Library Alchemy

The day’s not quite over yet, but I wanted to ring in and give you the highlights. Right now I’m really excited and inspired about the library profession, in spite of the challenges ahead. Here’s why:

1. A meeting of the Electronic Resources Roundtable, of which I am a member.  The outgoing chair is working with the incoming chair on ways the roundtable can be more active.  I volunteered for the planning board, which will do a lot of virtual work, and pitched an idea to one of the other attendees who, like me, likes to write!  So, stay tuned for updates and innovations from us…
2. Nonfiction readers’ advisory.  Barry Trott’s session was excellent – I’ve had the privilege of seeing him before, but those who haven’t can at least get his handout here (scroll down to Tuesday).  Nota bene:  NO slideshow / powerpoint.  Nothing wrong with presentation software, it’s true, but it’s refreshing to hear a really good public speaker who can engage an audience sans props.
3. The exhibits!  I am returning home with several leads on electronic resources, and just plain cool things, to share with the other librarians.  One of these is Generations Online, an extremely inexpensive way to help seniors learn to use the internet easily.  Given that service to seniors is a CLP priority, and the need is definitely there throughout the county, this could be huge!
4. Norma Blake!  2008 Librarian of the Year, y’know.  She talked about the future of libraries, navigating change, and ways organizations can make that possible.  Good communication and transparency were chief among these.  She also declared that you can teach people job-specfic skills, but you can’t teach a good attitude.  Spot on!  I think the next step, though, is examining servant leadership, and ways libraries can bring out the best in their existing staff.
5. The PaLA annual meeting.  Those of you who nodded off at the word “meeting” would have been impressed and inspired by what took place there.  Allegheny County was well represented by award-winners and office-holders.  Special props go to former classmate Colleen Miles, who is setting the world on fire at the Upper St. Clair Library!  For her efforts, she was named the 2008 Best New Librarian in PA, a well-deserved honor!
6. I was also greatly moved by  the brief statement issued by Alexia Hudson, whom I had the pleasure of meeting earlier in the conference.  Alexia, a former Emerging Leader herself, spoke on behalf of Philadelphia’s libraries, and requested that discussion of the impending closures be put on the next PaLA board meeting agenda.  I did not know, and was distressed to hear, that the closures are targeted for areas that serve predominately minority populations and also do not have access to school libraries.  This, in my opinion, is unacceptable, and I applaud Alexia for taking the initiative in instigating further discussion and action.

And while we’re on the topic of leadership, I’d like to point out what might be obvious,  but never hurts to repeat:  we are the librarians we’ve been waiting for.  Colleen, Alexia, Erin, Kelley, Bonnie, Karen, Charity, Holly, and ALL the young PA librarians, including yours truly (though I suspect I am older than most of you!).  It falls to us to decide how library world is going to be.  We need the help and support of our more experienced colleagues, and belief in ourselves, to transform the obstacles ahead into opportunities.

And if you think that’s overly sunshiney, wait until you hear my other lofty goal:  all the librarians from Lackawanna county who received awards were extremely kind and supportive of each other, exchanging hugs, giving standing ovations, and applauding wildly.  I would like to see Allegheny County’s librarians showing each other that much love and support in our efforts.

See?  This is what happens when you send alchemists to professional conferences.  I’ll leave it to you to decide whether those funds were well-spent.

For now, though, I’ve got to get ready for the awards banquet, and get packing.  I’m taking an early flight home tomorrow so I can do some last-minute preparation for the talk I’m giving at the library school tomorrow night (my fabulous boss will be the co-presenter, and temper my post-conference zeal nicely, I imagine).  It’s for Barry C.’s Adult Resources and Services class.  The topic is databases, and I’m thrilled to be able to talk about what we do, as well as some of the changes coming over the horizon at CLP.

Until we meet again….