My View From the ALA Expo Floor - Part 1

It has been a few years since I graduated. Life and the general economic situation has lead me to unexpected paths away from brick and mortar libraries. I stay connected by dipping into the cyber equivalents.

I thought going to see the exhibits at the conference was a good way for me to re-connect. I have to say that I felt like an interloper.  Maybe I was, I'm not a librarian.

Which is the number one question I got when I stepped up to a table. "What library are your from?" "Who do you represent?" "Are You A Librarian?"

Totally understandable.

It would have been misleading to add the school library to my badge. I'm not a student any more. I don't work at a library. I can say that I have been applying what I have gained in the program to communicate and share information with various on-line communities that won't step foot in a physical library.

They should. They won't. I meet folks where they are.

But what about the other stakeholders in literacy, technology and freedom of information advocates? Should we not have come?

As I walked through the convention center (and it was huge) I had people flash a look at my badge. If it didn't display what they wanted to see they looked away, hoping I wouldn't walk over.

Why Would a Non-library Person come to ALA?

Beyond my personal reasons,  I could see what has changed and not changed since the last time I visited. Paper books are still important. There are vendors selling and librarians wanting audio CDs for their patrons. E-book vendors getting a bit more space on the floor.

A lot of things to think about and to share.

National Library Week: April 8 - 12th, 2012

Almost every day there is something to do to celebrate National Library Week sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA). This year's theme is "You belong @ your library."

Today is National Library Workers Day. One can go to the National Library Workers Day website to recognize a library worker of their choice from any type of library.

Are you a Twitter fan? If so, you can tweet your six word library story of why you belong at the library by using this tag #nlw6words. Stories will be compiled and judged http://atyourlibrary.org/. You have till Wednesday, April 11th to participate. You can also follow National Library Week at #nlw12 on Twitter and atyourlibrary.org on Facebook.

Wednesday is also National Bookmobile Day. Thursday is Support Teen Literature Day.

If you happen to be on campus, then check out the Rotunda display at the Shatford Library celebrating National Library Week. There are new READ posters with assorted library staff, campus staff and students. In addition, check out the most current happenings dealing with banned books in Arizona. There are also boards set up where you can write what your favorite book is. Currently, one of my most favorite books is "The Time Traveler's Wife" which is a fictional story about a time traveling librarian who works at the Newbery Library in Chicago and his relationship with his wife which is told from both points of view. Feel free to post a comment of what your favorite book is and why.

Conference website: http://www.alaannual.org/

Early Bird Registration is open:
ALA Student Member** (All Access 6/22-6/26. Excludes Preconferences and Ticketed Events).
** Join online: http://www.ala.org/membership/aladues
Student membership: $33; Library Support Staff membership: $46.
Early Bird student Registration (by May 13): $95; Advance (by June 14): $120; Daily Fees (Paid onsite only): $92 .

ALA Annual Conference attendance tips from YALSA:
5 Ways to Return Triumphant

[NOTE: these are also useful tips for job applicants!]

From YALSA Blog: Direct link to post:
http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2012/03/23/ala-annual-5-ways-to-return-triumphant/
reposted from From: [calix] "Jane Gov" <jgov@beverlyhills.org>

With only three short months until the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, we hope you’ve taken advantage of Early Bird Registration ($215 for YALSA members until May 13) and marked your calendars for June 21 – 26.

With all of the great programs and events offered by YALSA at the conference, you’re going to soak up a fantastic amount of new and exciting information.
Coming back from ALA Annual, it is typical to be overloaded with two things:
ARCs and ideas.

Conference presentations are inspiring, and the exhibit hall always a place of dreams, but as with anything, the devil is in the details. Here are five tips for making the most of your ALA Annual experience once you return to your library.

1. Know Your Library System
A program that worked beautifully for a rural library that serves a population of 3,000 might need tweaking for your suburban, six-branch systems that serves 30,000. If possible, either during or right after the conference, think of ways to adapt the idea. Going to your supervisor or manager with a way to make the idea/program work for the community you serve, rather than “this worked at Library X!” will increase the likelihood of it happening.

2. Know Your Library’s Hierarchy
What is the management style of your library or library system? Good or bad, most places have a chain of command that should be followed. Jumping a person (or two, or three) makes it less likely that the new Summer Reading Program you’re dying to try will happen. Be respectful of the hierarchy. If your system requires you to inform your immediate supervisor, so that she or he can inform the next person up, and so on, follow every step– even if the Director of your system knows you personally.

3. Know Your Library Community
Implementing a Spanish story time is not going to go over well if the population you serve is predominantly Japanese. However, adapting the idea (see suggestion #1) for your Japanese community could go over very well.

4. Keep Contact Information
Most presenters and vendors are more than happy to give out their contact information. If you’re having trouble getting people get on board with your idea, or you need more information about a product/service/database that you think your library must have, use that contact. Ask the presenter if they have advice, ask the vendor for statistics, take them back to the appropriate channels, and be prepared to do it all again.

5. Be Persistent
The most important thing is to not give up. Follow through with ideas. It may be that your supervisor is happy to implement a new hold shelf method the day after you get back, and it may be that your Summer Reading theme won’t be used for years. Keep at it. You’re adaptable, you know your system, you know your community, and you have all those contacts to make things a success, and you can make it happen.

And in a few years, after you present your brilliant program at ALA, you might get a phone call or an email from another librarian, asking you how you got it done.

See you in Anaheim!

--Posted by YALSA Local Arrangements Committee 2012


**"Student members of ALA are enrolled in MLS/MLIS, NCATE and LTA programs. They are studying to be public, academic, school and special librarians. Some are furthering their studies with post-degree certifications while others are pursuing terminal degrees like doctoral programs. All are eligible for our discounted Student membership dues and each are invited to participate fully in ALA membership during their studies. Student members, whether full- or part- time, are also given the best rates for conference registration – often at discounts as high as 75% off. http://www.ala.org/membership/whoisala/students

ALA 2011 Virtual Conference

If you were wishing you could have been in New Orleans for this summer's American Library Association's annual conference, it is still possible to get in the fun and wealth of information and resources that this conference can offer.

Check out ALA's 2011 Virtual Conference and see what they have to offer. It's being held July 13-14th online and only costs $69. If I wasn't so busy with my two summer school classes that begin this next week, I would definitely check out these two workshops:


10:30-11:30
“Download This! How One Library Embraced Its Downloadable Future”
Sponsored by PLA
In 2010 the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County conducted an evaluation of its downloadable materials collection. A team collected data on 83 other libraries' collections, ranking the collections and noting best practices for presenting and supporting those collections. The team recommended dramatically increasing the Library's downloadable budget, improving its catalog and website, marketing its collection, implementing staff and customer training, and improving customer support. The session will present the results, one year later.

1:30-2:30
“Seriously Social: Leveraging Social Media”
Sponsored by PLA
Explore the fundamentals of social media, learning how to effectively use social networking to engage patrons and foster personal relationships. Discover how the Grand Rapids Public Library leverages the power of social media to provide outstanding customer services and promote their library. A live demonstration of Twitter and Facebook (or the reigning social media at the time of this presentation) will illustrate the assets embedded in online relationships.

This is just a sample of these wonderful workshops that ALA is offering for those who simply could not get away or afford traveling to beautiful New Orleans for this year's annual conference with ALA. This educational resource is great for anyone who works in libraries.

Preservation Week

If you haven't checked out the Preservation Week display in the Rotunda of the PCC Shatford Library, it will be up till April 29th. The west side of the Rotunda is dedicated to a glimpse of Pasadena City College history from how the campus went from being a high school to a community college. Memorabilia from the Archives can be viewed as well. The east side of the Rotunda focuses on the preservation and repair of materials. A slide show is also set-up showcasing pictures from PCC's history.

This display is in conjunction with the Pasadena Digital History Project which has been a collaboration between Pasadena Public Library, Pasadena Museum of History and PCC Shatford Library.

The American Library Association has more information about Preservation Week on their website. If you stop by, don't forget to grab one of the cool Preservation Week and Pasadena Digital History Project bookmarks.

Registration Assistance Awards for the ALA Library Support Staff Certification (LSSC) Program

Registration Assistance Awards for the ALA Library Support Staff Certification (LSSC) Program

Note: this is an alternative to PCC’s Library Technology Certificate Program. It is primarily intended for library workers with experience but no coursework. Information about ALA’s Library Support Staff Certification (LSSC) Program http://ala-apa.org/lssc/

Information and application for the registration assistance award is online: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/lssirt/news/index.cfm

The full registration fee for LSSC is $350 ($325 for ALA members). The Registration Assistance Award (RAA) is for one-half of the full registration fee ($175). The RAA is applied at the time of registration as a credit for one-half of the total amount. LSSIRT will be offering 50 Registration Assistance Awards. Deadline for submission is April 30, 2011. The Award recipients will be notified in early May.

Eligibility Requirements:

· Must have worked in a library as a staff member or volunteer for at least one year (1082) hours in the last five years.

· If you are a recipient of the award, you must apply to be a candidate for Library Support Staff Certification within three (3) months of receiving the award. If you do not register within 3 months, the award may be given to another applicant.

· Submit a paragraph indicating why you would like to become a Certified Library Support Staff.

Copied from e-mail by:

Ian Lashbrook - ilashbrook@ala.org
Research Associate
Library Support Staff Certification Program (LSSC)
Office Hours: Mon-Thurs, 8:30am - 4:30pm
50 East Huron, Chicago, IL 60611
(o)312-280-1411, (f)312-280-5297
http://ala-apa.org/lssc

No Love Lost at the Library

It's Valentine's Day and I've managed to drag myself out of the house into the library. I've been coming here most of winter intersession and expected today to be the same as most of this past month, pretty empty. So imagine my surprise to be lucky enough to find an empty computer terminal.

Everywhere today it's impossible not to see signs of Valentine's Day. Many bemoaning why is this holiday once again upon us. So thinking in terms of a librarian-to-be, I decided to make this my research topic of the day before settling down to my studies. I did a little research last week to see if we had many books in the Shatford library on this topic when constructing a book display. As expected, a search didn't yield many on this topic so I had to get a little creative in my search. My favorite book that I'd discovered awhile back when doing other book displays was:

Kissing: everything you ever wanted to know about one of life's sweetest pleasures by Andrea Demirjian, so I had to add this along with the other books on making home-made greeting cards, the history of chocolate and more. For film lovers, you may be interested in picking up The great romantic films by Lawrence J. Quirk. A classmate had picked up an ARC copy of And the rest is history : the famous (and infamous) first meetings of the world's most passionate couples by Marlene Wagman-Geller at ALA's Mid-Winter conference. This book is not on display as I will admit the ARC copy is not very picturesque at all, but it did prompt me in finding some books on famous couples. In my search, I found interesting books on Antony & Cleopatra and Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo. If you're interested in the history of Valentine cards, take a peek at The Valentine and its origins by Frank Staff.

Here's an interesting and amusing article I found, Valentine's Day : From ancient saints to candy hearts that sheds a little light on the history of this holiday. This is my tribute to this holiday whilst wearing my "Librarians Have a Heart" t-shirt that I snagged at ALA's Mid-Winter conference in January.

Banned Books Week

Can you imagine not being able to decide what books you can read or not read? If you don't believe me, just click on this Google Map which documents books bans and challenges around the United States from 2007-2010. Think it couldn't be possible in a liberal state such as California? Think again!

In 2009, Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" was restricted to students with parental permission at the Ocean View School District middle school libraries in Huntington Beach, Calif. because the “book’s contents were inappropriate for children.” There are other incidents of book bans or challenges in California as well.

So how can you participate? Celebrate by picking up a banned or challenged book this week. If you're not so inclined to pick up a book, watch a movie based on a banned or challenged book. Not sure what titles have been banned, ALA (American Library Association) publishes a list every year. Even classics have been banned or challenged.

Check out the 11 Most Surprising Banned Books. Even more surprising was finding out that the popular Junie B. Jones series would be in danger of being challenged or banned in my search for more information on challenged materials. Check out the commentary in Business & Heritage Clarksville about why this popular beginning readers series would cause such ruckus. Through the month of September and until October 2nd, they are running a commentary on a different book almost every day. Some of the titles included are: "The Face on the Milk Carton", "Rainbow Boys", "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Lovely Bones". Kids books include "In the Night Kitchen", "My Brother Sam is Dead", "Summer of my German Soldier" and "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry".

Banned Books Week runs from September 25-October 2 which celebrates the freedom to read. This event is not just sponsored by ALA but by bookseller associations, journalists, authors, and publishers. "Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States." (ALA, 2008). For those of you who wonder why books would be banned or challenged, read what ALA has to say.

I love this year's theme: "Think for Yourself and Let Others Do the Same". Currently, I'm taking a Children's Literature class so I re-read "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret" by Judy Blume. It's hard to believe a classic such as this would be challenged. This book made growing up just a little easier. And it endeared me all over again when I saw now why it was why it was one of my daughter's favorite books as well. It touched both of us for different reasons. It's hard to believe this book made the list for the 100 most frequently challenged books in 2000-2009 and 1990-1999. And it's even harder for me to imagine not being able to read this book. According to ALA, "Books usually are challenged with the best intentions—to protect others, frequently children, from difficult ideas and information." Please join me this week in celebrating the right to read by picking up a banned or challenged book you've never read or an old favorite.

International Literacy Day

Did you know that September 8 is International Literacy Day? Neither did I till very recently. One may think literacy isn't that huge of an issue but according to the International Reading Association, " More than 780 million of the world’s adults (nearly two-thirds of whom are women) do not know how to read or write, and between 94 and 115 million children lack access to education." Without literacy, simple things as such reading a label, filling out a job application, even getting around can be virtually impossible.

Want to get more involved? Check out the International Reading Association, ProLiteracy or even your local library. Often times libraries have literacy programs which they can always use volunteers for. See the Southern California Library Literacy Program website for a list of libraries. Even if you don't see a library listed near you, it's still possible there may be a literacy program there, so ask. For example, I live in Monrovia and even though they are not on the SCLLP list, I know they have a literacy program from looking on their website in the past. Last but not least, ALA (American Library Association) has lots of information on literacy from children's to adult literacy. Check out the Office for Literacy and Outreach.

Feel you just don't have the time, then take the time to sign the ProLiteracy and Literacy Powerline's Declaration for the Right to Literacy scroll which will be presented to President Obama.

American Library Association Scholarship Program

The American Library Association (ALA) is committed to promoting and advancing the librarian profession. To demonstrate this commitment, the ALA and its units provide more than $300,000 annually for study in a master's degree in library and information studies from an ALA accredited program, or for a master's degree in school library media program that meets the ALA curriculum guidelines for a National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accredited unit.
The scholarship process is open annually from October - March. Applications and reference forms (which must be submitted on-line) are available during that time period. Instructions and general information remain available year round.

http://ala.org/ala/educationcareers/scholarships/

The Next Step - First Days II

I started this post awhile back but it got put on hold as my homework seemed to pile up over the course of the semester. Even though I had an inkling of how much work I'd have with grad school, the reality of just how much sank in later.

Networking was the concept that was thrown out a lot during the weekend the UNT/CSUN program started. While getting classroom knowledge is beneficial, networking is what will take you where you want to go. Who you know really can make a difference sometimes.

So how does one go about networking? The first place to start is your classmates. Even when you leave the Library Technology Program, stay in contact with your former classmates. Hopefully, during the program, you've made some great friendships which you make the effort to continue. Sometimes the way I've found out about jobs is through word of mouth. In addition, stay in touch with your former teachers who are in an area of librarianship that you are interested in. Staying in contact with former teachers can be good when you need letters of recommendations or a reference for a job application.


But you don't want to stop there. Join ALA (American Library Association) and CLA (California Library Association). There are student memberships that don't cost a lot so take advantage of those. If you wonder what your memberships can and will do for you, I'll be covering this topic soon.

National Library Workers Day

Today is National Library Workers Day. This is basically a day to recognize all that library staff do. So pat yourself on the back if no one else has done so for all your hard work in the library you work in. What is neat is that you can nominate co-workers, supervisors, a library school student or even yourself at this webpage on ALA! So what are you waiting for? One can read nominations already submitted to get an idea of what people are recognizing others for.

Celebrating Banned Book Week 09/27-10/4/08

Perhaps this post is a little late but I believe every day we should celebrate the idea of not banning books and embracing a place that encourages nonexistence of censorship.

How did you celebrate Banned Book Week? I will confess that I didn't do much on my part for Banned Book Week since I didn't want to raise too much controversy as a relatively new library aide at the elementary school I work at. Since I just recently opened up the library, I decided to have books on display that dealt with going back to school, being the new kid, and similar issues. Some of these books that I put up just happened to be "banned or challenged books." Since I wasn't doing a banned book display, I decided to put up books dealing with topics of using libraries, history of libraries, and how a book is made. In addition, I found a tween book and YA book whose plots dealt with teens dealing closure of a library or books being banned.

I discovered that Pasadena Central Library celebrated Banned Book Week with a display all month long during multiple visits. At another local library that I go to, I was disappointed that there wasn't any banned book display which surprised me but I didn't inquire as to why there wasn't one there.

Interested in reading more about Banned Book Week, visit ALA. They also talk about the difference between banned and challenged books as well. Check out ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom on the celebration of banned books through cartoon strips. Another great place to check out is the Banned Books Archive for more information.

I have to say that I really liked this year's slogan of ALA: "Closing books shuts out ideas." Just this past week, a teacher spoke briefly to his class at our elementary school library during the library orientation emphasizing the opportunity to read new books to gain new ideas. Hearing that made me smile. One last slogan I came across in my quest for more information on Banned Books Week was, "Free People Read Freely." Oh, so true!

Adam Matthews Digital Subscription Resources

Adam Matthew Digital is a subscription database that handles specialized collections. The target audience would be those folks interested in research, education and librarianship.


The collections are divided into 20 areas of focus that include:

• America, Asia and the Pacific
  
• India, Raj and Empire
• Defining Gender, 1450 - 1910
• Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History
  
• China, Trade, Politics and Culture 1893-1980

What is available is primary sources from diarists/journalists (in this case people who had direct experience with a situation and wrote letters to friends or recorded the event for their personal memory book) and documentation from business sources, drawings and photographs and similar material.

The collection draws upon the experience of teachers, professors and library collections. There are essays available to provide an introduction. This is a fee based service but there are free samples that you can use to evaluate the usefulness of the collections.

I was able to find an sample article on "Research Strategies on Women, Popular Culture and Family Life in American 1800-1920" by Amy Blair, Assistant Professor, Marquette University.
It was a review of the publication of that time that reflected the cultural values of what a woman should aspire in terms of her home, domestic affairs and fashion.

If you are interested in evaluation the site there is a four week trial period that is available to librarians or school faculty. There is none available to students. However I would suggest that students keep an eye out for some of the free sample information that is located on the site. A few of the freebies that I found was very informative.

Opening A Closed Mind - My Own

Well, my toe bones are starting to recover. I wore the poor things out trying to hit every exhibit in the Anaheim Convention Center in one day. Evelyn was there the whole time and it is amazing what she saw and witness. She wall all over the joint.

We both are going to try to give you the highlights of the convention and draw upon some of the resources we packed away. We have got stuff. Bags of stuff. But not as much stuff as we could have had if we had my rolling supermarket cart (the vertical, not the horizontal kind.)

At some point we won't necessarily say we learned or had an experience the convention but it might take a month or two of sorting and reviewing what we have snagged.

The One That Got Away

Yes, about the photo. This is my reminder about preconceived notions and bias. This was one of the first tables I saw as I entered the Convention Center. I looked at the table and read some of the titles. They appeared to be Christian focused. My guard went up. I kinda, sorta read the title and the sub-title, "America's Addition to Porn."

I backed away from a free book. I should not have done that. The more I thought about it afterwards the more I regretted it. But not enough to try to find that table again. I gave up an opportunity to understand a different perspective on how some folks feel about the public and semi-private displays of the time honored YouBangHe or Her discussions.

As I moved though the convention there were all kinds of vendors and exhibitors. Some I gravitated to, some I questioned and others I had heard of via the media. Others vendors I kept my distance. I flat out did not trust them or their content. No need for names.

Lessons Learned

Whatever my believe system or my feeling about commercial displays of carnality, I should have at least flipped it in my bag for a later review.

For the record, I backed away because I was fearful. I'm not sure what being a Christian means (and please don't try to tell me. That is not the point of the post.) so I had an image of what mainstream media tells me and that is kinda scary to me.

I also have my feelings about erotica, sexual information and individual rights. If I plan to work in libraries I have to find a better way to balance the fears with the pursuit of knowledge.

It is not as easy as it sounds. I am still taking the logs out of my eyes.

Quick ALA Memory

I just pop in for a day and was overwhelmed with the amount of stuff just on the exhibitor's floor. I didn't even get a chance to stop in on some of the other types of activities.



There was so much to see, do and question I've got stuff for the next three months at least. Anyway for those of you in the Colorado and Chicago areas start saving those pennies for next year's ALA convention because even you are not a librarian you can discover interesting things at the event.

ALA Conference-First Day

Nothing can prepare you for the reality of just how big ALA's conference is. At least, for me, as a first time attendee. Even though I had an idea that it would be a huge event, just seeing the exhibits area alone was amazing. I didn't even cover 1/10 of the exhibits area today. I had been advised to bring a huge bag to conference for all you can get but I soon realized that was not sufficient. I ended up filling up about 3 bags and I had to finally say, no more! Well, that's what my shoulders said. At least, till tomorrow. One really needs a huge shopping cart for the exhibits area, in my opinion. I attended the small but incredible Diversity and Outreach Fair which was being held this afternoon located in the back of the main exhibits in the afternoon as well.

In addition, I attended two workshops. In the morning, I headed to, "We The People Picturing America: Presenting Programs in Your School or Public Library," which is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. This workshop I felt was quite worthwhile. For a glimpse into this program, check out Picturing America. There was even a local school librarian from Pasadena presenting at this workshop, showing how this program had been successful at her school. The second workshop that I attended in the afternoon called "New Minds, New Approaches" wasn't what I expected so I have to admit I ended up leaving after the second presenter. Ironically, quite a few people left before I did. Luckily, I had been advised in a welcoming e-mail from an assigned conference ambassador that this was okay to do and even recommended if one found the workshop wasn't meeting your expectations.


Some other highlights for today were lunching with Mary Ann Laun, her father-in-law, Daniel Haley, Eric Hansen, Jared Burton, and Diana Lopez while discussing this morning's events we had attended. I briefly saw Krista Goguen before heading to my second workshop. Classmates, Toni Rodriguez and Susan Tockgo, were also sighted today.

I'm looking forward to tonight's event, Stories for a Saturday Evening. Mary Ann mentioned that's really a wonderful event and it's not just children's stories which happens to be a yearly event.


If you're still debating whether to come down to conference, you still can register to attend workshops and/or exhibits in person. If you need more information, you can go to ALA.