Library News, Reviews, and Views
To aid in your use of the handy ALA Scheduler this year LJ ’s editors have selected a few of their favorite ALA program sessions from the sprawling array of options on offer. We hope these selections will give you the best shot at the newest and best ideas and innovations, the most useful information and best practices, and, of course, the most entertainment for the time and money you have invested. If all else fails there is always “that toddlin’ town” outside.
Why is this conference unlike all other conferences? Several of this year’s innovations are drawn from the current trends in professional gatherings that feature high-energy, interactive, bottom-up content rather than traditional presentations. Other 2013 changes to the conference include added support for body (yoga, massage) and brain (the new Buddy Program), plus technology-enabled instant gratification: attendees can vote for their favorite sessions in the ACRL People’s Choice Awards via mobile device.
With a promise to attendees of “inspiring content” and a message to potential exhibitors that they’ll get to chat with “the decision-makers you need to meet,” the American Library Association (ALA) has scheduled its Midwinter Meeting at the Washington State Convention Center (WSCC) in Seattle, January 25–29, 2013. ALA says Midwinter has been “redesigned,” but the change seems more extensive, more like reinvented. The transformation is clearly needed to attract exhibitors and members whose fees will help ALA clear a deficit from the last fiscal year and avoid revenue shortfalls in FY13, both partly caused by declining conference revenues.
The Risk and Reward Conference (R2), focusing on creativity and innovation in libraries, was planned for September 2012 up in the mountains in Telluride, CO (where the local tourism board won the bid to host the conference). The initial placeholder webpage was mysterious, lacking a lot of details one usually finds on conference pages. As more details about R2 appeared in the spring, I was intrigued and decided to attend in spite of relatively high travel and boarding costs, using conference funds made available to me by the Provost’s office at San Jose State University. It was well worth it, and changed my entire perception of a conference experience.
As we snaked through the cobblestone streets of Tallinn’s old town, the onlookers’ confused stares and disbelieving smiles faded and returned as they waved, and then saw that, wait, yet more of us were coming up the hill, waving, ringing our bells, and smiling to cover up our focused determination to reach the end. I [...]
Leading today’s libraries demands fluidity, which requires the willingness to recognize the need for change, and then, the ability to lead that change. And, as we say at the Lead the Change sessions, “You don’t need a title to be a leader!”
Are extraordinary initiatives the business of public libraries and their leaders? In my view, they exemplify the leadership role for public libraries.
LJ’s 550 Movers and Shakers and staff from libraries honored as LJ Library of the Year have formed the core of the real-world library leaders who serve as examples and guest speakers at the workshops.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has raised the award levels for Library Journal’s annual Best Small Library in America Award. Now in its ninth year, the award was founded to celebrate and raise awareness of the work of libraries that demonstrate outstanding service to populations of 25,000 or less. For the 2013 award, the winning library will receive a $20,000 award, a feature story in the February 1, 2013 edition of LJ, membership and conference costs for two library representatives to attend the Public Library Association Biennial Conference in 2014 in Indianapolis, IN.
INFOdocket by Gary Price
