CLA-CSLA Annual Conference and Exposition

Earlier this month I had the privilege to attend the CLA-CSLA Annual Conference and Exposition in Pasadena. I was given a pass to the exhibition hall and took a few pictures as I visited different booths. This was my first visit to the conference and I learned a great deal from talking with vendors and booth staffers.

I was also able to speak with vendors likeShowcases for technical services to see what new and innovative products they had to offer. The staffers at the University of North Texas booth were very friendly and explained what their library science program had to offer. I also visited the San Jose State University booth and learned a little bit about their graduate program.

I met a friendly booth staffer named Jozi at the Better World Books booth. She was very helpful in explaining how her company works with libraries to find new homes for their discarded books at no cost. In doing so the net proceeds are shared between the library and a non-profit literacy partner.

Baker and Taylor (their mascots are on the bag above) very informative. I’d learned a bit about them in class before regarding acquisitions, but I learned at the booth that Baker and Taylor has other services to offer such as RFID tagging and cataloging services. I also came across a booth showcasing a service called HealthyCity, which is a website-based portal that helps a user find different types of social services and cultural programs locally in California.

The vendor Boopsie provided a fun mobile application that I was able to use for this conference. The app was very useful for the convention as it served as a pocket guide. Yet it was more than just a reference guide as I could select different workshops and presentations and schedule them within the phone with reminders.

And last but not least, I was able to pick up this bag with this fun quote. If you missed this year’s conference, the 2012 CLA-CSLA conference will be held in Anaheim.(Please see edit below.)

For a full listing of the different exhibitors please check out the Exhibitors Guide.

11/29/11 Edit: Sorry, the information about next year's conference is incorrect. CLA and CSLA will not be holding a joint conference. The CLA conference will be held in San Jose in 2012.