have some fabulous lemonade (made with real lemons!), and experience the wonder of an action plan that came to be literally *overnight*. Since they are interested in making this a nation-wide grass-roots effort, we’ll be posting contact information for them as soon as we get it.

This is our first experimental foray into podcasting here at the PLA Blog. Let us know what you think!

 

 PLA Blog podcast - Lemonade for Libraries [9:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (101)

If you going to New Orleans for the 2006 ALA Annual Conference, please sign up to help staff the PLA membership information booth. The membership booth is part of the joint division booths outside of the exhibits hall. Volunteers will be available to answer questions about PLA programs and membership benefits, and encourage conference-goers to become PLA members.

Volunteers are needed Saturday, June 24 through Monday June 26 from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, and on Tuesday, June 27 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. One and two-hour time slots are still available. Please contact Angela Thullen, PLA Marketing Specialist at or 800-545-2433, ext. 5026 if you are interested in staffing the membership booth.

From the press release::

CHICAGO – Librarians and library staff attending the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in New Orleans, June 22-28, will show how “Libraries Build Communities” through daylong community service efforts to help rebuild New Orleans.

As part of ALA’s ongoing efforts to help the libraries and communities in the Gulf Coast, conference attendees will be able to volunteer for a full-day community service project on Friday June 23 or Tuesday, June 27.

Conference goers will be able to choose from activities to help the New Orleans Public Library, Orleans Parish School District, or other community rebuilding efforts.

To volunteer register at www.ala.org/ala/eventsandconferencesb/annual/2006a/registration.htm under the ‘Special Registration Section.’ The registration fee is $10 and will include transportation to and from the community project, lunch, and a ‘Libraries Build Communities’ T-shirt.”