The PLA Blog » portland http://plablog.org Official Blog of the Public Library Association Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:02:13 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 2006-2008 contact@plablog.org (Public Library Association) contact@plablog.org (Public Library Association) 1440 http://plablog.org/wp-content/themes/default/images/PLABlog_144.png The PLA Blog » portland http://plablog.org 144 144 The official blog of the Public Library Association Public Library Association Public Library Association contact@plablog.org no no Literary Portland http://plablog.org/2010/03/literary-portland.html http://plablog.org/2010/03/literary-portland.html#comments Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:11:21 +0000 lily_dj http://plablog.org/?p=2495 So this isn’t expressly related to the conference, except that it was located in Portland, so of course I had to visit the Multnomah County Public Library and Powell’s Books. I’d heard great things about Multnomah County Library and actually just been to a great program on storytelling sponsored in part by librarians who worked there, and the main library did not disappoint. The building itself is beautiful and grand, but with a more human scale and temperament than some others that it’s reminiscent of (like NYPL’s main building, for instance). Details like the awesome carved staircase and sculptural tree in the children’s room make it distinctive and quirky. I loved the positivity and general niceness (very Portland!) of this sign:

After all the talk of abandoning Dewey and looking to bookstores as a model, Powell’s was full of food for thought. While I didn’t go to any of the sessions on getting rid of Dewey, and I’m not sure I have a clear sense of how it would work in terms of cataloging, I think the idea of making our nonfiction collections more user-friendly is essential. And even if we don’t completely upend Dewey and reorganize all our shelves, one lesson we can take away from a bookstore like Powell’s is about signage. As in, use it! Use words!

I spent a lot of time browsing the Young Adult Fiction section, and there were signs everywhere. Handwritten, homemade signs that alerted you to queer-friendly reads, signs that recommended books, signs that performed reader’s advisory. They were colorful, cute, and full of personality, and they helped you find what you were looking for. An degree of uniformity was achieved with forms that read “Recommended,” “I’m Dystopian….In a world where….” And “If you liked…you should try…”

Definitely good stuff to bring back.

]]> http://plablog.org/2010/03/literary-portland.html/feed 0 Planning Your Trip to Portland? http://plablog.org/2009/07/planning-your-trip-to-portland.html http://plablog.org/2009/07/planning-your-trip-to-portland.html#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:21:05 +0000 Kathleen Hughes http://plablog.org/?p=1686 We’re putting together information to help you out. PLA registration and official housing will open in early September. Bookmark the PLA conference website, as you’ll want to keep checking back for updated information. In addition to the conference website, we’ve also created a section on PLAspace that contains some auxiliary information for you, as well as a wiki where you can make arrangements for room sharing.

LINKS
National Conference general information as well as housing and regstration info can be found here. Housing and registration open September, 2009.

Room Share Wiki

Alternative Accomodation info is here

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