The PLA Blog | Official Blog of the Public Library Association
Queering the library
[Please note: throughout this post, I'll be using "queer" to refer very broadly to the LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer, intersex, and asexual/ally) community.] The first session I attended today was Spanning the Generations: Serving the GLBTIQ Community of ALL Ages. Unfortunately two of the speakers, Nancy Silverrod and KR Roberto, were unable to [...]
A latecomer from Indiana
My name is Gretchen and I am not an audiobook person. Oh, I understand why our patrons like them–and why they can be such a boon to reluctant readers–but they’re just not my thing. I’m a very visual person and my mind tends to wander just listening to a story and then I realize I [...]
Playing spot the librarian
When traveling to library conferences, I always like to get warmed up by guessing who else on the plane is a librarian. On this trip, I traveled with two colleagues from Kingston, Ontario, and they pointed out that the game isn’t as easy as it used to be. Or as my mother (also a librarian [...]
Tech Competency
Rather than post my redundant notes from the PLA program “Thingamabobs and Doodads: Why Tech Support IS Reference” from Monday July 13 (already seems so long ago), I’ll link you to the presentation slides from the Salem-South Lyon Library District librarians here. (It’s funny…I used my new Dell Mini netbook at the conference and now [...]
Serving Gen X and Gen Y
“Millenials Rising: Programming and Collections for the Next Generation of Library Users” Sunday July 12 Presented by Jennifer Czajka, Monica Harris and Monica Harris of Oak Park Public Library, Oak Park, IL Gen X (that’s me!) and Gen Y, otherwise known as millenials, are shaped by popular culture, education, marketing ,and technology and are in [...]
Space is the Place
“Exciting NASA Materials for Libraries” was a fantastic program! I love to hear scientists talk because they are so enthusiastic about what they do and as a result many of them are great at outreach. ALA Public Programs Office is sponsoring an exhibit in conjunction with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI), Smithsonian, and NASA [...]
Safety in the Library
Hello! My name is Ericka Dow and I serve as circulation supervisor at the Lake Jackson Branch of the LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library System and I am happy to be blogging for PLA along with the other event bloggers. My only ALA conference before this was DC in 2007. It was a blast [...]
When the Title Does Not Fit the Presentation …
As a part time library school student and full time reference worker, I understand the value of evaluating print sources. Sometimes what is written is not what you get. I have been to eight presentations in the past two days. Three of the presenters commented on the title of their presentations (what was printed in [...]
Minneapolis is a great place to hold a conference
Today is the last day and I’m noticing many attendees walking with a hitch in their step. The weather has been great for this time of year. Got my picture taken with Mary Tyler Moore (her statue) and appeared on the Channel 4 CBS morning show (in the window) on the way to the convention [...]
Final 4th (Okay, not that clever of a title but better than nothing)
Whew…what a conference. My first PLA and I must say I’m much impressed. And much tired. And much with good grammer too. And to think I was just one of over 9000 Public Library people that attended. Wow! That’s a big kind of number. So here then is the final run down. After a quick [...]
