PLA photos from March 26, 2010

Here are two photos of me speaking from the perspective of being a Booklegger volunteer at the Public Library Association (PLA) national conference workshop "Too Busy to Booktalk?  Training Volunteers to Booktalk"  in Portland, Oregon on Friday, March 26, 2010.  The other photo is of me at the PLA welcome banner.

Booklegger group photo

This is a Booklegger group photo(about half of the bookleggers were there) taken on March 9, 2010 at the Pleasanton Public Library.  Nonfiction author Pamela S. Turner spoke at that meeting and is in the middle row, 2nd from right.  I'm next to her on the end in the black Booklegger t-shirt.   Her latest book is The Frog Scientist, and is a really great book.  Her website is http://www.pamelasturner.com/. 

PLA Friday 3-26

Today was my second and final day at PLA in Portland.  I went to an excellent workshop called "Children's Publisher Book Buzz Panel".  I'm looking forward to reading some of the 2010 books that the publishers highlighted.  I also had time today to visit some of the exhibits, although not as many as I would have liked.  The workshop that I was presenting at was from 4-5:15 and was excellent.  The only real bummer is that it was such an excellent workshop, but since it was the last day of the exhibits and a Friday late afternoon, it wasn't that well attended.  Chris Spitzel, Booklegger Coordinator and my internship supervisor at the Pleasanton Public Library, and Cathy Schneider, the Books 2 U Coordinator at the Multnomah County Library in Portland, did such an excellent job of co-presenting the workshop.  I was able to speak about my experience as a Booklegger volunteer, which is easy for me to do, because I love the Booklegger program so much, and I think every library should have an outreach program like Booklegger or Books 2 U.  Who knows, maybe someday soon I will be able to start a program like this at a library that doesn't have it...

PLA Thursday 3-25-10

I had a very inspiring day on Thursday at PLA in Portland.  Went to a great workshop called "Partner Up:  Outreach to After-School Programs."  I got some great ideas for reaching children who go to day-care after school. 

Chris and I went to the SJSU SLIS reception last night.  Ken Haycock, the Director of SJSU SLIS, who is retiring this year, gave the group a nice welcome and was inspirational to listen to.

At the reception, I had the pleasure of speaking at length with Molly Raphael, who is running for ALA President.   I am very excited about her ideas and think she would make a great ALA President.  She really wants to work with current library students as they are the future of the profession.  I encourage you to visit her website at http://mollyraphael.org.  She just retired as the Library Director for Multnomah County here in Portland, so she really has the time to dedicate to the organization.  She really inspired me!  More on that later!

I have to go now because the workshop that I'm speaking at is in 41 minutes.  I'm starting to get butterflies even though I'm only speaking for 2 minutes out of 75 minutes (do you like that I conveniently left out what a minor speaking role I actually have in my initial email?? :)).  Chris Spitzel, the Booklegger Coordinator at the Pleasanton Public Library, and Cathy Schneider, the Books 2 U Program Coordinator from Multnomah County Library are the main 2 speakers.   I'm speaking (briefly!) about my experience as a Booklegger volunteer.

I'm leaving tonight to go back home.  If I have time to blog again tonight about the workshop I will, otherwise I will do it this weekend!

Thank you for your support!