OK, post your final thoughts about ALA 2008 here. (Why not put them in "Twitter"-style (no more than 140 characters per post) bullet points?)
Tell us about what you liked (or didn't like), what you learned, what you will try to morph into Rancho, and whatever else comes to mind!
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13 comments:
RK's Final Musings on ALA 2008:
- Based on what I heard and saw (both in the programs and exhibits), we are a pretty 2.0library, both in the areas of technology and creating a guest experience. (Actually, the concept of "guest experience" wasn't on view at ALA; it must be more of a public library (PLA) thing...)
- Based on what I heard and saw (in the programs, in the hallways and in exhibits), we have a very 2.1 staff! The present staff isn't afraid of change.
- It was nice to get away from the dry wall dust and think like a librarian for a few days!
- Dinner on Sunday was terrif! It was great to laugh and have fun outside of work.
- One of my favorite postings on this blog was from Don about how he finally met someone in person who he had corresponded with on a listserv. It's all about community.
I will be most interested to see what kind of change attending ALA 2008 has on our present Libraries, and how it will affect what we do in the future. I can say with certainty that when some of us attended the Public Library Association conference in 2006, we brought back (and implemented) a ton of things, so hopefully ALA 2008 will have a similar impact.
• We have a great library. A lot of the ideas that were presented , we are already doing.
• The exhibits were huge! And best visited several times.
• I have lots of pens, catalogs, fliers and other free stuff.
• And an orange bag, that could be recycled and put into use as a grocery bag.
• It was very rewarding to see and hear Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea.
• I would like to do more with “roving/point of service reference” after attending the RUSA program: Quality Service in an Impersonal World. I think this was absolutely the best program I attended at ALA. It featured Robert Spector, author of “The Nordstrom Way”, a representative from Orange County PL in Orlando Florida known for providing excellent customer service, and an LIS professor from Rutgers who did an extremely humorous skit. It was informative and fast paced.
• The idea of online computer classes, besides in-person in the tech center.
• It was fun to meet up every day at lunchtime.
Karye,
I think it is great that you were inspired by the "Nordstrom Way" program.
And if you want to try and implement a new service based on this, you know you have admin support. (I think with our AR *present* staff, carrying this out shouldn't be that difficult...)
RK
Michelle's Final Thoughts...
- I didn't see anything groundbreaking at ALA that we aren't (in some way) already doing.
- Based on what I saw at the some of the programs and exhibits, I would put our staff up against any other library's any day of the week!
- It's important to recognize and appreciate people.
- Try to say "yes" as much as possible.
Michelle
The top two things that I would like to morph into Rancho Cucamonga Public Library are:
• Roving Reference- I’ve started doing this as we get ready to close and I’m always amazed at how many people do need help but don’t ask for it.
• Outreach- This isn’t something that I think can be done right away because it will take some time and resources, but I’d like to find ways that we can help kids in orphanages, teens in detention centers, and/or adults in jail. The West Valley Detention Center is nearby and even if we don’t want to have an ongoing program for them, we can setup a children’s collection in their waiting room. The idea would be that when the children are waiting to visit with an inmate they will have books to read instead of just staring at the floor. If I can’t do this through work, maybe after I graduate I can start the Lorena Reading Foundation.
What I didn’t like about ALA was that in about half the programs I didn’t learn anything new. In a sense, it is a good thing because it means we are up to date in the Library 2.0 world and maybe I am learning more than I think in Library School. I was expecting to walk away from ALA with a lot of new ideas and information.
- Loved the chance to learn something new, see new people, see new products, and experience!
- Loved spending time with team RC! Everyone is *so* funny and it is nice to get a chance to actually talk to everyone!
- Worst things - bad presenters, wrong information, weird exhibitors (pirates, jewelry, the people jumping out at you).
- Toughest thing - it was tiring! The drive! The walking! The amount of people! Being a clofficer with Lorena and helping the car accident lady. Who said she is doing okay!
- Best idea to bring to RC - team up with a really neat place and let the kids with library cards get in free. We do work in a mall - which is tough to beat, maybe some places close by we could work with? : dave and busters, movies, race track?, raging waters, etc. . Bring out book mobile to issue new cards?
- Interactive book - I think we've already done this idea (BHM 08). I bet Nina and Carol could blow the pictures up to be so big you could walk through them or put your face in! And ... we do have that big courtyard to fit all the pages! I liked the idea of working with book stores to sell books too and we get funding in return.
I really enjoyed ALA 2008, which was my first national library conference.
Many of the programs I attended were useful and most were interesting - planning my schedule in advance helped greatly.
I have new ideas for our Website, such as adding RSS feeds to our home page with the latest postings to our library blogs.
I enjoyed talking with librarians from around the country as well as spending time with others in our Rancho library community.
I think that we have a great library and staff and would like to see us put on a program or two at the next CLA!
Best of ALA
-- Roving Reference and "customer-centered" service: We do these things in ways other libraries could only imagine (I could tell by what some people were saying).
We could do more:
City-wide elementary school library card drive. Kindergarten registration day?
On the reference side, I'd like all staff to not just be trained in children's but feel comfortable working in that environment so that roving reference could be universal and non-threatening.
-- Rancho staff expertise is second to none. Initially I was disappointed that so much of what I was hearing seemed to be things we started doing years ago. But I realized, we're so far ahead of the game, it means we can refine and enhance those things and do even a little more.
I appreciated Robert and Michelle's pre-ALA preparation for the staff. The excel spreadsheet with program sign up and pre-ALA meeting was extremely helpful and made the ALA chaos more manageable.
The workshops I attended really reinforced my feelings of what a great library we have. We have an awesome staff, beneficial programs, and have a very strong organization.
Thank you Lorena for organizing Sunday's dinner! It was a lot of fun getting together with staff and the food was yummy.
It was fun bumping into people I used to work with from years ago and telling them that I was now a children's librarian and making sure my badge was the right way out, so they could see I was working for Rancho :)
cvera said...
I really enjoyed ALA and want to say a big "thanks" to Debi and the powers that be that made it a possibility for so many Rancho folks!!
Here are some final ALA thoughts:
Tallest celebrity who dissed me: Kareem Abdul Jabbar - don't ask!
Oldest speaker:
T. Berry Brazelton who is 90 and should probably give up the gig. There were a few embarassing forgetful moments I'm sure he's forgotten. He's a legend of childrearing though and I've read most of his books. He received a well-deserved standing ovation.
Best social activities: dinner with staff and carpooling. Both were a great chance to talk and hang out with new people.
Best-held conference secret: the Empowerment conference. I enjoyed the practical topics, great presentations, and lack of pretentiousness found in some other programs.
Most inspiring program: this would have to be the YALSA Teen Excellence Award presenters. These were some really ordinary libraries doing some important and excellent things for teens. No Charlotte-Mecklenberg here.
Most interesting exhibitor moment: seeing David Kippen - an NEA/Big Read bigwig, sitting in a dark corner exhibit booth in the last row with nothing going on. I noticed the booth was empty the next day - I guess he flew the booth.
Biggest conference challenge: keeping up with this blog! :)
Yes, I know this is very late, but, hey, I was on vacation!
The main thing I took away from the conference was the knowledge that RCPL is definitely on the cutting edge of library trends. There were so many workshops loaded with advice about things we already do -- and do well! It reminded me of how great it is to work at such a progressive library with talented and forward-looking people.
I wasn’t at the workshop dealing with roving reference and the “Nordstrom way,” but reading about it here has got me thinking. When I started as an intern at Cal State, my role was as a roving reference person, wandering around catching people who had questions but for whatever reason didn’t want to come up to the desk to ask. This happens at RCPL all the time – it seems like whenever I walk across the room, someone sees me, notices the nametag, and blurts out a question. There are so many people who aren’t comfortable approaching the reference desk but who still have questions and concerns, and roving is a great way to catch them.
I also really like Lorena’s idea about providing outreach to incarcerated populations. The social worker in me got really excited about this idea.
As far as library 2.0 goes, I think we are a very 2.0 library! And despite our considerable expertise in this area, we are still able to translate complex ideas to our patrons in a calm and understandable way, which, as was reinforced to me, is a service people really need from a public library. It got me excited about Archibald’s new tech center.
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