AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 2008 Annual Conference - June 26-30. Anaheim, California

On June 26 - 30, 2008, I (Angelique Simmons) attended the 2008 American Library Association’s Annual Conference in Anaheim, California.

Friday, June 27, 2008
8:30 – 1:00 PM
Careers in Federal Libraries:
This program was presented by members of FAFLRT. As a member of FAFLRT, I wanted to learn, gather tips, and network with federal librarians. Many of the federal librarians I met were based here in the DC Metro Area. There are many options when it comes to working in federal libraries. I was able to hear experiences from six different federal librarians. Even though they all work for the federal government, each person had a unique job, and each job was different from the other. I especially liked the experience of Steven Kerchoff. He is currently an Information Resource Officer with the US Embassy in New Delhi, India. I have always enjoyed traveling and experiencing different cultures. Wouldn’t it be nice to continue my passion as a librarian and also my passion for traveling? That would be a dream job! J

Friday, June 27, 2008
1:30 – 2:00 PM
International Relations Round Table:
As a member of IRRT (International Relations Round Table), I stopped by their table to gather any new information and also to meet fellow members of the round table. I offered to volunteer and welcome international librarians coming from various countries, but their volunteer roster was already full. It was amazing to see librarians from different continents coming to ALA to share, gain and acquire new knowledge and skills.

Saturday, June 28, 2008
8:30 – 10:15 AM
Official Opening of the Exhibits:
I was present as then, ALA President Loriene Roy, cut the ribbon to officially open the exhibits. There were over 2,000 exhibitors present. I was able to make my rounds and walk past many of the exhibits. I also picked up a few ideas and some nice giveaways. I visited the exhibits everyday at ALA.

Saturday, June 28, 2008
10:30 – 12:00 PM
Getting What You’re Worth Salary Negotiation Workshop:
This session was very informative and interactive. We had the opportunity to role play and try to “negotiate” our salary! One of the librarians I was sitting next to mentioned that when she applied for her first job right after graduation, she didn’t negotiate her salary. She had applied at an academic college and just took the offer she was given. Some of her friends, who also recently graduated at the same time as she, negotiated their salary at the same school and started out on a higher scale! They both do the same job, but since one negotiated and the other didn’t, one will make more money in the long run. We were given examples of how much money you “could” have made if you negotiated your salary when offered a job. Some of the key points mentioned were:

1. Be prepared – benchmark salaries – What are you worth?
2. Learn the institutional culture.
3. Learn about the library’s budget.
4. Be calm!
5. Don’t talk yourself out of asking!
6. Anticipate objections.
7. PRACTICE NEGOTIATING
8. Thank the potential employer.
9. When you get an offer – Wait!
10. Share your story with others.

Saturday, June 28, 2008
1:30 – 3:30 PM
Creating Readers Theatre at your Library with Top Quality Children:
The authors M.T. Andersen, Shannon Hale, Linda Sue Park and Eric Rohmann performed an excellent readers theatre from their latest books. Shannon Hale was extremely funny when she performed the character from her book, “Rapunzel’s Revenge”. Having readers theatre is a fun and pleasurable way of sharing stories. It helps to deepen comprehension, increase fluency, develop expression and encourage language appreciation. This also gives older children an opportunity to perform for younger children. Readers theatre builds children’s reading and confidence. It allows them to have the experience of presenting in front of a group. I would love to develop a readers theatre program for children at the library.

Saturday, June 28, 2008
3:00 – 5:00 PM
Diversity & Outreach Fair:
I really enjoyed the Diversity & Outreach Fair. I was able to pick up many handouts and brochures from other libraries across the country. The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County has a program “Amigos de la Biblioteca” which is a tutoring program (affiliated with the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County) which trains high school students to tutor elementary school ESL children once or twice a week in the library. The tutors help children with reading, writing, and general homework needs. Parents and children also have an opportunity to explore the library services and resources available. I thought this was a great collaboration between schools and public libraries. This is similar to the National Dog Therapy Program we have here at Quince Orchard.

Another idea I had picked up from the fair, was from the University of Illnois Urbana – Champaign. In 2005, they began an annual series of library tours in languages other than English. With multilingual volunteer staff, they were able to host library tours in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, French, Spanish, German, Hindi, Urdu, Turkish, and Thai for their international students and for students interested in learning about the library in a foreign language. I thought this was a really neat idea. Montgomery County is so diverse; I know our patrons would be happy if we hosted multilingual library tours. The Diversity & Outreach Fair was very informative and gave me many new ideas!

Saturday, June 28, 2008
4:00 – 5:30 PM
Serving Latino Children and Families through El Dia de los Ninos/El Dia de los Libros:
Having held my first “El Dia de los Ninos/El Dia de los Libros Celebration this year, I was very enthusiastic about attending this program and seeing how other libraries held their programs each year. “Dia” was founded by Pat Mora 10 years ago. Every year on or around April 30, Dia brings families together and emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The speakers of this program gave us tips on how to prepare for our Dia celebrations and how to get media and other organizations involved. A Dia celebration does not have to be just Spanish; you can have Dia celebrations celebrating ALL cultures in your area. This gave me an idea for Quince Orchard’s 2nd Annual celebration in 2009. As librarians we are educators and it is our job to inform everyone about the many different resources out there to help people.

Saturday, June 28, 2008
5:30 – 7:00 PM
OPENING GENERAL SESSION:
During the opening general session, 3 librarians Pat Mora, Effie Lee Morris, and Dr. Peggy Sullivan were presented with ALA Honorary Memberships. Verizon Wireless also presented a 1,000,000 dollar check to ALA for gaming. Ron Reagan was the guest speaker for the opening general session. His presentation was informative and kept your attention, but it seemed more like a political campaign then about libraries.

Sunday, June 29, 2008
8:00 – 10:00 AM
PR Forum - Diversity @ your library: Broadening Your Audience and Engaging Communities:
“Using Communications Techniques to Engage Your Communities”. I found this session to be very informative and I was able to take many tips and techniques with me. Why does multicultural communication matter? More ethnics will be moving into the U.S and the business ownership is becoming more minorities and women.

1. Check Your Assumptions @ the door. – Begin with yourself.
2. Understand the cultural context of your audience – Do your homework.
3. Invest Before You Request: Create community centered partnerships – treat leaders, organizations and community members as partners with whom you wish to engage, learn about the community needs and assets, and stay in touch.
4. Build Authentic Relationships: Maintain a Long-Term Perspective – Go to the community, work with trusted allies, don’t become a one-hit wonder, and become an ally. Collaboration – work with others in the community
5. Build Shared Ownership: - Engage don’t just involve, make sure there are seats @ the library.
6. Walk Your Talk – Lead by Example: acknowledge the reality of your organization, do what you say you believe others should do, deliver on your promises.
7. Relate, Don’t Translate: Place communication and creative into cultural context – determine if existing creative message, frame, copy, imagery works for the audience based on cultural context, relate the existing concept to the needs of your priority audience, establish clear translation protocols, and don’t forget to implement.
8. Anticipate Change: - Be Prepared to Succeed – recognize that your process and approach to the work may change, continue to build infrastructure to support multicultural success.
9. Build upon these 8 strengths by inviting patrons from diverse backgrounds to advance their vision for their community by investing in their library as a partner, advocate, donor or volunteer. If you distribute for them, they should distribute for you. Make connections with those in your community and build meaningful relationships.

Sunday, June 29, 2008
10:30 – 12:00 PM
Prime Time Family Reading Time: Bilingual Programs Expand Nationally:
Prime Time and Bilingual Prime Time provides a unique 6-8 week program of reading, discussion and storytelling. In the 90-minute session, a storyteller demonstrates read-aloud techniques and then discusses the readings. The books/discussions are based on humanity themes such as: fairness, greed and dreams. This program brings families together for “prime-time” family reading. I loved how they said at the end; the librarian would give a “5-minute” commercial about upcoming library events. Their target audience was to bring in those under-served and under-privileged. Another goal of the program was to successfully train students and parents to bond, encourage book discussion and discuss issues.

Families who were apart of the program were more apt to come to the library on a regular basis and felt more comfortable and familiar with staff members. We should all embrace any chance we get to offer bilingual programs. As I mentioned from the diversity program I had attended that morning, our country is becoming more diverse by the minute.
This program motivated me to try and see if I could visit all of Quince Orchard’s 10 elementary schools in our area and promote our library services to their ESOL PTA groups. I had previously visited Diamond Elementary School this past March and the ESOL parents were very excited about the library and all the services and resources we could provide them.

Sunday, June 29, 2008
1:30 – 3:30 PM
Programming Your Way Through Dewey: Insects, Dinosaurs, and Gross Biology @ Your Library:
The authors in this program, Kelly Milner Halls and Nic Bishop, were very enthusiastic and very informative. Kelly was very funny and likes to write quirky nonfiction titles. Everyone has that secret yearning for something gross and kids are so remarkable and they need a connection. I liked how Nic Bishop took his time to take remarkable up-close pictures for his books. His stories on how he tries to get the picture shot were just amazing; that someone would take all this time out just to get the “perfect” shot. I thought this was just remarkable. This program was packed to capacity. All the presenters were remarkable and showed many ways to get those kids interested in nonfiction titles. They also mentioned highlighting certain parts of the collection so that children can easily find the books better.

When I was a school media coordinator, I had purchased these shelf dividers to highlight favorite parts of the collection for kids. The company liked how I purchased these easy to read shelf dividers for my entire library, so they came and took pictures of the library and me and it’s still used to advertise their product on their website. http://www.libraryskills.com/


Sunday, June 29, 2008
4:00 – 5:30 PM
Alphabet Soup? Librarians in the European Union:
Having lived in Europe before and traveled back on a few occasions, I thought this program would be of interest to see how libraries in Europe are. During my trip to Greece last April 2007, I not once saw a library nor heard my family members (who live in Greece) speak of the library. Libraries in Europe operate with “some” similarity to US libraries. European patrons are not able to check out as many books and they have more “rules”. It is difficult for all public libraries in Europe to work together because there are many languages and many cultures to take into consideration.

Similar to other libraries from various cultures they do have professional library associations you can join and hold various conferences throughout the year. IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations) holds conferences every year to bring international librarians together to learn, gain and acquire skills and knowledge. This year’s conference will be held in Quebec, Canada, which is a very beautiful city. Next year’s conference (2009) will be held in Italy and I am making plans to attend this international conference.

One thing that you could see from all the libraries in various countries and the US is that they are ALL striving for the same goal. You can meet a librarian from any country and you will be able to share so many ideas and gain so much knowledge from each. Everyone has experiences and stories to share. When I travel to Greece next year to visit my family, I am definitely going to look up and go to the nearest library.

Monday, June 30, 2008
8:00 – 10:00 AM
Mexican Libraries: Socially Shaped Institutions:
I love to hear about how libraries are in other countries, so as my last program of ALA, I decided to come to this one. Dr. Lau first presented the overall history of how libraries began in Mexico. The first book to arrive to Mexico from Europe was the year 1511. In 1539 their first printing press was established. 1555 was the year of their first published book, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y Mexicana by Alonso de Molina. 1788 marked the opening of their first public library.

Mexico has 10 schools that offer library science degrees on campus, 2 schools that offer web-based study and 1 school offers archives studies. They have 10 professional library associations that librarians can join. They also hold special and general library conferences each year. They also hold several international book fairs each year.


After this session ended, I went back to the hotel and packed and got ready to leave for LAX Airport. My time in California was very rewarding and I was able to take with me many new ideas, thoughts and not to mention a suitcase full of “extra” things. No wonder everyone was at the Post Office located behind the exhibits mailing things home. I had looked at them like they were crazy, well guess not anymore. There I was walking in the airport after I checked my baggage, (which I had to take out 20lbs worth of “extra”) and because of the weight of my two shoulder bags I fell right out in the middle of LAX. I bet those security guys are having fun hitting “replay”. I left LAX Monday at 6:00 PM and got back to Dulles Airport, Tuesday morning at 5:12 AM!

Overall I really loved my ALA experience in California. I learned so many new things and got to meet some really cool and innovative librarians from all parts of the US and various countries around the world. There were so many programs/sessions to attend, I found it hard trying to narrow down my programs. I just only wish I could have stayed for the entire duration of the conference; maybe next year in Chicago! See you in the windy city!

Chris's ALA Annual Conference Experience

First off to get in the right mindsite, picture palm tree and flower-lined streets, clear blue skies, and no humidity. You've just pictured yourself in beautiful Anaheim, CA, site of this year's ALA Annual Conference. I arrived a bit early to soak in the sun and fun a bit before running myself ragged at the conference.



Friday, June 27

This was my first actual conference day and it was a light one at that.

The first program I attended was "Managers Who Have the Union Advantage," sponsored by the APA. I was hoping it would offer tips on how managers can best work with unions but it felt more like a forum for proclaiming the advantages to having a union in your library. The featured speakers were Tom Galante, the Director of the Queens Borough Public Library in NYC; Susan Veltfort, Children's Selection Librarian at King County Library System in Washington; and John Buschman, Associate University Library at Georgetown University in DC. The speakers all shared their experiences of working with unions and why the preferred to supervie in unionized institutions.


Saturday, June 28

Today, I had to start off wearing my committee chair hat so I could attend the ALSC Divisional Leadership Meeting. (I am embarking on my second term as ALSC Children & Technology Committee, making it all the more amazing that this is my very first blogging experience.) We got off to a rousing start by introducing ourselves via a modified round of Taboo! We all had nice discussions with our fellow committee chairs about our latest and greatest projects.

In the afternoon, I attended "Millennial Librarianship" which was another program that sort of fell into the "Not Quite What I Thought It Would Be" category. It sounded like it would be about what trends of millennials and young adults are here to stay and how will they impact library service and how do we best serve this group. While there was some discussion of this, a large amount of it was about that new (millennial) librarians and potential librarians could expect from this career. Panelists were Sarah Krygier - YA Librarian at Solano County (CA) Public Library, Georgia Lomax - Associate Director of the Pierce County (WA) Public Library System, and Candace Mack - YA Librarian at Los Angeles Public Library - Encino Branch. The discussion was led by Linda Braun - YALSA President-Elect. The discussion opened with a series of video clips in which one panelist had interviewed several librarians at her library as well as a few library school students to ask them what they liked best about librarianship or why they decided to enter the profession. One library school student was almost talked out of the profession by her brother who said that librarians don't have friends. (Contrary to popular belief, most of us do have lives outside the stacks or away from our computer monitors. lol) Most enjoy the variety and that moment when you know you've made somebody's day by finding just the material they were looking for. Among the trends mentioned were balancing generational needs like the traditional desire for quiet areas and millennials need for spaces to learn collaboratively. The need to take a few more risks in regards to computer access to meet millennials' appetites for an increasing variety of digital media, like social networking, blogging, Second Life, etc. One panelist stated that we need to go where the teens are instead of making them come to us (i.e. through digital media).

My second session of the day was "Beyond Frog & Toad: Transitional Books for Children." The presenters were Dr. Andrea Zevenbergen of SUNY at Fredonia and Allison Angell, Senior Librarian at Benicia (CA) Public Library. Dr. Zevenbergen talked about the characteristics of transitional books, where they got their start, how they vary, how they facilitate children's literacy skills development, and how the reflect children's socio-emotional growth. She shared how transitional reading can be a positive experience which leads to "I can do this!" type feelings in a child. Unfortunately, I had to leave before Ms Angell's part of the presentation which sounded really interesting coming from a public library standpoint. She shared examples of transitional books, how libraries use them and catalog/label/shelve them, and how they can be used in programming (i.e. book clubs).

Wondering why I cut out early? Scholastic invited me to an intimate dinner at Morton's the Steakhouse to show off their latest and greatest databases for children. It was indeed intimate - only about 15-20 of us total at two or three tables. I almost tried the Chicken Christopher (since they were kind enough to name it after me) but I broke and down and got the steak. Now I know why Morton's is "the Steakhouse." Anyway, back to the important part. Scholastic showed off Bookflix, which most of us were already familiar with. Then, they introduced two databases that are in the works, StudyJams! and Expert Space. StudyJams! is a math and science database for grades 3-6 that comes out in the fall. It includes videos, interactive lessons, karaoke music, and more to meet the needs of a variety of learning styles. Expert Space is research based database for grades 4-12. In addition to providing a wealth of material in history and the sciences, it helps to build kids' information literacy skills by helping them plan and complete the steps they need to fulfill their research assignments.





Sunday, June 29



Time to wear my committee chair hat again. I started off bright and early chairing my committee meeting. I'd swear we we're the most popular committee in the room. Sometimes we even have more guests then committee members at our table! The meeting was just the start of our day together as we could be presenting a program in the afternoon. After the meeting, most of us jetted (make that shuttled) off to Mimi's Cafe to treat our guest speaker to brunch. We had a grand old time meeting and greeting Dr. Warren Buckleitner (and the food was delicious too!).



Our afternoon program was entitled Hey! I Want to Do That Too!: Gaming and the Elementary Age Child. Dr. Buckleitner, editor of Children's Technology Review and founder of Mediatech, a gaming center and library within the Flemington (NJ) Public Library discussed how Mediatech came to be and how it's been successful. He also gave a list aof websites, games, and gaming platforms that every children's librarian and media specialist should know. Most importantly he talked about the difference between interactive media (IM) and plain old video games. IM can be undone, saved, or reversed. It can branch out or modify a child's skill level and can foster feelings of control, trial & error, and empowerment. Also, it supplements traditional books and materials rather than replacing them. Technology is merely another material for children to actively explore.


Monday, June 30

I kicked off today with the ALSC Awards Ceremony and Membership Meeting. As one might expect, the Geisel Award Committee and Mo Willems stole the show. Mo won the award for There Is a Bird On Your Head! (from the Elephant and Piggie series). In celebration, the committee all wore little stuffed birds on their head. Mo actually borrowed one to wear during his speech. The speech itself was equally creative as it contained only beginner reader terminology and phrasing. Peter Sis's acceptance speech for the Sibert Medal for The Wall was equal parts poignant and humorous. He just might succeed in getting those Caldecott rules changed yet. lol About the only thing missing from the morning's festivities was the Bachelder Committee Chair. (We missed you, Fran!)

In the afternoon, I went to "Valuing Staff: Employee Relations and Recognition Programs." The speakers were Maureen Sullivan of Maureen Sullivan and Associates, Amy Paulus of the University of Iowa, and Brian Keith of the University of Florida. They spoke about innovatives ways to improve employee relations through staff recognition. Apparently this was a big topic in many places as the room was overflowing and overheating. Ms Sullivan shared various suggestions for improving employee relations. These included setting standards and challenging goals for your staff. When giving feedback, start with the positive and be honest and straightforward with the negative. Expect the best and build self-esteem. Pay attention and be there. Interact with your staff and know the trends. Ask them what's been successful in their eyes. She left us with the knowledge that we as leaders should set the example. Mr. Keith then came in and talked about UF's experiences with forming a committee and coming up with ideas for employee recognition. The university start an employee recognition fund and accepted staff nominations for its use, consisting of a recommendation of a specific acheivement of visible results and a recommendation for what should be given in recognition of it. They also have spontaneous breakfasts or snacks with casuals visits from the administration. Additionally, they created a program whereby staff give each other tokens when they notice each other's successes. These tokens are used to bid on prizes at an auction on staff day. I was sweltering by this point, so I didn't stick around for most of the last speaker.

I spent the afternoon wandering around the exhibits and check out all the new books at the children's publishers' booths. I was particularly happy to see more Pigeon, Humphrey, and Maybelle. I was hoping to also get a sneak peek at the upcoming fourth and final book in the City of Ember series, but alas it was not to be found. I'll just have to look for it in October like everyone else. I couldn't by the Demco booth either, but unfortunately that grand prize once again eluded me. (At least it stayed in the family here in MCPL and the bag was a pretty snazzy.)

In the early evening, I headed to the PLA Awards and President's Program where actress and author Jamie Lee Curtis spoke. She was wonderful and funny. She just couldn't get over how someone with a combined 750 on her SATs was worthy of speaking to a crowd of librarians. She spoke of how librarians are the guardians of knowledge and it is us who can open up new worlds to young people and all who seek to find their dreams. She reminded us of how Bernie Schwartz and Jeannette Morrison, the children of immigrants, grew up trying to succeed in America. (In most anyone's book, they did. Not only did they become her parents, but of course the world now knows them as Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.) Many of these stories came (and continue to come) to fruition in part because of libraries and librarians. On a lighter note, Ms Curtis was introduced as (and admitted to being) a closet organizer, (No, she doesn't hide the fact that she likes to organize things.) She offered to help clean anyone's closet, so if yours is a mess, just give her a call. She ended on a high note by reading her latest children's book, Big Words for Little People.

I ended the evening partaking of a new concept from ALA called Dine Around. You could sign up a head to dine at one of several local restaurants. Since everyone was signing up individually, you'd end up with a random group to dine with. Somehow, I ended being the only male and the only public librarian in my group. Go figure! We dined California-style at Tangerine Grill. The food wasn't bad but I recommend asking if there's a banquet going on there before you make reservations. Whatever banquet was there on this night (we presume something ALA related), they used up all the good glasses and wiped out most of the dessert menu. We ended up next-door eating ice cream sundaes for dessert instead.


Tuesday, July 1

In a fitting finale to the conference, I partook of the Coretta Scott King Awards Breakfast along with a fellow MCPLer and, by coincidence, one of my committee members as well. It was delicious and so wer several of the speeches. Ashley Bryan's was most exuberant and motivational. He had the crowd reciting several famous works of poetry along with him. Christopher Paul Curtis added a bit of humor to his speech by answering his most FAQ: what happened to his hair? It one time, he had long shoulder length dreadlocks. Now, his hair is cropped close and a bald spot peeks out from atop his head. The new hairdo, he says, is because he woke up one morning but some of the dreads didn't. Those receding hairlines are killers. On the flight in, I finished reading Brendan Buckley's Guide to the Universe (and Everything In It) so I was particularly excited to see and hear Sundee T. Frazier. She was very excited that this dream of hers to become an author was finally coming true and this recognition for her work was humbling and reassurance that she's on her way.

And so that time has come to return to that reality of heat, humdity, traffic, and the hectic lifestyle that is Montgomery County. See you in Chicago next year!

Annette’s ALA Annual Conference, 2008

Recently I was at the America Library Association annual conference in Anaheim, California and, aside from the usual bacchanalian carousing, (now stop that sarcastic laughter—I was once told with some authority by a hotel worker in Atlanta that they love it when the librarians come to town because we drink more than anyone), I did actually attend five educational sessions, slipped in to listen to the Caldecott and Newbery speeches, hobnobbed with authors, illustrators and editors as well as librarians, and checked into almost everything in the exhibit hall.

Saturday

Dutifully, I had pre-selected some possible sessions of interest in the advance catalog, and then narrowed them down on-site based on my mood and the proximity of the presentation. Partway through my first day, I realized that my selection of sessions to attend was not random after all; it was taking on a theme. Totally unconsciously I had embarked upon an exploration of digital rights.

Staying Alive: Books Through Print On Demand Technology
This session addressed who is involved in Print on Demand, what publishers are doing, in-house and outsourced print on demand options, as well what libraries should consider when binding print-on-demand materials. Speakers: Bruce Jacobsen, Executive Vice President, Bridgeport National Bindery; Lynn Terhune, POD and USR Administrator, John Wiley and Sons; Gary Frost, University of Iowa; Kristin McDonough, New York Public Library

The presentation didn’t tell me much new on the production of Print on Demand (POD) books. The relevance of POD seems more applicable to academic libraries and special collections that need one or two copies of a rare or limited title; POD is expensive and not viable for large print runs of high demand books. I didn’t get any clear answers to my questions about who protects the rights of the author when Mr. Jacobsen mentioned that Bridgeport Bindery would print and bind any document if a library provided them with an electronic file. Of particular interest to me was the New York Public Library’s public experiment with a Print on Demand machine at the Science, Industry and Business Library, which allowed patrons to select from a list of books then watch the Espresso Machine print and bind it for them. The machine looked like this:

They offered eleven books from the Open Content Alliance, and two contemporary books from authors who allowed their books to be printed this way. I had to smile when Kristin McDonough described the recognizable apprehension of circulation staff members who were sure they would be stuck helping with the machine. As it was, staff intervention was needed to reformat text and make decisions on size, paper, cover, etc., but I don’t believe that the circulation staff was expected to help with that This was a three month long exhibit set up as a demonstration. A long lead time was needed to set up the project and address concerns such as accommodating the weight, size, and noise of the machine. 1125 books were published. The Expresso machine might be a great way to publish limited runs of library in-house publications but it is very expensive. This blogger took some very good notes on the session.

Freedom of Expression®: Resistance and Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property
This IFRT sponsored screening of the film that shares the title of the session was followed by a panel discussion about fair use and free speech with co-producers Kembrew McLeod and Jeremy Smith, and others. Based on McLeod’s award-winning book of the same title (Doubleday, 2005— only 3 copies in MCPL), Freedom of Expression ® explores the battles being waged in courts, classrooms, museums, film studios, and the Internet over control of our cultural commons.

The film was entertaining and eye-opening. The speakers pointed out the problems with the extension of copyright under recent laws which open up the path for copyright to be used as a tool of censorship, and of our litigious society where exorbitant fees are charged for what should be fair use or for materials that should be in the public domain. These issues highlight the impact of copyright abuse on the flow of information to citizens which has a negative effect on democracy.

Here are some clips from the movie that give a very thorough overview of content.

Related links:
Illegal Art
Free Culture

By the way, a few years back University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod trademarked the phrase "Freedom of Expression"--then hired a lawyer to see if he could sue for infringement. I thought that was pretty funny.

Science Fiction and Fantasy: Looking at Information Technology and the Information Rights of the Individual
A panel of science fiction and fantasy authors—Cory Doctorow, Eric Flint, Vernor Vinge and Brandon Sanderson, all experts in the field of information technology, access to information, and the rights of individuals—discussed the visionary nature of their craft, how speculative literature suggests new ideas and technologies, and the possible impacts these developments could have on society in the future, especially what can happen to copyright, digital rights, and intellectual freedom.

Vernor Vinge, who writes high tech science fiction, mentioned an essay entitled “Googling the Victorians”, written by Patrick Leary(Journal of Victorian Culture, 2005) which shows what fortuitous intellectual connections can be made when the work of an era is digitalized and shaken up. This speaks to the positive benefits for research of digitalization that supplements what can be found in the library but which can be thwarted by jealously guarded copyrights. I discovered another example of that fortuitous connection myself in a New York Times on-line an article about the disputed authorship of the serenity prayer. This prayer is usually attributed to Protestant theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr. His daughter, Elisabeth Sifton, wrote a book on the subject which placed the composition around 1943:

“Now, a law librarian at Yale, using new databases of archival documents, has found newspaper clippings and a book from as far back as 1936 that quote close versions of the prayer. The quotations are from civic leaders all over the United States — a Y.W.C.A. leader in Syracuse, a public school counselor in Oklahoma City — and are always, interestingly, by women.

Some refer to the prayer as if it were a proverb, while others appear to claim it as their own poetry. None attribute the prayer to a particular source. And they never mention Reinhold Niebuhr.” (Serenity Prayer Stirs Up Doubt: Who Wrote It? Laurie Goodstein. NYT, July 11, 2008)

Without digitalization, these connections may never have been made, yet, as might be expected, Sifton has a rebuttal that, in part, derides the technology used to reveal these instances.

Vinge points out that assaults on fair use can also come from those who depend on their work for their income. This is a bad thing? I wondered. Two authors on this panel, however, stated that they had posted entire works of theirs for free on the Internet and found it not only didn’t take away from the sales of their hardcopy books, it even increased their sales by winning them new readers. People like to have things in multiple formats was the consensus. I found this blog post about releasing books under a Creative Commons license to be relevant to the speaker’s words. Vinge did say, though, that you should be careful what software you digitalize into because if the software is proprietary, that in itself can take away access from others.

Fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson talked more about his own work than the others did: he says he adds magic that works scientifically to an imaginary world and then explores its impact. He elaborates that most fantasy is set in a euchronia—an idealized time period (Steampunk, Merry Olde England, and Regency Romance were cited as examples). His says his wizards are really scientists in an idealized time. I then had to come home and figure out how to spell 'euchronia' so I could look it up. Sanderson had some excellent insights into Fantasy despite being the youngest author there. Fantasy talks about what we wish would happen rather than science fiction which predicts based on what we already know. The Hero King in fantasy speaks to our need for unification—and is what we really look for in modern politics. The wizard used to be more mysterious but in recent times more often becomes the viewpoint character indicating that knowledge is power. That the common boy can become master of the magic (information) means that we all can. Based on his experience of not becoming a reader until his teens, he said that if we teach people to love information then they will seek information themselves. Give a kid a book he will enjoy and he will find the classics for himself later.

Eric Flint writes alternate history and is editor of the on-line magazine Jim Baen’s Universe. He says that times threaten a Dark Age of Information. Much of what he had to say echoed the film Freedom of Expression ®, such as: copyright terms are too long—The Bern Convention states life plus 50 years, and in the U.S. it is life plus 70 years. He referenced two speeches to Parliament on copyright by 19th century British politician Thomas Macaulay as relevant to this topic even today. They are available on-line from the Baen Free Library if you click the "Prime Palaver by Eric Flint" link in the left sidebar .

The panelists agreed that current copyright law benefits large companies, not individual authors and artists and their families. As in the film, Flint talked about the intellectual land grabs made by large corporations like Disney who profit from preventing material from entering the public domain (ironically even though Disney plundered the public domain for his material). Copyright law can force a book out of print and destroy a writer’s heritage because it has become too hard sometimes to track down who the legitimate copyright holder is. (Only today I read an article about the dispute over the rights to Andre Norton’s copyrights) With the advent of the digital era, people are snatching up the rights to what they can, distorting the concept of fair use and revising the definition out of existence. Also, creators are too defensive of their rights. I am guilty of this myself. I was upset when several websites posted a whole story of mine without permission under the impression that it was a legitimate “first chapter” sample of a short story collection. My feeling was that it infringed upon my rights and the ability to sell the story in the future. If I listen to these speakers, however, then maybe I need to revise my thinking, because they are telling me that expanded fair use allows people to discover you and decide if they like you. They may not buy the short story collection for my story but they might buy one of my novels.

Last to speak was Cory Doctorow author, co-editor of the popular blog Boing Boing, as well as Fellow and spokesperson of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the leading civil liberties group defending rights in the digital world. He says that copying is not what the Internet is best at. What it’s best at is being a cheap way to take collective action. In an era in which we have access to all human knowledge, the Internet is a perfect enlightenment machine. He describes copyright law as part of the fight for the future of collective action—whether we will have the tools to control our fate. We don’t want others to take that away from us.

The anarchist in me was totally in tune with what the presenters at this and the previous session had to say about the evils of copyright—yet the author and copyright holder in me was screaming—OMG! It made me realize that a balance must be found.

A perk of this program was that everyone received a bag of books, courtesy of TOR Books, and we were able to have them signed by the authors.

Saturday Night

I had dinner with some YA and children’s book authors who I know from on-line. It was fun to meet them in person and talk shop. After, some of us went to the Simon & Schuster desert party and had ice cream. Yum! Always working at these things, however, I listened to several authors chat up their books to me. The next day, one of them who felt we had a particular simpatico gave me a signed copy of his book.

Sunday

(And I want to assure you that I got out of bed much earlier than I ever do on Sundays, usually.)

Library 2.0 and Children’s Services
Lynn Hahn and David Lee King explored how Library 2.0 can make life in a children’s department easier--from the department’s website to planning and advertising programming. Library 2.0 offers a more user centered approach to library services and I was excited to hear what suggestions they had for implementing 2.0 apps. I was disappointed that far too much time was spent explaining what Library 2.0 was. Having already done 23 Things, I was well aware of what it was—I wanted to cut to the chase.

The first speaker was David lee King, Digital Branch & Services Manager at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. I was interested to hear him say that Web 2.0 parallels game development—interactive, collaborative, sharing of information, creating community. He confirmed what we have already begun to see, that Wii unites younger and older people.

I was mostly concerned with the demonstrations of how other libraries have utilized Library 2.0 for children, and although some examples were for adult use, I could usually see applications for children’s service.

The Ann Arbor library uses tags in their catalog as well as traditional subject headings. I wasn’t sure if the tags were staff or patron generated because I couldn’t see a way of adding a tag myself, but it would be a good way of making sure an item can be found by someone who doesn’t know library subject heading speak. Their main page is a blog. Hmmmmm! I wonder what a Kidsite as blog would look like? I thought. It would be constantly changing—that’s a good thing. What he didn’t mention is that Ann Arbor has a really cool interactive feature where patrons can scrawl notes on an old-fashioned catalog card. I bet kids love that.

Topeka Public Library has a website that is mostly blog, too, making it easy to update.

Teachers are using blogs to help their students writing and communication skills as well as track their student projects. Examples of blogs created by kids were shown—the ones by younger children were child/teacher collaborations.

It makes sense for us to include interactive features for children on our websites. They are already living in an interactive world. Children’s toys now sometimes include an on-line element. For example:
Webkinz—When you buy the toy you are given a secret code so you can adopt a pet on-line, create a room for the pet, and interact with other kids.
Neopets—Another virtual world for children
Build-a-Bear—Build your custom teddy bear, buy it, and take it on virtual adventures with you.
And there are Second Life type realities for kids, such as Runescape

Web sites for children should not be static. They should push out news and events and new materials, and provide ways to connect with others. I think our redesign of Kidsite needs to have content that can be changed easily and often.

The Saint Joseph County Public Library uses a wiki for subject guides. Patrons can add content under the “discussion” tab and the wiki format allows staff to quickly change information.

Wikis could be adapted for kids’ interests—such as a game cheat code wiki, or how to deal with problems at school.

Instant messaging provides a real time communication tool. With Meebo people can now even combine all their accounts into one master account. Meebo widgets can be embedded on web pages and can be used to answer questions from kids as soon as they come in—if staffed.

Podcasts and videocasts can add attractive content for kids. Podcasts can be set up on iTunes
and video blogs loaded to YouTube, then linked to or embedded in library sites. Kids already use these sites all the time. Some classes use video blogs to track projects.

The Thomas Ford Memorial Libraryhas Click-a-Story. When I clicked, the sound file opened in Windows Media Player which I have set as my default media player. The MP3 file is transportable to a portable player, also. The staff appears to be careful to use stories in the public domain.

Just think, a book review video cast could be embedded as a YouTube video on the library web page and possibly reach 1000 people rather than the 10 who might come to a local library. The web is now not only a user generated universe but is turning into a digital PLACE.

Lynn Hahn, children’s librarian, and a colleague of Ing Kalchthaler of the Bethel Park Public Library near Pittsburgh, filled in for Ing as the second speaker. She also presented examples of 2.0 use by libraries.

Hahn emphasized the usefulness of blogs for staff to communicate with each other which confirmed my feelings that we should use them much more. We should have a children’s services blog, and a summer reading club blog, and blogs for various committees to convey to staff what they have accomplished. (In particular I have found writing up this conference as a blog to be an extension of my learning experience, as I track down supplemental information on the Web and check out the links I noted at the presentations.) Here’s a good staff blog.

Blogs are excellent tools for our public, too. The speaker suggested we look at the Darien Library Children’s blog. There the librarians publicize programs and books. The Needham Free Public Library children’s blog is attractive, as well. Maybe we could even create something that had content beyond that. I can really see the Kidsite front page as a blog. We could have all sorts of topics and have the standard links to content on the sidebar.

Hahn mentioned the Stevens County Wiki Project as a good use of wikis by a library that allows the public to contribute to content. “The wiki project is dedicated to creating an online wiki guide to Stevens County, Washington.” I have to admit that wikis look a little visually boring to me and I still find them a little confusing if not well done.

I asked Hahn what she would suggest for making a children’s library web page with the most impact. She said:
• Add something interactive right up front.
• Use animation.
• Let kid’s contribute
• Perhaps have a weekly question and post the (moderated) answers

David Lee King said he would post notes for the session on his blog but I don’t see them yet.

Exhibits

I hung out for a while at my publisher’s booth were I ran into authors that I knew and was introduced so some I didn’t know. The handy thing about being published is you get to know some of the sales and promotion staff at your publishing house and then when they move on to other publishers they still tell you about books and give you free copies. I came back with or mailed some advance reading copies to consider for the collection and made lots of notes on books that might be good for MCPS, and on sequels soon to be published. I had a look at the comics and graphic novel booths because it’s hard to judge those materials without examining them. One vendor emailed some fliers to my library in-box as I stood there with him.

I like to keep my eye out for subjects I’ve been asked for by staff but never seen in the catalogs or journals. I didn’t find any obscure treasures this time around, though.

I also like to walk down the aisles at the ends of the exhibits where the more obscure vendors are. They are so grateful! LOL Although, at one point, I found myself inexplicably having my hands massaged with cream by some nice young man before I knew what was happening. “If you order now you get two for the price of one, plus two more, plus these travel jars…” The glow vanished when he told me the price of the cream. It was like being in an infomercial, though.

Newbery/Caldecott Award Speeches

Brian Selznick (Caldecott winner for The Invention of Hugo Cabret) and Laura Amy Schlitz
(Newbery winner for Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village) gave two of the best speeches I have ever heard at this event.

Brian Selznick started his speech by addressing the usual chestnut of “where I was when I got the call” by presenting a brilliant and hilarious filmed sequence of drawings in the style of the book. He went on the talk of his childhood favorite, Remy Charlip, who he finally met and was mentored by as an adult, then brought tears to many eyes by joyously proclaiming his delight that Mr. Charlip was right there in the audience that night to see him receive his award.

I wasn’t sure that Laura Amy Schlitz could follow that act—but I was wrong. The woman got up there in full children’s librarian mode and couched her entire speech in stories that held us as spellbound as are, no doubt, the children she sees in her Baltimore area school.

Look at your latest edition of Horn Book for the speeches.

Monday

Visual Literacy Ain’t Just Watching Ads
This is what the program book promised: Decoders, fluent readers and finally expressive readers and writers—these stages apply to visual literacy as well as to reading print. In an image-drenched world, we’ll look at the rhetorical situation of an image, examine some signs and symbols, and see how point of view is created by interaction of the reader, audience, and medium. We’ll consider some emerging issues and teaching strategies for various types of images.
Speakers: Debbie Abilock, Consultant/Co-Founder, NoodleTools, Inc.

This was very disappointing and nothing like how I interpreted the content from the description of the session. I thought the speaker would cover a range of visual art and would inform my purchasing of visual materials for children by cluing me in to the way that children of various ages interpret and decode what they see. Instead it seemed to be a primer for adults on how to interpret photographs (some too mature in content for elementary aged children) and how they might possibly convey those skills to children in a classroom setting. While some of the content was interesting, nevertheless, the presenter seemed to be parroting distilled information from a longer course and had a condescending and impatient attitude with the audience whom she cajoled into participating yet scolded when she couldn’t hear what they said in the room that was too large for that sort of interactive format.
I’ll check out her website to see if there is anything more useful there. Well, here’s her PowerPoint. It still seems somewhat incomprehensible to me and some of the images are different from those in the presentation. Oh, well.

So, there’s my ALA. I won’t tell you about my subsequent road trip up the coast to the San Francisco area with my college friend. Girls’ Road Trip! Woohoo!

I have to say that this was the most accessible ALA conference that I have been to. Everything I went to was in walking distance so I spent zero on cabs and never had to set foot on a Gale shuttle bus. And the weather was gorgeous. If you haven’t gone to an ALA annual conference, you should try it some time. Go on. I’ll tell you where the parties are.

VIRGINIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION PARAPROFESSIONAL FORUM (VLAPF) May 18 - May 20, 2008

VIRGINIA LIBRARY ASSOCIATION PARAPROFESSIONAL FORUM (VLAPF)

The 2008 VLA Conference was my second attendance. The two day conference (May 18 – May 20, 2008) was remarkably filled with wealth of information and ideas sharing by the participants. There was ample opportunity to interact and network with colleagues from different library systems. We shared ideas and discussed some of the challenges we face on our jobs.
This year’s conference theme was “Many Faces of the Libraries: Fearless Evolving to Meet Users Needs”. In her remarks to the participants, the key-note speaker, Dr. Sandra Treadway discussed how the roles of libraries have evolved in recent time and the challenges library staff faces daily, including changes from different realities, new ways to serve patrons, new ways of doing things, new ways of dealing with different problems and understanding changes in customer’s expectations.
She went further to discuss the internal issues concerning Circulation staff from her research and consultation with support staff. The following are the highlights of her findings:
- In the past 5 years, Circulation staff have taken much more responsibilities than their job description and not appreciated
- More skillful and more able to help customers, using the database.
- Pay differential that exist is huge between Information and Circulation staff
- No good career ladder for the Paraprofessionals
- No avenue to move or pursue another career
- They don’t feel they get the respect they deserve within the organization
- Training opportunities are limited
She discussed the Library Support Staff Certification Program. In June, 2007, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded the American Library Association (ALA) a 3-year $407,000 grant to pursue development of a Library Support Certification Program (LSSCP).
The project addresses the Library Support Staff community’s need for a national certification program to help the profession standardize expectations for Library Support Staff; help support staff master critical job competencies; provide educators with guidance for training curricula; and help employers articulate job requirements.
During the project’s three year term the following tasks are planned:

Year 1 – Development of competencies to be used to certify LSS.

Year 2 – Development of policies and procedures to implement the LSSCP and development of methods to assess new learning and possibly prior learning gained from experience

Year 3 – Field test the program in 5 sites: a state association, a state library, a community college, a regional cooperative, and an ALA division.

I attended the following breakout sessions at the conference:

Room on the Shelf
The presenter was Andy Straka, Shamus – Award Winning Author. He has written and published 4 books to date. He discussed the chronology in the book business/book making business. The chronology of book making business falls under two major categories; book writing and book distribution.
Book writing
- Pen to paper (transcription to print/electric file)
- Word processing (print/electric file- used by most writers)
- Dictation/transcription (print/electric file)
Book distribution
- Author
- Agent
- Publisher
- Distributor
- Jobber – fill the racks with books
- Wholesaler
- Library
- Book store
- Trade paperback
Typically it takes up to18 months after a book is published to get the book to the public. The process of publishing has dramatically changed and distribution process is more critical now than before. Distribution channels are predominantly controlled by Agents. They interface with the publisher, get offer on the book, contract is signed and the book is distributed. During contract negotiation with the agent, the publisher determines the book format. The book format could be paperback, mass market paperback or hard back cover. Most hard cover books are sold to the libraries with the exception of the best sellers.
I also attended the Negotiation, Project Management, Good to Better Questions and Humor in the Workplace breakout sessions, and I found all of them very interesting and educating.

Submitted by Nurudeen Yusuff