MLA CONFERENCE 2008

Booster Shot of Leadership - Pre-Conference Wed. May 14, 2008
Maureen Sullivan presented training on Bowman and Deals’ Four Frames of Leadership. This construct developed the concept that no one leads in a vacuum and that every manager/leader has a distinct personal style. Managers who lead from the Human Resource frame operate from a humanistic, psychological value system. Managers who lead from the Structural frame are data driven. Managers who lead from the Symbolic frame are vision driven and idealistic. Manager/leaders who lead from the Political frame are operating from a “how can I use power to justify the ends” perspective. Although this workshop seemed very theoretical to me, the framework gave some additional perspective on how motives influence leadership style.

Open Sessioning - Dr. Pier Forni - Life is a Relational Experience: Civility, Ethics, and Quality of Life
Dr. Forni’s presentation on Civility was an excellent presentation on the importance of respect and kindness in all relationships both public and private. He used two very humorous videos to demonstrate his points. Anonymity in our society leads to the freedom to be rude. In addition many societal rules for civil behavior have been abolished in the last forty years. Dr. Forni has developed the Civility Project at Johns Hopkins to help teach and reestablish twenty five rules for civil behavior. His presentation highlighted the importance of kindness in everyday social interactions.

Legislative Update - Highlights from Annapolis 2008 and the ALA Washington Office - May 15
Advocacy is a skill that library management and citizen activists need to be versed in. Managers and administrators who understand how current political realties effect their day to day operations are better able to plan and act for the future. Of interest in this workshop were bills concerning the MD state budget and it’s structural deficit, federal bills on the eRate for libaries and the renewing of the PATRIOT Act.

Capwiz is a tool that library advocates can use to contact their state and federal representatives when there is need to voice an opinion about upcoming legislation. This tool has a link on the MLA website. Individual Emails and responding to ALA sponsored Legislative Days are ways that individuals can participate as advocates for libraries.

Ding Dong! Reference Work Is Dead? Or Is it? - May 15
This workshop showed that reference work is in transformation. Value added services and new ways to of presenting reference were the highlights of this workshop. Readers Advisory was highlighted as a value added service. Newer ways of presenting reference including chat reference (AskUsNow) were also highlighted.

Making Best Friends - May 16
This workshop was presented by Susan Schmidt from the Friends of the Library, Montgomery County . Susan presented ideas to both library management and citizen advocates about how to generate citizen support for libraries. In particular she highlighted how Friends can enhance libraries and how citizens can work with library administrators to create local friends chapters.