PLA National Conference

Feb. 24-28, 2004 , Seattle, WA

Sponsorship

My attendance at this conference was made possible through a travel grant from the Public Library Association. This travel grant is awarded to selected Spectrum Scholars to introduce them to public librarianship. I have stretched this very generous grant to pay for some of my hotel and food expenses at the JCDL & ALA conferences. In addition, my employer, Multnomah County Library, charged 8 hours of my regular work hours to education and training rather than to my vacation hours in support of my attendance at this conference.

Copy of Report Sent to PLA (with hyperlinks to relevant resources)

Although I have been working as a circulation clerk in public library systems for more than two years now, attending a national conference for public libraries has shown me the scope and range of services that public libraries do for diverse communities. I have chosen to attend a variety of sessions and programs that will help me contribute better in my current job as well as see which areas of public librarianship I might want to focus on later.

Because I am a member of a task force that is looking into better ways of moving and handling materials within the 16-branch Multnomah County Library system and also a member of a floating team of pages and clerks that go around the system, I have attended the programs on Delivering the Goods: Innovative Ideas to Improve Book Delivery in a Multi-Branch System [see PowerPoint presentation.] and Set Your Books Free - An Alternative Concept in Collection Management [see PowerPoint presentations of the Jefferson County Public Library and the Hennepin County Library. The Multnomah County Library already has started similar systems but it was helpful to compare what different library systems are doing with regards to book delivery and floating collections. I have shared the conference presentations with my floating team as well as with the leader of the task force on materials movement. I am also trying to incorporate the things that I have learned in this area into developing a theoretical framework for addressing operational processes in libraries, an area which I think is not being addressed fully in MLIS programs although I have observed that a big chunk of public library budgets go to these operations and to paying staff to perform these operations.

I'm leaning towards specializing in collection development and cataloging special collections in public libraries so I attended the program on Collection Development and Cataloging of International Language Materials. It was inspiring to know that public libraries like the Queens Borough Public Library could have such research-level collections on international language materials. Because I'm proficient with web technologies and I'm very interested in how they can be used for information literacy, I have attended the session on Using Web Technology to Build Literacy @ Your Library and in Your Community. It was also good to learn how public libraries can collect networked statistics from the session on Preparing Your Library to Collect Networked Statistics: What You Need to Know.

On the advice of my mentor, I decided to attend one of the talk tables. I was not able to attend the talk table I first wanted to attend because it was more than full but the talk table next door titled More than Plain Vanilla: Information Products and Services in the Federal Depository Library Program introduced me to the FDLP which I never heard of before. There were only three people who attended that talk table so I got to ask more questions.

I wish I could include everything in this report and I'm actually going over the 300-word limit but I would say that other things like having dinner with Wendy Prellwitz and the other Spectrum Scholars, browsing vendor booths, being welcomed at the New Members Orientation, talking to library directors (I sat with five at two different tables) at the closing reception, walking all over the Capitol Hill section of Seattle with two other Spectrum Scholars, etc. etc. have made attending the PLA National Conference such a wonderful experience. Thank you so much PLA for making it possible through your generous travel grant!!

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