ALA Annual Conference 2014 report

I had a great time at the American Library Association Annual meeting in Las Vegas. As always, I'm refreshed and invigorated with new ideas! There were a number of poster sessions and panels that gave me a lot to think about. For me, at least, I felt that a lot of my currently held beliefs were confirmed. It's good to hear that my thoughts and leanings are very much in line with what the best professionals in my field are currently practicing.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Two of my storytime heroes, Betsy Diamont-Cohen (the inventor of Mother Goose on the Loose) and Saroj Ghoting talked about how repetition and music work well in storytimes. It's true! I know babies and toddlers love the familiar routine of some of my repeating songs and felt boards. I may start adding more conversational asides, as needed, for parents and caregivers in my storytimes.

There seemed to be a general feeling that Summer Reading programs should not be about prizes, prizes, prizes. I couldn't agree more. I've said it before, "Reading is the prize!" (at least it should be) In large part, the trend away from giving away useless plastic tchotchkes is being driven because of shrinking budgets, but another thing to consider is that limited funds should be spent on programs, so that Summer Reading is an experience that you'll remember for a lifetime, not a cheap toy that breaks at the end of the summer.

I think I showed some pretty incredible restraint on the Exhibit floor. I picked up a nice pile of ARCs, but not so many that I had to resort to shipping them back home. Everything fit in my carry-on! If I'd gone hog-wild, I could have gotten four times as much... but I didn't want to be plagued with guilt for picking up advance copies and then not really reading them.

I loved meeting Laini Taylor! Her supernaturally pink hair is even more striking in person. When she signed Gods and Monsters, she commented, "Madigan McGillicuddy! That sounds like a character in a book!" I laughed and said "Authors always tell me that!" Yikes! I hope I didn't sound conceited! It's true, though.

I'm really glad I made it to the YALSA mixer - I met some really cool ladies who all turned out to be fellow nerds, Whovians and Walking Dead fans like myself. I felt inspired by all the program ideas they mentioned!

Most of all, I really appreciated everyone who tweeted during the convention, as it's the next best thing to being able to attend 2 or 3 different events at once.

Decatur Book Festival 2013

Labor Day Weekend is coming right up, and as always I'm torn between two great events: The Decatur Book Festival's  amazing line-up of authors and activities, and DragonCon's terrific line-up of sci-fi and fantasy stars and great costumes, of course. I probably will only get snippets of both events - as it turns out it is my weekend to work at the library!

Vacation!

Summer reading madness has drawn to a close and now I'm going traveling... hence the reduced posting schedule this month. Going to Maine, Chicago, Korea, Cambodia and Vietnam. I'm sure I'll have plenty of interesting stories to share when I get back.

Top Ten Bookish Memories

Top Ten Tuesdays is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is: Top Ten Best Bookish Memories.

I've been pretty fortunate - working in bookstores and libraries, I've had the opportunity to attend some pretty awesome author events. Here are a few of my favorite bookish memories.

1. My first ARC bookshelf
I'll never forget my first day working at an independent bookstore, when I was being shown the staff work room. There was a whole shelf of Advanced Reader's Copy books, and I was told that I was allowed to, no, in fact, highly encouraged, to take them home to read. I had never heard of ARCs before, and the idea blew my mind - reading a book before it was published? It was like peeking into the future!

2. Ray Bradbury
I worked a book signing with Ray Bradbury. It was so amazing getting to meet him. He was rather irascible in person - the kind of guy who loves a "good argument." We had a great conversation about theatre and he was very passionate about hating when playwrights lean on using swear words to create controversy. I agreed with him wholeheartedly, and I think he was a little disappointed that I didn't disagree. He was pretty hungry and we got him a grilled cheese sandwich - when he was signing my books at the end of the night he got greasy crumbs all over my copy of The Martian Chronicles! I was cringing inside, but didn't dare say anything!

3. J.K. Rowling
I was working in a bookstore before Harry Potter had come out - it was a whole different world then. Fantasy was not popular. Only "nerds" enjoyed books about wizardry. Kids books did not make money, not big money, anyway. Rowling agreed to a book tour, before her book had come out - her books were just catching on in England, and there was some question if they'd be popular in the States or not. Her publisher booked her on a grueling tour of the U.S. to promote the book. By the time the date of her book signing rolled around, her books were already climbing the bestseller charts and things had really spiraled out of control. It was crazy! We limited the signing to "only" 400 people and it was still a complete mob. Jo was such a trouper. Even though she was exhausted, she still had a smile for every fan, and signed the whole time while chatting with everyone. Obviously, she'll never do a "small scale" event like that again. Getting to meet her was so awesome!

4. Lemony Snicket
This was another author I got to meet before he was really famous. I'd read The Bad Beginning from The Series of Unfortunate Events and loved it. I was so excited to work a book signing with Daniel Handler. He came dressed in a 1920's seersucker suit, complete with boater and spats! A lot of the parents were completely taken aback. They had no idea what to make of this guy, who cheerfully played the accordion and sang songs about orphans and death. It was so much fun. We gave him a "thank you" gift of an Edward Gorey book which turned out to be absolutely perfect.

5. Avi
I got to meet Avi! I was invited to dinner with Avi and a couple of book industry people. It was so nervewracking, because he was one of my favorite authors as a kid, and I was sure that I'd be completely tongue-tied. He ended up telling us all about cold winters in Colorado which really "broke the ice" so to speak.

6. Brandon Sanderson
Another of my favorite authors, I had the opportunity to go to dinner with him and work at one of his book signings. It was an awesome experience. Apparently, he has a legendary love of salty food - and I can confirm that was absolutely true. He put a ton of salt on everything! I think he ordered a steak, and pretty much salted every bite! It was great talking to him about his books - he is so intelligent and inventive when it comes to manipulating magic systems. The man has a sharp, sharp eye for business as well. He was very focused and involved in creating his "brand" - his online blog, promoting his books, running a podcast and teaching new writers. At his book signing I got to meet a lot of his fans, many of whom had traveled from several states away just to see them. Everybody there had an interesting story and we had a really good time.

7. Susan Patron

I was working at Los Angeles Public Library when Susan Patron, who was then working in Collection Development won the Newbery award for her book The Higher Power of Lucky. It was a thrilling time! While Susan Patron wasn't my direct boss, she had done quite a bit of my training when I first started as a professional librarian and she'd always been someone I really looked up to. I was so excited for her and her book which was a complete dark horse. Plus, I got to hear a "sneak preview" of her acceptance speech before she spoke at the awards ceremony.

8. Carmen Agra Deedy
While I've been lucky to host lots of authors for storytimes at various libraries I've worked at, I think Carmen Agra Deedy must be one of the most entertaining storytellers I've ever met. Lots of authors are actually quite sensitive and shy - but Carmen was absolutely vivacious. We actually had a lot more teens come to the program than we'd expected, and she instantly adjusted her story, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach turning it into a sassy, hilarious, Cuban "dating game" that the teens could really relate to. She did different voices for all the characters and was absolutely a hoot!

9. ALA Teen Coffee Klatch
Last year, I finally got to attend the American Library Association Teen Coffee Klatch. It was an incredible event. Basically, it's musical chairs in a room full of YA authors. They'll come and sit at your table and talk with a group of 5 or 6 librarians for about 10 minutes. Then, a bell rings, and they get up to go to the next table, and you get to meet someone else. There was a great blend of debut authors and "big names." I wrote more about it here.

10. Book festivals - Texas, Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Suwanee, Decatur
This has got to be a 5-way tie! I always love a book festival, and I've been lucky to get to go to some pretty big ones - the Texas Book Festival in Austin, Texas, the Los Angeles Festival of Books, the West Hollywood Book Fair, the Decatur Book Festival right outside Atlanta where I got to be a featured storyteller and even minor festivals like the Book Festival in Suwanee, GA. It's so great when the weather is nice, and you're among fellow book lovers, and you never know which book celebrity you're going to meet or what book you're going to discover. I love book festivals!

Free Comic Book Day

Buffy vs. Aliens

It's Free Comic Book Day! Check here and see if there are any free comic books to be had near you.

ALA Midwinter 2012 Recap

ALA Midwinter, hosted this year in Dallas, Texas, is always a quieter, tamer conference than ALA Annual, held in the summer. I had a great time - I did my graduate work at UT Austin, so returning to Texas was a great opportunity for me to reconnect with a lot of my friends and former colleagues in Texas. I've already talked about my reactions to the Newbery, Caldecott and Printz wins.

I took fairly detailed notes on the whole trip - but rather than giving a blow-by-blow account, I decided to try to boil things down to the bare essence. 

I had a Texas breakfast!

Saw a bluegrass band, playing for the opening of the Exhibit Hall.

Here's a quick overview of books that caught my attention last weekend. Unless otherwise noted, they are available now.

PICTURE BOOK BIOGRAPHIES:
I liked the looks of these.

Charles Dickens: Scenes from an Extraordinary Life - Mick Manning, Brita Granstrom
Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea - Tony Johnston, Stacy Innerst
Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert - Gary D. Schmidt, David Diaz (due out in June 2012)
First Girl Scout: The Life of Juliette Gordon Low - Ginger Wadsworth  (due out in February 2012)

MORE NON-FICTION:

Beetle Book - Steve Jenkins (due out in April 2012)
Gifts from the Gods - Lise Lunge-Larsen, Gareth Hinds
Don't Sit On the Baby!: The Ultimate Guide to Sane, Skilled, and Safe Babysitting - Hally Bondy (due out in June 2012)
Knitted Dinosaurs: Tina Barrett

INTERESTING PICTURE BOOKS:

Over and Under the Snow - Kate Messner
Extra Yarn - Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen
The Woods - Paul Hoppe
And Then It's Spring - Julie Fogliano, Erin Stead (due out in February 2012)
Otter and Odder - James Howe, Chris Raschka (due out in October 2012)
Virginia Wolf - Kyo Maclear, Isabelle Arsenault (due out in March 2012)


NEW MOUSE SERIES FROM KEVIN HENKES:
It looks to be at a beginning reader level. It's due out in February. The first one is called Penny and Her Song.



NEW FANCY NANCY SPIN-OFF:
It's a chapter book!

Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth - Jane O'Connor, Robin Preiss Glasser (due out in April 2012)

FLANAGAN FRENZY:

This was to promote a summer reading program tie-in for the Ranger's Apprentice series.

The best part of this conference was, of course, all the wonderful people I met. As always, I feel refreshed, rejuvenated and recharged after the conference - ready to tackle whatever comes next.


Next week, I'll post pics of all the swag I picked up!

Heading out to ALA

I'm heading out to Dallas today for the American Library Association MidWinter Conference. Hurrah! It's always great to convene with the diaspora of librarians -- I'm looking forward to reconnecting with plenty of former classmates and colleagues, and to checking out all the great publisher and author events promoting new books, of course!

ALA Midwinter 2012

I purchased my tickets for ALA Midwinter -- just in time to still get the early discount. I always enjoy going to American Library Association conventions. It's a great way to see authors, preview upcoming book releases, and connect with other librarian friends and colleagues around the country.

John Green is one of the featured speakers this year. I must admit, I haven't read many of his books, but I do really enjoy the Vlog Brothers videos that he and his brother Hank Green create.

This is going to be the closest ALA conference to me for a while, for the next several years they're being hosted in various West Coast cities, or up north in the middle of winter. The conference returns to Florida in 2016, and comes to Atlanta in 2017.

Re:Imagine Ed Next Chapter Summit Part II

Here are my notes from Day 2 and 3 of the Re:Imagine Ed conference. It was, as you can imagine an intense, exhilarating and exhausting weekend. We worked continuously for 12+ hours on Day 2, and about 8 hours on Day 3.

Day 2:

Welcome

Meet w/ teams - make introductions
At a rough guesstimate, I’d have to say Cohort B consisted of roughly 30 people. We were then subdivided into working teams of 5 or 6 people. With the exception of myself, everyone in my group was an elementary school librarian.

Meet “mentors” - design professionals guiding each group
Each group was given a packet with information on our challenge.

I had an interesting conversation with some of the designers this morning. They asked what I thought of the conference so far, and I took and risk and confessed that I was excited by everyone’s energy, and I liked so much of what they had to say, but then... I felt like the creative team was jumping off a cliff, into something I didn’t understand. Like, a speaker would pace along the stage and say something like, “Library. Is. Verb.” and I had NO idea what that meant. Okay, you said it slowly and importantly, and then gazed triumphantly around the room. I don’t think that’s the same as actually saying something worthwhile! I hated feeling like the jerk who had to announce that the emperor had no clothes. I wanted to be part of the fun - but in all honesty, I couldn’t “fake it” when it came to things like this. Much to my surprise, they laughed and agreed, and said they’d try to find some ways to communicate a little better.

Step 1: Look at survey research gathered from K-12 students

Share w/ group observations that seemed important or interesting to you in the research

These observations were noted on giant paper.
I was pleased that several important questions regarding the surveys we’d been given were immediately addressed by our group. How large were the sample sizes? What was the age/gender/income level of the people who were responding? Was there any kind of bias inherent in librarians asking their students for feedback on libraries while in a library setting? Any kind of self-selection bias to these surveys? We didn’t have the answers to any of those questions, and were forced to plunge ahead with the information we had at hand. Here’s what we came up with:

Include me

Many of the students surveyed said they wanted to be surveyed more, they wanted their opinions to matter, they wanted the opportunity to give feedback and book reviews on library websites.

Books matter
Interestingly, many of the young people surveyed reported that they still highly valued books. They saw books on equal par with online resources and wanted both types of materials at the library.

Comfort

Overwhelmingly, young people wanted the comfort of their living rooms in a library. They wanted soft seating, the ability to bring snacks, clean, well-lit spaces with natural light. They wanted study rooms so they could meet with groups and socialize, but they also wanted designated quiet areas.

Interestingly, I got into a side-conversation with my cohorts - all highly educated folks, passionate about life-long learning (in short, potentially our ideal patrons) who told me they don’t go to public libraries much, because of the homeless who spend their time there. They felt that homelessness and libraries went hand-in-hand and far from being considered a problem, public libraries should embrace their role as a safe place for homeless to go and step up to the task by providing showers, sleeping cots, and social services. (Several of them were very emphatic on that point about providing showers.) They felt very good that homeless people had a place to go. They appeared to view public libraries as community centers valuable for the space they provide and saw their school libraries as “true libraries” where books and learning would be the focus.

Step 2: Based on those observations, we did some drawings of ideal interactions in a K-12 library

  

Provocateurs speak

In what was referred to as a “keynote slam” several well-respected designers and librarians each gave short 10-minute talks.
Nancy Giordano gave a talk as a brand futurist. She claimed that 95% of people crave mastery of a subject, 5% crave new experiences. She said team workers who work outside their job description often excel, because they are more innovative.
David Staley gave a very visceral talk about using smell to process or present information.
Helene Blowers from Columbia Public Library gave a talk about playfulness in the library - demonstrated with a bubble machine. She averred that if you graduated library school in 2008, you are already a dinosaur.

Step 3: Prototyping
Based on our earlier drawings we then “prototyped” - writing concrete items, policies, etc. that could be implemented on to Post-It Notes.

Another  break for provocateurs
Tom LaForge of Coca-Cola gave a talk about how communities will be getting smaller and more local in the future.
Devin Moore gave a talk about how values change over time.

Carl DiSalvo gave a talk about using maps as musical instruments by recording ambient sound.

Trung Le gave a talk about faster than light neutrinos and some good design ideas including “do no harm” (children should have spaces that are as well-designed and comfortable as the spaces that adults get.)

Step 4: Sorting ideas
Our ideas are now posted on the wall in one of 3 categories: “Do Tomorrow” - easy implementable ideas, “Valuable” - things to work on right away, even though they may not be completed in a single day, and “Further Thought” - pipe-dream type stuff
After some arranging and re-arranging of ideas (and Post-its) we take our “valuable” ideas to work on further.

Step 5: Ranking ideas
Each of those ideas were entered into a spreadsheet, with points assigned for the scale of the project, the cost, the time to implement, etc. As we’d been warned, some of our most breathtaking ideas only ended up with a fair to middling grade, because of one or other of its’ aspects had some inherent difficulty. Cheap, easy, global innovations naturally rose to the top. Our sub-cohort chose our top 4 ideas. We then re-grouped with our larger cohort to further combine our best bets so we could land on the best of the best. We experienced some “creative abrasion” which is a really polite way of saying that at this point, conference attendees had spent nearly 12 hours continuously brainstorming. Many people reported feeling “fried” and tempers ran high as we debated which ideas to work on. We did finally settle on 4 very excellent ideas, and after reformulating our groups, called it an evening.

The winning ideas in our cohort were:

• The ever-changing library
• The library as social buzzing place
• Global collaboration
• Student/teacher video talks patterned after the TED talks (it turns out we were right on the money with this one... a few days after the conference, TED announced they were putting together exactly this: http://www.tedxyouthday.com/)

Day 3:

We had 3 hours in the morning to work on creating a presentation for the larger group. Honestly, this felt a lot like being a contestant on Project Runway. It was not nearly enough time to come up with something you could really be proud of, but you just had to “make it work,” as Tim Gunn would say. I was excited to be working with a new group of diverse people, including a middle-school librarian, an interior decorator, a graphic designer, a library consultant and a school administrator.

A working lunch. It's crunchtime!

We generated some really positive progress, but then broke down a bit, as half the group favored presenting a skit of some kind, with the other half rooting for a slide presentation, and a lone hold-out who was not happy with either of these ideas. We scrambled to come up with a last-minute presentation - a hybrid of an improv skit paired with a Powerpoint. To be honest, I was less than pleased with our final product, as a lot of compromises had to be made. To my surprise, our talk was very well received. I do think we were greater than the sum of our parts and came up with some really valuable ideas.

Our slide show is here.

One idea our team came up with the idea of making a library like a zoo. People were excited about the idea of offering pets, especially rabbits to check out. Now, obviously there are a tremendous number of problems with this idea. I’m not even going to bother to point out all the things that could go wrong with such a program, as the challenges inherent in such an undertaking are too many to list. But! The reasons to do something like this would be that it’s something truly innovative, certain to capture the attention of the media and possibly create some interest, new learning experiences and fun around the library.

We also came up with a great tagline: “Homework Hacking Hosted Here” A lot of people use the term, “hacking” just to mean taking a shortcut that makes life better. Using the library could be a way to “hack” your homework - get it done faster.

Decorate the library with fairy doors for a sense of whimsy and fun.

Buffy Hamilton and a few others ran into some creative differences and broke off to form a new “Cohort D” Their presentation was based on comparing the movie Field of Dreams to libraries. I was not very familiar with the movie, and didn’t understand most of their presentation. I got the sense that the conference hosts were eager to reward non-conformity - so you had to approach many of their challenges and projects as double-speak. They’d tell you to work closely with your group, but then praise you for doing the opposite.

Another group came up with the idea of a kitchen island in the library, as your mobile technology and workstation area.

One group came up with a library design that looked like a tree... with stacks beneath (like roots) and terraced levels for socializing above.

In short, here are some of the ideas that kept coming up over and over again during the course of the weekend:

• Remove borrowing limits, remove late fees to increase customer satisfaction and increase circulation
• Create permanent workspaces that could be reserved for use (I saw this idea as being far more practical in a school setting with a limited number of students, but several presenters suggested setting up tinker’s labs or robot-building labs in public libraries)
• Hand out condoms in libraries. Provide social services.
• Modular furniture, including rolling bookcases for ultimate flexibility in the library space
• Folding walls, again for flexible space, creating study rooms when needed, larger spaces when needed - libraries could be designed like a black box theatre - an infinitely flexible space
• Yoga chairs and rocking chairs are greatly appreciated by ADHD students who can’t sit still
• Student involvement in creating displays
• Idea Paint to turn walls into whiteboards
• A suggestion box so patrons can be heard - so simple, so easy to do. Does your library have one?
• Everyone felt that iPads were amazing devices - that they change the way people learn and think and they are nothing short of extraordinary. Most private schools thought it would be ideal for each and every students to be issued an iPad, some were already doing so. Do I think iPads will be made available for loan at the public library? Not anytime soon, although a few public libraries are already doing so.
• Everyone was very, very excited about TED talks. If you haven’t seen any yet, you should check them out. They are pretty great.

On the whole, this was a conference that was heavily geared towards the issues and concerns facing private school libraries, but it was interesting to get the chance to attend... many of the ideas that were presented are ones that I’m sure would translate well to use in public libraries, and if nothing else, it’s helpful, as a children’s librarian in a public setting, to know what is happening in the parallel field of school libraries.

Continue checking the Re:Imagine Ed website as they compile other blog posts, design challenge information and resources generated over the course of the summit weekend.

Resources recommended to me:

Brockman, John. This Will Change Everything, Ideas That Will Shape The Future. HarperCollins, 2010.

Carse, James P. Finite And Infinite Games. Ballantine Books, 1987.

Christensen, Clayton M., Michael B. Horn, and Curtis W. Johnson. Disrupting Class, How Disruptive Innovation Will Change The Way The World Learns. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2008.


Web resources:

TED talks: http://www.ted.com/

Brain Pickings: http://www.brainpickings.org/

Pecha Kucha: http://www.pecha-kucha.org/

(If I understand correctly, these are a series of fast-moving slide-shows put on by architects and designers - as a side note, one of the best slide show talks I ever gave the slides were accidentally on fast-forward, forcing me to jump through my talk faster than anticipated. Everyone's feedback was that it was the most exciting slide show talk they'd seen in a long time and they appreciated having time at the end for questions.)

An alternate to Powerpoint: http://prezi.com/

A newsy Facebook alternative: http://www.plurk.com


Resources I recommended to others:

Burke, James. The Day The Universe Changed. Little Brown & Co, 1985.

Edwards, Margaret A. The Fair Garden And The Swarm Of Beasts, The Library And The Young Adult. ALA Editions, 2002.

Re:Imagine Ed Next Chapter Summit Part I

I had the opportunity to attend the Re:Imagine Ed Next Chapter K-12 Libraries Conference last weekend, and it's taken me a whole week to sort through my thoughts and impressions of the whole event. It was certainly the most original and most thought-provoking conference I've ever been to. You know that old saying, "Sit and get doesn't grow dendrites"? This conference was that philosophy fully in action. Participants were fully involved at every stage of the conference, with everyone encouraged to stretch their brain muscles and contribute at every level. Here are my notes from Day 1 of the conference.

Re:Imagine Ed Next Chapter Conference Notes

Day 1:

Registration and Welcome
I arrived on the Lovett campus, a private K-12 school, stunned by the beauty of the natural setting and the clean, spacious buildings. The campus is as well-manicured and spacious as many 4 year-college campuses. My initial impression of the conference attendees was that they were earnest, cerebral and wealthy. Conference-goers were almost exclusively media-specialists at private schools, and ~99% Caucasian. Perhaps a third of the conference-goers were men.

Call for Design Challenges
Participants wrote comments on design challenges that have been posted on a giant whiteboard in the lobby of the theatre.  We were also invited to create new challenges, if so moved. Some of the challenges seemed kind of out there, “If the library was a restaurant what would be on the menu?” A few comments about bananas being the perfect food were listed here. “What sacred cows should the library abandon?” was followed by the declaration that “Sacred cows make the best hamburger!” Someone posted a challenge, “Why is everyone at this conference white? What can we do to increase diversity?” (Later, this challenge received many votes, but did not win the challenge for the top 3.)

Speeches from Laura Deisley and architect Jeff Sharpe, among others.



A webcam video starring educator Bud Hunt was shared. Everyone was very excited about this. I thought the production values were low, and unfortunately, he came across as rather creepy to me.

Voting

Participants were invited to put sheets of colored dots on the whiteboard next to challenges they were voting for. You could split your vote however you chose, or if you felt terribly strongly about a particular issue, devote all your “votes” to that one cause.

I had heard of this method being used at the Phoenix Public Library when they were gathering input from teens on designing their new teen space for the Central Library. I thought this method worked very well, and was a lot of fun!

 

More speeches from “provocateurs” most notably Zac Chase and Buffy Hamilton.



Zac Chase

I was very impressed with Zac Chase, an English teacher, improvisational comic and master’s degree student at Harvard. He spoke about how to use rules from improv to work successfully with groups. All the material he covered was relatively familiar territory to me, and I was excited to see his suggestions put in action.

Yes, and...

Chase talked about the concept of, “Yes, and...” used in theatre. It’s generally funnier and more fun if you build on someone else’s idea rather than negating it. No matter how outrageous, just keep with the momentum, by saying, “yes, and...” rather than the deadly, “yes, but...” (which is really a “no” in disguise.)

My idea is good... but I like yours better!

Another way of creating great momentum when working with groups is to put aside ego. Naturally, you will be greatly attached to your own ideas. Be the bigger person, and let other people have a shot - they may really surprise you by coming up with something terrific that you couldn’t have thought of on your own.

No one is coming to save you.

In improv theatre, it’s just you and maybe a buddy on the stage. You’ve got to find your own solutions to any problem. There is no deus ex machina. You must adopt the attitude that everything that happens was supposed to have happened, rather than getting caught-up or stuck on a flub or mistake. It sounds simple, but imagine how different it feels to not “wait” for somebody else to come and fix it. It’s very self-empowering to know that you and only you are responsible for digging yourself out of any situation you get yourself into.

Buffy Hamilton
I am very disappointed to report that I was wildly, deeply underwhelmed by Hamilton’s talk. She is quite famous in library circles, and I’d heard so much praise regarding her accomplishments. To be fair, she reported having a massive migraine, that nearly prevented her from coming to the conference, so perhaps I did not see her in her best light.
She gave a talk about having gone to the recent ALA conference in New Orleans and dining at Bouche restaurant. She went into great detail, outlining the whole experience. The atmosphere was one of delightful sophistication, she had a comfortable private booth with dear friends, the food was delicious, the wait staff perfectly attentive and caring. She challenged libraries to create such a marvelous experience for their patrons by providing comfortable spaces, cheeriness and attending to their patron’s every need the same way that restaurant did. Honestly, my take-away on this was, “Wealthy white women like to be pampered at fine dining establishments. News flash at eleven!” I felt so disappointed by this. I had been looking forward to hearing her speak, I probably expected too much.

Dinner

Announcement of challenges and teams

These were the “winning” challenges. I had initially been in cohort C, but was later reassigned to cohort B. I asked if there was any particular rhyme or reason to the cohorts we’d been assigned, but it seemed as if the conference organizers were simply keeping attendees from the same institution on different teams.

DESIGN CHALLENGES

COHORT A

Design a successful ‘unquiet’ library.

COHORT B

What must K-12 libraries do to spur continual innovation, to make libraries the places and spaces our learners crave going forward?

COHORT C

Like a city provides a park the people can use in the myriad of ways, how can the library of the future be designed like a park of possibilities?






...More on days 2 and 3 of the conference tomorrow!