Once a year the American Library Association holds “THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE” – a huge gathering of librarians from all types of libraries and at all stages of their career. I was lucky enough to win a scholarship to attend this year, something I could probably not otherwise have afforded. This year the conference was held in New Orleans making it a double treat since I have not visited the city prior to this.
This conference is huge. Gargantuan. Enormous. Conference attendees roamed the city clutching a program the size of a phone book (okay, a phone book for a smallish city, but still…). I had used the online interactive tool to identify the sessions I wanted to attend but as I thumbed through the satisfyingly substantial guide, I discovered programs and sessions I had overlooked. Deciding on which event from the number of options was very difficult; I ended up choosing sessions based on a combination of interests and sheer logistics. After the first day in which I attended sessions from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm without even a chance to eat, I also decided to be more discriminating in my choices.
As with most things educational, you get what you put in. Some sessions were truly a waste of time (perhaps this is more of a problem because I am still in school where we are reading articles etc. all the time) but I managed to attend at least one each day that was amazing. I was surprised to find that perhaps the best parts were not the sessions themselves but the exhibits (more on this later), the lunch “Bites”, and the time I spent volunteering at the New Member resume review. These last two were both a great way to meet new people outside of the USF group.
The “Bites” were scheduled by the Library Instruction Round Table for both Saturday and Sunday at local restaurants with no agenda or discussion topic. For the resume booth, I helped coordinate the schedule, managing to squeeze in additional people which made me feel good. I also got the chance to bounce ideas off one of the reviewers, receiving a number of great tips about what to include and NOT to include in my resume and business card.
Books, Day 1
The exhibit hall was the biggest surprise for me. I was not too interested, expecting to meet vendors like the ones at EDUCAUSE, giving away pens and chotchkies. There was some of this but I had no idea how many BOOKS they give away! I thought I’d died and gone to heaven; aisles of books, books, books with the chance to meet the author. I ended up collecting almost 40 books (and I was being discriminating!), resulting in a somewhat pricey UPS bill to ship them all home but well worth it. (Although next time, I will follow Dr. Stites advice and ship them home each day from the exhibit hall rather than schlepping them back to the hotel and then back again to mail.) So now I sit, surrounded by a sea of books singing their siren call to read them instead of applying myself to papers that must be written THIS WEEKEND. Ah well, it’s a nice dilemma to have.
