The Courtyard Hound

There are so many layers to City of Thieves; we have the game of chess, the search for eggs, and the book within the book, The Courtyard Hound. Kolya and Lev discuss the merits of various Russian authors on their journey, and Northwest's display highlights the literary layer of the Amarillo Reads selection:

Love the onion domes! And the Matrushka dolls! Oh, and Anna Karenina as well.

If you have read the book, you recall the spriited discussions between Kolya and Lev regarding the great Russian authors.

North Branch Eggstravaganza

Heh heh. Get it? No? Well, look at these pictures of the fantastic display at North:

More display loveliness:

See? You couldn't resist a bad pun either.

I do apologize for not making this post by 6 for those of you going home then on Wed, but sometimes the best laid plans. . . .

Day 2 of Amarillo Reads Displays

I enjoy the way Cynthia incorporated quotations from the book. I think that is clever!

This is East Branch Library's awesome display. The program was great, as the chess masters had READ the BOOK and compared the entire novel to a game of chess.

This display is great!

Amarillo Reads! and Displays! and is Genius!

Cynthia was kind enough to share her photos of the library displays for Amarillo Reads. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it. I am lucky--I get to see many of the branch displays because I go to each of the branches from time to time.

But for those who just don't get out much, I will put a different branch's display for City of Thieves on the blog each day!

So here is the display from Central, to kick off a week of displays here on our blog. Remember, we are under construction! And, hey, read the book! It is great!

Progress!

There is a book drop inside now!

Here are some pictures of the new circ desk here at Downtown. No one is going to recognize us!

Concluding Thoughts

The first thing most librarians will tell you when you are attending TLA for the first time is that you need comfortable shoes. By Friday, there are no comfortable shoes, except maybe fluffy slippers with googly eyes. Trust me, TLA is an excellent way to get your 10,000 steps a day.

I was a little nervous on Thursday. It didn’t help that upon meeting the Highsmith rep before the presentation, I got up out of the chair too quickly and fell back down into it—graceful at all times. But I got the falling out of the way, and then Amanda and I didn’t have to worry anymore. I really didn't notice Amanda hogging the award, I was worried about being blown up and projected for all to see.

It was thrilling to be in the same room as Gloria Steinem. Her speech was wonderful, and she was gracious, as Amanda said, to the over-eager participants. Hey, it is heady stuff, being in the same room as a legend. Very glamorous.

My TLA round table, Automation and Technology, is one of the busiest round tables; they give a lot of money and time to making Annual Conference as educational and informative as possible. We met on Friday morning and started planning for next year’s conference. That is how it works—dissect the past conference, and plan how next year’s can be even better. Once that was concluded, I made my way to the airport, getting there early so the humiliation of a random pat-down wouldn’t start without me.

I would like to thank Amanda for getting me the speaking gig, rides to and from the airport, and her guidance through the conference. Thanks also to Angela Skaggs, for loaning me her laptop for my presentation and saving Christmas. I appreciate the time and opportunity to go, so thanks to Donna and the Friends.

Bridget asked a question that I thought others might be interested in as well:

Melody,
After reading your blog posts I have just one question. They let you bring knitting needles on the plane?

Yes, I got to bring them from Ama to Houston. I was unsure about getting on the plane with them, but they didn’t present a problem. Good thing, since I am about 40% done on a baby blanket for a friend whose son was born in October. I would love to get it to him before he starts college. I had read on a knitting blog that knitting needles were ok, and it looks like that is true. For the knitters in the blogosphere reading this, wondering, I was carrying size 7 aluminum circulars. Which could conceivably be used as a weapon, ( for some reason, the word GARROT comes to mind) but that would mean losing your work. I did not have scissors, I had nail clippers to cut the yarn. You can’t carry scissors. You can find more info here, where wooden or plastic needles are recommended. Bridget also asks:

Hmmm....is that why you and Amanda were singled out for personal body searches? Inquiring minds are running in high gear now!

No, I checked the knitting on the way home. But that is a good question—every airport is a little different. I think they would have just seized them and maybe searched me. I checked everything I could which brings me to my final TLA 2009 observation:

People, carry on luggage is not, repeat, not a regular suitcase. If it is larger than an overnight bag or backpack, CHECK IT!! Do NOT hold up other passengers while you wrestle your SUITCASE FOR A WEEK into the overhead compartment. You know who you are. You can spare the 5 or 10 minutes it takes to go to baggage claim. Chances are the flight attendants will take it from you and check it anyway—they can do that, you know! And the rest of us laugh when they do!

Thanks for reading---

Melody

Being the Faithful Account of a TLA Conference Attendee, Part IV (Amanda)

Thursday, April 2 (cont.)

So 3:25 arrives and this time we both duck out, sadly leaving behind the Librarian in Black and the last 20 minutes of her presentation. We find the Green Room and meet the lovely people from Highsmith and the school librarian who won the other award that Highsmith is giving out at this Conference. We are instructed in how to proceed, but one essential element is left out (as you’ll soon discover). A couple of minutes before we are to leave to Green Room and line up, the speaker for General Session II arrives. I am just feet away from Gloria Steinem. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to a genuinely famous person. She seems very gracious as bigwigs from TLA and the Texas State Library jockey for position to meet her. The stage manager motions us outside. The Reagan Administration pizza lurches but stays down.

When they announce our names, I walk up the steps to the stage and start praying fervently that my heel doesn’t catch in anything. I don’t even look back to see if Melody is having to struggle against the jet stream my rapid progress across the stage is causing. I shake the Highsmith rep’s hand and accept the award and $1,000 check on behalf of the library. I then stare like a deer in the headlights at the humongous crowd before me, painfully aware that every pore on my face is now prominently displayed on two large screen monitors behind me. My brain shuts down at this point, and when they take the photo of us, I am still clutching the award plaque to my body like it is a life preserver and I am adrift in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. No way does the thought occur to me that it might be a spiffy idea for Melody to hold the plaque with me for the photo op (hence, the missing element from the stage manager’s instructions). I manage to make it off the stage without any further incidents. In retrospect, I suppose that looking like an idiot for not sharing the plaque with my colleague in the official TLA photo is vastly preferable to finding out later that I walked across the stage in front of thousands of people with my skirt rucked up in my pantyhose or something. It could have been worse, so I’ll take my blessings wherever I can.

One really, really cool aspect of being an award winner is that Melody and I get to sit in the front row for Gloria Steinem’s speech. Thankfully for my fragile ego at this point, she doesn’t employ Paula Poundstone’s tactics and pick on people in her line of sight. Instead, I think she actually smiles at me a couple of times. She is, after all, the only person in the auditorium at this point who didn’t see me make a goofball out of myself, as she was still in the Green Room when I was selfishly hogging the Highsmith award. The talk she gives is inspiring and enjoyable, and she is very lovely to everyone who comes up to ask her a question on the mike afterwards—even the poor soul who addresses her as “Ms. Stein.” (WOO-HOO! I am no longer the number one dolt for the afternoon!!!)

After the end of General Session II, Gloria is whisked off to sign books in front of the auditorium. We are taken back to the Green Room for additional photos. This time I allow Melody to lay her hands on the plaque as well. I do learn from my mistakes every so often.

Since my schedule for Friday is mostly unit meetings, I won’t bore you with the details. I will say that I had a great time at Conference and brought back a lot of cool ideas that we might try on for size at APL. And that really is the purpose of this yearly event. To interact with library staff from all over the state of Texas and steal—I mean, appropriate—their stuff to use for your own library. Most of the handouts from the Conference will be available here. Be sure to check back in a few days as well, as some aren’t posted until a couple of weeks after the Conference when the TLA staff has had time to recover.

One final footnote: while waiting at Houston Hobby for our plane to Dallas, Melody and I are selected for one of those wonderful pat-downs the Transportation Security Administration staff does at random. In plain view of everyone who will be on our plane, we are led over to the side of the boarding station and asked to “spread-em.” Really, really embarrassing. However, my attitude about the experience does a complete 180 when I find out that Melody and I (and the three other people who were also pulled aside for this “special attention”) get to board the plane right after the Business Select passengers. Definitely some benefits to being singled out for this procedure…Note to self: in the future, look shifty when at the airport—it nets you a great window seat!

Thursday already?

Really? I was gone 15 minutes? Seemed like I flew down and flew back! I kept waiting for the oft-mentioned break that LiB was promising, but at 2:55 I knew I would have just enough time to get down to the exhibit hall and find out if I won. The drawing was held earlier, but I hadn’t made it to that and they were only holding the iPod until 3 for the earlier winner. At 3 the reps were going to have a drawing of those present to give away the prize. The earlier winner never showed, so the Mango reps took our names and put them in a bag. I never win things—I almost didn’t even go because, really, the chance to hear the Librarian in Black is a once-in-a-career thing and I never win drawings, but I NEEDED an iPod. My name was called, and I did the happy dance, but I did hear murmurs of ‘There are more of us than there are of her” so I left the hall quickly to return to the program. I think the LiB would completely understand. So, sorry, librarian Linda who didn’t show up to claim the iPod, but I will put it to good use. I will load things like this to watch:

That is a drill team from another state's conference. Lot of variety there!

Earlier in the day I went to hear Michael Stephens again. I know, I know, this might count as stalking, but I did sit toward the back and avoided direct eye contact. In my defense, it was a completely different program than the day before. Again he only had an hour and fifty minutes, but he made great use of the time. I have to say that of the presentations I attended, I agreed with some, which made me question my choice—who wants to hear their own thoughts repeated back to them? Not me. I was excited about Michael Stephens because sometimes, dear reader, I wonder what planet he is on. He has the gift of inspiring or infuriating me, depending on the day. I have vowed never to read his blog again at least once.

But I always go back.

Here is why: he discussed: Technolust, technostress, technodivorce, and technoshame. We have all encountered one or all of these. And it is important for me to remember that these are things ALL institutions deal with. There are so many technology decisions to be made, that almost everyone gets technostress at least once a day. I suffer greatly from technolust—although I have to say that has abated slightly ;-) now. Technodivorce is difficult and we face this both at work and at home—but it is ok to let it go if it isn’t working for you. Technoshame is probably the most common and I feel that about 70% of the time it is needless—you know more than you think, plus we all move at different speeds. The problem is that there are so many names for things, that we can never know them all. Or all the different ways to do something. Or the reason to do this instead of that. So very quickly, because I know Amanda is aching to get her next installation going. Here are 10 Technologyies and 10 Ideas to Improve Library Productivity, by M. Stephens:
1. Blog as platform 2. CMS—open source web design programs. 3. RSS and Widget Portals 4. Social Bookmarking 5. Library Lounge 6. Web presence
7. Other channels—text for due dates, reference service,. 8.Cloud computing 9. Micro-sharing like Twitter—has to be monitored and answered 10. Putting It all Together
Ideas: 1. Let go of control 2. let BETA be your friend 3. Be transparent 4. Try out emerging tools 5. Spot trends 6. Offer inclusive learning 7. Overthink and die 8. Plan to Plan 9. Mission Statement 10. Evaluate, rethink.

I also hit a Net Fair segment –again by Ellie Collier—about Google Apps. She has more info on her blog and there are really cool things available. There are tons of settings for Google Alerts to tip you current and make the web your own.

“In-house surveys: Get the Data You Really Need” was given by a real statistician and managed to be engaging. I like stats as they show you the fruits of your labors. He went into a lot of detail about creating your survey instrument, because that is usually where the mistakes happen. We need to ask ourselves “Why?” Why are we doing a survey—what do we need to know. Then we decide “Who” we are going to include. There are more steps and directions to choose, but I may be the only one interested in this, so I will stop. If you too like stats, I will share my notes. The handouts to his presentation aren’t available online.

As I return to the Librarian in Black’s program, which is about staying on top of the information overload, I realize I would much rather stay and listen to her (and look at my prize) than go be onstage in front of thousands of people. But we reluctantly pack up and move to the green room. Which is so cold I really think I feel the tip of my nose freeze.

Being the Faithful Account of a TLA Conference Attendee, Part III (Amanda)

Thursday, April 2

My first session is “Reach Beyond Library Walls: Meeting Consumer Information Needs.” The presenter is Richard Alderman, known locally in Houston as “The People’s Lawyer.” His website is here. In addition to being the associate dean at UH’s Law School, he also writes regular columns on consumer rights for the Houston Chronicle. The thing that really piques my interest is that he runs something called the People’s Law School, which is a free program focused on sharing information with the public about their legal rights and the role these rights play in their daily lives. The program is completely free and the instructors include judges, lawyers and professors. Alderman says during the course of the presentation that they would like to take the People’s Law School to other parts of Texas, so I decide to give his contact info to Cynthia so we can see about bringing it to the Panhandle. The handouts for the session itself can be found here.

Next on my schedule is “This Little Piggy Went to the Job Market: Building Employment Resources for Your Community,” given by two librarians from Irving Public. They describe their Job Center, which includes a job search kiosk and print/nonprint resources on resume writing, career planning, etc. Other components of their Job Center project are seminars for the public, a webpage dedicated to online resources for job seekers, and quarterly job fairs, which are held at the main library. In the Job Center section of the library itself, they also provide a literature rack containing sample resumes, flyers for the library-sponsored seminars, and a list of temp agencies in Irving. I get writer’s cramp from scribbling down all the good ideas they share.

After “This Little Piggy” is “T4: Top Technology Trends for Libraries.” The presenter shares the results of a technology survey sent out to earlier in the year to Texas libraries of all stripes. Thirty-six percent of the respondents to the survey are from public libraries, and they are most concerned/intrigued by Web 2.0, eBooks, and RFID, or radio frequency identification. RFID basically is a barcode/security strip on steroids that allows staff members to scan an item without opening it up—it also facilitates inventorying, since you can just scan a whole shelf of books at one time instead of pulling out each one individually and scanning the barcode. RFID is used on patron self-check systems as well. I end up feeling a bit sorry for the guy giving the talk, as his presentation depends heavily on YouTube snippets. Since I arrived to the session early, I know he had carefully tested each one to make sure it worked and downloaded quickly. However, I think he forgot to take into account what would happen to the bandwidth once all of the other presentations got going at noon. So several people leave in a huff because we have to wait for things to download. The entire handout for this session is not yet available, but here is one funny snippet he shared. I think we’ve all had patrons like this…not so good with the listening, are they? Just a reminder—totally wigging out on a patron (no matter how annoying) is generally considered to be a bad career move. Remember your breathing exercises and keep smiling!

Okay, so now I’m debating about whether I should have lunch. The reason for this is that I know in three short hours Melody and I will be going on stage during General Session II to accept the Highsmith Award for the Amarillo READS project. Donna overlooked my repeated hints that it would be ever so much better if she flew into Houston for the day to accept the award herself. Faced with the prospect of making it across the stage without somehow humiliating myself (and Melody) in front of thousands of people, my anxiety level has been steadily ratcheting up throughout the day the closer the time approaches. What to do? Lose my lunch on stage or pass out from hunger in front of everybody? Can the choices get any better? After being told by a school librarian that the food from the BBQ stand is ice cold, I decide to risk another pizza, as I have arrived in the Exhibits Hall late and all of the salads and deli sandwiches are long gone.

After forcing down a few bites of pizza, I finish walking all the aisles that I didn’t get to yesterday. While an exhibitor has another librarian cornered at his booth, I employ a brilliant and sneaky maneuver of “snatch and run," scoring a brochure on a product called Chili Fresh, which allows your patrons to post book reviews to your website. Moderated reviews, of course—because allowing patrons to post whatever they like on the library’s website? Bad idea!

Just like it was a bad idea to eat the pizza, though it did seem a little fresher today—perhaps a creation from the Reagan Administration this time? It really starts doing flip flops in my stomach as I sit down for the 2:00 presentation on “The Librarian in Black’s Strategies for Staying on Top of the World.” Or perhaps my stomach is doing flip flops because I am so pumped about seeing the Librarian in Black. I’ve been following her blog for years now—she provides really good leads on all the latest tools to make your job easier and to enhance the library experience for patrons. Melody sits next to me, and we are both just total dweebs in our excitement to be here in LiB’s presence. However, shortly before 3 pm, Melody suddenly gets up and leaves. After ten minutes, I begin to worry. We’re supposed to report to the Green Room at 3:30 to get briefed on how to proceed with the award acceptance. At 3:15, I am sitting here thinking, “Oh she DID NOT just desert me!” But all of her stuff is still there, so I don’t progress to full-blown panic yet. A couple of minutes later, she ducks back into the room and sits down. “I won an iPod Touch in a drawing at the Mango booth!!!” she whispers excitedly. I begin making plans for a new T-shirt: “I went to TLA 2009, and all I got was this stinking Badge of Power with streamers. Melody got an iPod.” Seriously though, I am really happy for her. And thrilled that I will have company on the stage in half an hour!

So do I take a nosedive in front of 5,000 people? Tune in tomorrow to find out!!!

Climate Change

Have I mentioned it was cold in Houston? Colder than here in Amarillo? Yes, indeedy, it was unseasonably cold in the city that is, according to residents, a natural sauna. I have been to Houston 3 times and every time it has been unseasonably cold. I suspect a conspiracy here. Policy regarding air conditioning is apparently to turn it to 50 in February and never adjust it, never mind what the outside temperature may be that day.

I am done talking about the cold in Houston.

Paula Poundstone was funny—but I was so glad to be out of her range. It was pretty brutal. Afterwards I went to a program about balancing Web 2.0 for libraries and museums. There are great web-based tools out there, but which ones do we choose? Are they sustainable? Will people (staff and patrons) be interested for the long haul? Much to ponder as we move forward.

Ellie Collier writes the blog ellieheartslibraries and is a reference librarian at Austin Community College, where Julie Todaro (who presented the Small Library Management series for us) is Dean of Library Services. Ellie gave a great program at Net Fair I on social bookmarking—del.icio.us is probably the best known at this time, but there are more like digg--that allow users to have a web-based favorites. How many times have you seen something great on the web but forgotten where exactly? Happens to all of us, but you can add it to your delicious and access those sources from any internet connection! Another site you may already be using, but not quite as a bookmarking site is flickr. One library has used flickr as a community building exercise. The possiblities for reference and other library uses are endless. Have some great ideas? Let’s talk!

I then wandered the exhibits—visiting with vendors we work with, looking at others I had heard or read about. You could see the effects of the economic downturn, as there were fewer freebies and a less exuberant atmosphere overall. Since I flew, I didn’t have much room to get extra stuff anyway, so my time with the vendors was short.

Next was Michael Stephens! Yes, the famous Michael Stephens! The knower of all things library! I was stoked! His program was “The Hyperlinked Library” and he had lots to talk about. Here are a few random thoughts: continuous computing, web as platform, finding your tribe, social catalogs, opting in, encouraging heart, portable reference, and transparency. He only had an hour and fifty minutes.

Up next, Be a Leader, No Matter What Your Job Title. Very quick presentation with some great points. And guess who was sitting next to me and was my partner for the exercises? Ellie Collier from the Net Fair! We bonded. Totally.

Cheers,
Melody

Being the Faithful Account of a TLA Conference Attendee, Part II (Amanda)

Wednesday, April 1

Dressed more sensibly today in lace-up oxfords and a longer sleeved shirt, I follow Melody and Angela into Convention Center auditorium on Wednesday morning. There, we and 5,000 of our closest friends will see Paula Poundstone, who surprisingly is the national spokesperson for the Friends of the Library USA in addition to being a stand-up comedienne and author. To be honest, she doesn’t talk about libraries or librarians that much, except to riff on the fact that we don’t like patrons to reshelve items. Mostly, she singles out people in the audience and pokes good-natured fun at them. I am glad to be seated in the nose-bleed seats.

After General Session I, I proceed to “Hot Topics Slam for Texas CE Providers,” which provides five presenters about 5-7 minutes apiece to showcase one of the topics on which they offer workshops. Christine Peterson from AMIGOS describes the “TAG” method of helping patrons understand whether an email is legitimate or not. Next, Jennifer Patterson from CTLS talks about team-building. Dawn Vogler from the Texas State Library follows her, telling us about a super cool tool called VoiceThread, which is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to leave comments in 5 ways—using voice (with a mic or phone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). I think this would be a fantastic way for our TAG group to produce content for the Teen part of our website, once we get one—Emily, check it out! Next up is perennial TLA favorite Pat Wagner, who discusses how nonverbal messages can make or break customer service. And last is Sandy Farmer from Houston Public Library, who describes for us how they have developed a workshop for teachers in HISD explaining all the tools the library offers to support their curriculum (subscription databases, Tumblebooks, etc). I am happy to see that several of the things that Houston Public offers are available through APL and HLC as well.

After the Hot Topics Slam, I get my first crack at the Exhibits Hall. For those of you have not been to TLA Conference, the Exhibits Hall allows library vendors, book publishers, library schools and associations, and performers to hawk their wares. You can access a list of the ones who came to Houston here. As you can see, there was a big honking amount of booths in that hall. I learned at my first Conference (Dallas, 1995) that the key to actually making it all the way through the Exhibits Hall is to stride purposefully and NOT TO MAKE DIRECT EYE CONTACT with any exhibitors. Really. Even the ones who look lonely and dejected. Otherwise, they reel you in like an albacore tuna and talk for the next 20 minutes without pausing for breath about how you and your library cannot possibly live without their product or service. And that’s 20 minutes of your life that you will never get back. Not making eye contact with people (especially lonely, dejected ones) is in direct contradiction to how I was raised, which was to smile at people and acknowledge them. So I have to admit that I am sucked into the vortex of an exhibitor’s booth more often than I would like. However, since the majority of people who come to Conference are school librarians and the exhibitors tend to offer goods that are meant for them, I have found that when I am pulled aside, simply blurting out, “I’m not a school librarian, nor do I work directly with children!!!” nine times out of ten will cause them to quickly relinquish me. I’m thinking of having a cap and T-shirt made with this slogan prominently displayed to save myself time. Maybe I could even sell them in a booth at a future Conference. I know for sure the academic librarians would buy them.

After choking down a personal cheese pizza lovingly made for my enjoyment during the Nixon Administration (I told you the Convention Center food was horrid in my email for Staff Picks), I hoof it over to a meeting on “Transforming Interlibrary Loan in Texas.” I really don’t feel that much is accomplished during this session by the panelists other than providing a history of the ILL Task Force and asking for input, but perhaps I am just being crabby because the pizza I ate at lunch is trying to claw its way back out of my stomach at this point.

Next, my case of indigestion and I proceed to the presentation “Rettig on Reference: Changing Relationships Between Librarians and Readers.” James Rettig is the current president of the American Library Association and is the University Librarian for the University of Richmond, VA. In fact, Paula Poundstone had picked on him earlier, telling him that he needed to “get out!” because “haven’t we already established that this Conference is for TEXAS librarians???” His presentation sketches the evolution of reference services from the day of the printed index (Readers Guide to Periodical Literature, anyone?) to today’s world of Web-based databases. He shares an amusing example of an entry from a precursor to Wikipedia, before user-generated entries were moderated and edited: “Shrimp. Shrimp is neat. It comes in three sizes: popcorn, medium, and jumbo. Prawns are also shrimp. Shrimp is mmm-mm good.” Boy, I’d love to see the research paper based on that information!

Next is supposed to be the Book Cart Drill Team Challenge, but only one team has entered this year (how sad!), so I call it a day.

Have Knitting Needles, Will Travel

And of course, it didn't help to see news reports about a Southwest flight being diverted due to passenger violence while we were waiting for the plane that never came. Seems a woman started hitting another passenger for bumping her. Really? How do you not bump people on a flight? Other passengers restrained the woman and she was arrested. I was just relieved to be allowed to board the plane with my knitting. However, as people kept boarding, and seats filled up, I realized my knitting would not be available to me--I wouldn't have the elbow room. Alas. Apparently airlines have cut flights to the extent that we are packed like sardines.

Looking back, I didn't notice the maniac cabbie, as I was grateful to have the ground beneath my feet once more. I can happily report that people in large cities actually cooperate with one another when changing lanes, merging, etc. Fancy that! Perhaps that spirit of camaraderie is what makes everything work as well as it does.

Registration went well, and it warmed my geeky heart to be able to add a "Speaker" ribbon to my badge. Give me accessories, I'll do anything, including speaking in public. The presentation went well, and I didn't get hysterical or trip, which I think surprised everyone concerned. I had questions and comments throughout, and I identified at least 2 academic librarians, though I believe the majority were public librarians. There may have been school librarians in attendance as well. Smaller libraries have problems with staffing and money--we all do, but this hits small, 1 or 2 person libraries much harder than a medium sized library with multiple locations. Many libraries don't enjoy a positive, supportive governing body as we at APL do.

Following my presentation was 23 Things, which is a learning project for Web 2.0. I am really interested in this program, though it was geared more for school librarians (guess the speakers being ISD reps should have clued me in on that, but noooo!) so I can take away some things. My crucial mistake here is sitting on the floor as there are few chairs left and I don't want to crawl across laps to get a chair. Once I hit the floor, exhaustion hits me. I was up at 3:30 am on Tuesday--speaker nerves I guess--and boom! The arctic climate in the convention center doesn't help, either. I scurry to the hotel (and its handy-dandy Starbuck's that is IN THE BUILDING, PEOPLE!) to regroup and refresh, and hopefully not pass out. Life-giving caffeine was the answer, and I made my way to the President's Welcome Party and later to the Tall Texans Social. It was a great evening.

And so it ended. I had a big day tomorrow, with Michael Stephens' program---check out his blog at http://www.tametheweb.com/.

Note: I intended to post while actually at the conference, but the lines at the Internet Room were daunting. The first day I did manage to get to a computer, but the sharks circling me put me off blogging. I was lucky to escape (relatively) unharmed.

Melody

Being the Faithful Account of a TLA Conference Attendee, Part I (Amanda)

Tuesday, March 31

Despite some flight delays and a cabbie who was, at best, a maniac intent on making it to Warp 9 on I-45 in the rain during rush hour, Melody and I arrived in one piece on Monday. Most Conference attendees will be coming into town this afternoon. Melody and I register and get our badges. As a member of the TLA Conference Program Committee, I get a nifty pin with streamers proclaiming me a “Conference Planner.” I later discover that wearing this accoutrement, rather than inspiring the respect and awe of my colleagues, causes people to assume I know where all the bathrooms are.

Melody will be giving her presentation “No Excuses! Creating a Patron-Friendly Computer Basics Course” at 2:00 this afternoon. On our way to locate and scope out the room we are assigned for the session, we run into Kerry McGeath, director of Southlake Public Library. We find out the next day during General Session I that he has received the “Librarian of the Year” award from TLA, but either he doesn’t know yet or he is disarmingly modest, as he doesn’t tell us ahead of time. He does tell us about some nifty big-screen monitors that Southlake has mounted throughout the library to advertise their programs and services. I successfully conceal the fact that I am insanely jealous of his nifty tech toys and want to poke him with my “Conference Planner” Badge of Power.

It is time for Melody’s presentation. We have at least 25 attendees in the room—quite a respectable number for the day before Conference really starts for most people. I introduce Melody and then sit back down. It is at that point that I notice that the room, while at a temperature comfortable for penguins and polar bears, is actually quite chilly for someone wearing a short-sleeved blouse. I proceed to form a layer of ice not unlike the one our delayed plane developed while in Colorado. Melody is not distracted by my uncontrollable shaking, the indigo color of my skin, or the icicle hanging off my nose and does an absolute bang-up job with her session. Here is the link to the content of her presentation. Now she is ready to relax and enjoy Conference, though the major bug-a-boo still looms for me on Thursday (more on that later).

Parting ways with Melody, I scamper off to my next scheduled event, hoping fervently that a brief jog will stave off the hypothermia to which I had been succumbing. The other program for which I am responsible as a "Conference Planner" is "Quick, Dirty, and Cheap Strategic Planning" with Pat Wagner, who many of you know from the workshops she has presented at APL. Since we only have an hour, Pat lets me off the hook regarding an introduction and just launches right into her presentation (hallelujah!).

A couple of good points that Pat makes in the course of her presentation is that libraries are good at ADDING services, but not so good at taking them away (which is why you need a strategic plan to help your organization stay focused on its goals), and that libraries should be in the business of helping people progress, in the way they wish to progress. Ultimately, a strategic plan provides parameters and protection, as it is a transparent contract between: (1) the library director and his/her governing authority (in our case, City Hall), (2) library administration and library staff, and (3) the library and its community.

Tuesday evening is the Welcome Party in Discovery Park, located across the street from the Convention Center. Since I had been emotionally scarred by the scarcity of food at the Welcome Party the last time it was in Houston in 2006 (after waiting in line for an hour, I ended up with two small cubes of Monterey Jack and a piece of limp lettuce—I kid you not), I have already eaten at the hotel and simply accompany my roommate Angela to the par-tae. Of course, this time, there is plenty of food. At 8 pm, we cross the street to the Hilton to drop by the TALL Texans Ice Cream Social. TALL Texans is a leadership development institute for members of TLA. I was in the class of 2003, Donna was a TALL Texan in 1998, and my mom was one in 2000. As far as I know, I am still the only second-generation TALL Texan (not that I get a special pin with streamers for THAT, although I really should). In addition to enhancing their leadership skills, participants in TALL Texans get the opportunity to develop a close network of colleagues from all types of libraries. In fact, the lady with whom I usually share a room at TLA events (the aforementioned Angela) was in my class. Participants also get the opportunity to suffer heat stroke, as the institute is usually held in June in the Hill Country in a camp-like retreat that has no air conditioning except in the dining hall and classroom. But this is yet another way to build character.

Melody joins us for the social. We look through the photo albums from each class. Donna had shoulder-length hair in 1998, which I had forgotten until I see her pictures in her class’s binder. After looking through the photos for my class, I decide the less I wear shorts in public, the better. At the party, we are encouraged to decorate a paper boot for our year, which will be pinned up at the TALL Texans booth in the Exhibits Hall. The bulk of decorating the 2003 boot unfortunately falls to me (artistically challenged) and Angela, who quickly develops a contentious relationship with the glitter pen that keeps clotting on her. We leave soon after. To catch the last shuttle to our hotel, I end up sprinting a quarter of a mile in 2-inch heels. Which I do not recommend, by the way.

Free Reference

Library Journal has an article on free reference materials at
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6646657.html?industryid=47124