Tidbits from the ALA Conference

So, this post is long overdue, but I thought I would share a few tidbits from my time at the ALA 2011 Annual Conference in June.  You may be thinking, why are you going to the ALA conference when you're an SLA member and officer? Well:

 1. I got an excellent scholarship through the Student-to-Staff program. (When you see the announcement come through the listserv this fall, I recommend trying for it.)

 2. ALA is for all librarians, public, school, academic, and special.  Granted the summer conference is more geared for public and school librarians, but there was something for everyone. 

I flew into New Orleans the Thursday (23rd) before the conference to get oriented.  Starting Friday (24th) morning, I helped with registration and check-in for the ALCTS (Association for Library Collections and Technical Services).  This was a condition of the Student-to-Staff scholarship, I had to put in about 4 hours a day working for one of the ALA divisions.  That evening there was the opening sessions with remarks from the ALA president and the bestowing of various awards followed by a speech from Dan Savage.  Even though I didn't agree with him, I did find him an interesting speaker.  After snacking off of all the free food from the opening reception in the exhibition hall, I went to the ALCTS networking workshop where I was supposed to help out.  Since there wasn't much to do there, I stayed and participated and met lots of different librarians and learned that it might have been a good idea to bring my resume and possibly some business cards.  (Although, how can I have a business card as a student?)

Saturday (25th), I went to a talk on the Semantic Web which sounded interesting but quickly overwhelmed me with how much I didn't know.  Fortunately I knew what RDA and FRBR were from my cataloging class.  I left early to attend the job center's talk on interviewing, which was very informative. I also made it to the exhibition hall and managed to pick up a free signed copy of a book  (by Sarah Dessen)  for my sister. That afternoon I had to help at an ALTCS board meeting, which meant I made sure people signed in and passed papers around.  

Sunday (26th), I spent the morning away from the convention center and managed to get an excellent lunch of a roast beef po' boy and some delicious beignets. That afternoon I got my resume critiqued and attended part of a session on networking with social media.  They recommended being on LinkedIn, something I still have yet to do. 

 Monday (27th) I attended a very full talk on virtual reference, which would have been more meaningful if I had arrived on time and not been forced to sit in the doorway, but it was interesting to note how that was such a hot topic.  I left the virtual reference talk early to attend the ALCTS President's Program, which was entitled Economic Reflections on Libraries.  The one remark that stuck was me was that libraries are a mark of civilization.  Monday was also the best day for wandering the enormous exhibition hall and picking up free and discounted books and goodies.  Yes, the book vending machine is real, no I don't know where you would put one.  

Finally, I concluded my stay in New Orleans with a streetcar ride.  If you ever go to NOLA, I highly recommend this.  I had a great time and I strongly recommend to all library students or librarians to get the opportunity to attend at least one conference from any of the major library associations.  You really get a feel for library culture there.