Learning Retrospectives

I had a wonderful conference experience at ALA and attended a lot of valuable sessions for which I have included my notes. However, my very favorite moment in Chicago was the unexpected discovery of this plaque on the wall of the Chicago Cultural Center. Jean Baptiste Beaubien is my great-great-great-great-grandfather although I am his descendant through his second wife Man-na-ben-nah-quah. (And, I will be eternally grateful that it is his granddaughter/my great-great-grandmother’s name, Julia, that carried down the line and not Mah-na-ben-nah-quah!)

Dystopian Authors are funnier than you’d think they’d be.
Despite the darkness that can be found in Dystopia these authors were anything but dark, well there was that 10 minute monologue by Cory Doctorow that involved robots and mind control and how it’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you, but I’m sure that was more to illustrate a point than any real conspiracy theories that may or may not have been the basis for some of his writing.

Teens like Dystopia despite what adults have to say about its theme, its writing style, or its worth in the literature time line.

My desire to attend the 2013 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago was motivated by two primary goals. Number one - I wanted to have the opportunity to explore varied professional practices and trends in librarianship by attending numerous educational sessions over the course of the conference. Number two - I wanted to network with professional colleagues at the national level to learn about their professional interests and the work that they do at their respective locations. I felt that my overall ALA experience satisfied both of these goals.

I strived to attend only sessions that were directly relevant to my daily job responsibilities, but this was not always possible. Admittedly, it was sometimes frustrating having to choose among multiple program sessions of interest that were offered simultaneously. However, I did feel that I was able to attend a diversity of programs that focused on the perennial tasks I perform at the Midwest City Library. Below, I have attempted to provide a general summary of the individual sessions I attended.

I was honored to be chosen to attend my first ALA Conference, held in Chicago this summer. My journey began with 2.3 million Blackhawks hockey fans greeting me in downtown Chicago, where a parade and all day celebration of the recent Stanley Cup victory was taking place. While waiting for check-in at the hotel, I was able to visit the famous Art Institute of Chicago. The lion statues guarding the entry wore gigantic Blackhawks hockey helmets.

Visiting the ALA Conference early Friday evening, I was among the first to enter the Exhibit Hall, which turned out to be a mad dash to visit the exhibits handing out wonderful free gifts. The hottest item for the evening was an Authors are my rock stars t-shirt. I spent the evening visiting exhibits for everything from publishers to vendors to complete operating systems. I returned with souvenirs, books, and bags to share with my coworkers. I met the president of LucaLight, who supplied the shelf lighting for NW, the rep for Public Information Kiosk, which sells dispensing machines for library materials, and watched a Mango Languages Premiere demo.