Saturday at Midwinter

Today's schedule
7:30am-9am Focus Group
8-10am Council Orientation
10:30-12pm NMRT Executive Board
12-1:30pm Budget Analysis Review Committee
1:30-2:45pm Closed Meeting
2:45-4:30pm Exhibit Hall
5-5:15 ACRL Meeting - Missed due to member conversations at convention center, no worries
5:30-7pm Sage Reception
7:30-9pm Dinner, much to my surprise
9-10 Council Reception
10pm-2am Facebook After Hours Social

This was probably my most conflict filled day. I had too many places to be at once Can you say 5 meetings during the 8-10am slot?) which meant attending all were a physical impossibility. There were also a few events I couldn't hit (NMRT Orientation, RMRT meeting, NMRT Social). I just have to hope for more success at the next ALA.

I didn't make it to the Council Orientation until a little after 9 when the chapter councilors had gone into their own meeting, but was greeted by applause and cheers by the attendees still in the room. It was later noted that I was the only person who received that type of reception and that I should feel very special. I did and still do.

I stayed for most of the NMRT board meeting. I presented our slate of candidates, all were approved by the board. We also received a visit from Betty Turock, chair of the Spectrum campaign, asking for the round table's support of the Spectrum Presidential Initiative. We are halfway to our goal. I strongly encourage you to give to Spectrum.

I'm really pleased I was able to squeeze in a little time at the exhibit hall with my good friend and NMRT past president Laurel Bliss. She currently lives in San Diego, so I was guaranteed to see her at Midwinter. This was also a great time for me to thank vendors for their support of ALA and exhibiting at the meeting.

We enjoyed ice cream at the Council Reception. It was nice to sit down for a few minutes and talk to my fellow councilors. I think I managed to meet a few new councilors.

The Facebook Social was good fun as always. No issues getting into the venue like Midwinter in Boston. I saw many familiar faces and got to meet a number of Facebook and Twitter friends face-to-face. Great stuff.

Friday at Midwinter

Today's schedule
8am-12pm ALA Executive Board
12-2:30pm Budget Analysis Review Committee
2:30-4:30pm ALA Finances Best Practices Workshop
5:15-5:30pm Exhibits Ribbon
5:30-6:30pm Exhibits
6:30-8:30pm Sage Reference Advisory Board
9:30-11:00pm Emerging Leaders Reception

As you'd expect, I had a full day. This schedule does not include the meetings I was not able to attend (Committee on Legislation, Training, Orientation, and Leadership Development, Round Table Coordinating Assembly).

One of the highlights was the enthusiastic round of applause from the crowd when I was introduced as a member of the ALA Executive Board at the ribbon cutting. It made me smile a bit bigger and I think I even waved. I deeply appreciate the support and recognition by my friends, colleagues, and members. Working hard and having fun are just who I am. Now if only I can get more front and center in the photo in New Orleans.

Thursday at Midwinter

I am the ALA Executive Board liaison to the Committee on Legislation (COL) and the Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP). They both had retreats today, so I bounced back and forth between both.

OITP discussed a variety of items. Time was spent on some of the offices' priorities including international copyright/WIPO, e-rate, net neutrality, and the OITP E-Book Task Force. Considerable time was spent on the Traditional Cultural Expression (TCE) document, which was described as an attempt to clarify the issues.

The other major component of the meeting was a guest speaker panel called "Libraries: Where SHOULD We Be Going? Libraries, Library/Information Schools, LIS Research, LIS Industry, and National Public Policy". Jorge Schement (Rutgers), Michael Porter (WebJunction and Library Renewal), and Roger Levien (OITP Fellow) each presented. Each added interesting ideas to the conversation, and all of their observations and insights dovetailed well. It was a rich conversation to set the tone for a productive Midwinter Meeting.

Michael Porter and Jorge Schement

Midwinter in San Diego

view from the Marriott Hotel & Marina

Greetings from the San Diego Convention Center!

My midwinter is already in progress. I've got two retreats going on at the same time. That's how I do conference. The most congested time slot has me in five places at once. Usually I'm double booked. I wouldn't have it any other way.

My meetings include all of the ALA Executive Board meetings (Friday, Monday, and Tuesday), BARC meetings (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), the NMRT Board meeting (Saturday), all ALA Council meetings (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday), and a bunch of liaison visits as a member of the ALA Executive Board and BARC.

The most high profile? I'm introducing Neil Gaiman and Nancy Pearl for the "An Afternoon with Neil Gaiman and Nancy Pearl" program during the ALA Midwinter meeting. I'm honored to have this wonderful opportunity.

The best part? Getting to see friends and colleagues.

Arrival In San Diego

Me on my Chicago-San Diego flight.

I arrived this morning in beautiful, sunny, and warm San Diego. My flight left Pittsburgh at 6AM, but was well worth the early departure. There were several ALA staff members on my flight, including Cheryl Malden and Delores Yates from the Governance Office. It was really nice to see familiar faces in O'Hare Airport before the flight.

View from San Diego Airport

After checking into my hotel, I spent a little time getting settled into my room. The winter coat went into the closet. I think it will remain there for the remainder of the trip. I also went out and wandered around the Gaslamp Quarter. I'll probably get there a few times during the week, but most of my time will be spent running from meeting to meeting in one of the conference hotels or convention center.

It's great to be back in San Diego.

Midwinter Preparations

I'm headed to the ALA Midwinter Meeting in San Diego on January 5. My calendar is pretty full and still not complete. I'll post my calendar tomorrow, despite the fact that I'm sure it will still be incomplete. I'm really looking forward to the trip. I'll work hard and get to see a lot of great colleagues and friends, not to mention make new friends.

Not to mention I love San Diego and it's currently 58 degrees there versus the 30 degrees in Pittsburgh.

Two of the ALA Executive Board members will not be able to attend Midwinter due to illness and injury. I wish Linda and Pat speedy recoveries.

Librarians take no holidays

For the holidays I went to visit a college friend and her family in the Philly/NJ area. It was a great weekend trip and I left just in time to miss the big winter storm. It also ended up being an opportunity to talk about what I do with new people. As one of her in-laws or other people married into the family would ask what I do for a living, I told them I was the head of a campus library. I'm still getting used to that part, now an entire three months into the job. My answer was always met with the response that I must sure like books. I smiled, and noted I like books, electronic information, and so much more. Oh, and I also like people, another important component of my job and the profession. During one of these conversations I was asked about how devices such as Kindles were impacting my library. I noted the timeliness of that question, briefly highlighting the challenges and opportunities of providing books and other content for Kindle/Nook/e-Reader devices as well as providing the devices themselves to someone who might not own one. Add to this the challenges I anticipate Penn State will face in a "one university geographically dispersed" environment. It's going to be a major issue. My conversation companion was concerned about the rising cost of access for all library materials, and the ways piracy might impact funding and use of all libraries. He wished me luck in dealing with these issues.

It was a great conversation.

Fortunately others far wiser than I'll ever be are already thinking about this and related issues. On the ALA side, A Resolution to Insure Equitable Access to All Formats of Electronic Content Through Libraries was passed during the 2010 Annual Conference and a Task Force was formed. On December 31, 2010, the non-profit Library Renewal will launch. Library Renewal " works to secure new models of electronic content access and distribution infrastructure for libraries everywhere through research, advocacy, outreach and also through the development of strategic partnerships."