Battling symptoms of heatstroke but we all got the PAL loaded up and heading home!
Monday, June 30, 2014
Quiet Influence
lost my notes about the first 55 minutes, so please refer to casey and caras post.
Listening is key, but not too much to where one doesn't contribute.
Listening tips
. don't multitask
. bracket thoughts
. what can I learn?
. move your body
Thoughtful Use of Social Media from quiet influencers
Be a giver not a taker
Try it 15 minutes a day
Listen and learn
Post regularly
Christopher Paul Curtis
A treat for me this morning was meeting Christopher Paul Curtis, the author of The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, and the Newbery award winning Bud, Not Buddy. I came away with an autographed copy of the Watsons and the chance to speak with Curtis for a bit. I love this book for the way it captures the time period, the Watson family road trip and a tragic event in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The Watson kids are so funny that readers want to travel with them to Birmingham while the book provides a great discussion starter for the civil right movement in the United States.
2014 Jean Coleman Lecture
Speaker Ginny Moore spoke about how Martin Luther King. Jr. changed our perceptions and the impact his "I Have A Dream" speech had on America. While her speech was informative, Ms. Moore's true passion for her subject really came alive during the Q&A portion. During that time, she related her life experiences and involvement on the ALA Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Task Force. She has been a leader in the library profession for over four decades and an ALA member since 1972.
Little outpost of calm
Spending extended lengths of time in the exhibits can be taxing. When I had a break I would come to the Book Buzz Theater to blog or eat. Various publishers would come to do 15 to 30 minute booktalks about upcoming publications.
While I was blogging here during the Simon and Schuster booktalk and I learned about As You Wish- inconceivable tales from the making of The Princess Bride, written by Cary Elwes. I love this movie so I will have to buy this book or check it out if we purchase it for our collection.
I'm attending the next booktalking DK what's new in nonfiction - hoping they cover a lot of childrens info.
Crash course in evaluation research
As I find myself creating more surveys for various projects I thought this workshop would give me more insight into crafting better surveys. The presenters were from Simmons College but their information was useful for public libraries - not too academic.
They talked about setting up surveys, logical structure,populations and samples, types of questions and the importance of testing your survey before releasing to the public - does it make sense? Does it flow? Is it focused and consistent?
They also pointed out common pitfalls - leading questions, use of jargon, making assumptions, not providing context or background, ambivalent language and realize I had done some of these things in a lot of my surveys.
They talked about focus groups - one hour session good timeframe, 7 open ended questions, holding session offsite, 7 to 10 people optimal size, having at least 2 staff present - one person specifically as a facilitator other person as observer, recording observations. After session immediately write up notes and ideas that you want to follow up on.
They concluded with a discussion on quantitative and qualitative analysis. They referred to a website from Vassar which had templates for analyzing quantitative data.
INFORMATION MANIPULATION PART II: SURVEILLANCE
Started off slow but then George Christian spoke of his experience getting an national security letter requesting some patron information. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/31/nyregion/31library.html
Then he reenforced the concept that patron information is data that should be protected by libraries and in fact must legally be protected in some cases. His observation is that organizations must be prepared if something like this occurs. All requests for information must go to the director and the board needs to be on the same page and if a library is going to stand up to the FBI, the city attorney must also be on board and not just rushing to roll over.
One of the other speakers brought up the question of how much data do we really need to store. She then went on to describe easy ways to hack into databases, essentially you end a solved password with the command "or 1=1". She then suggested taking your local computer geek out to lunch to learn all the ways that information can be hacked. Make sure you know how the company behind the ILS treats the information, where does it go and who has access.
The best speaker was some guy named Adam ( I remembered his name) who talked about what's going on in Washington from a legislation stand point, which is nothing. Actually there is a bill to end bulk collection of metadata which the ALA supports. The ALA is also trying to modernize the electronic communications privacy act, and to prevent the NSA being allowed to collect information and the provide it to all law enforcement agencies.
http://www.districtdispatch.org
Description:
What does the collection and retention of bulk phone records and other personal information mean for the public and for our library users? Is personal information and Internet access being managed and manipulated by the government and/private companies? Featuring Thomas Susman, Esq., American Bar Association, Director of Government Affairs. A panel of respondents include George Christian, Executive Director of Library Connection and one of the Connecticut Four involved in the FBI/NASA challenge, Vivian R. Wynn, President of Wynn Library Consulting and Chair of the ALA Committee on Legislation and others to discuss the challenges and implications.
Jeff Bridges and Lois Lowry
Casey and I watched an interview with Jeff Bridges and Lois Lowry. Unfortunately there were some sound issues making it very difficult to hear them, though the moderator was asking such clichéd and obvious questions, that I suspect we weren't missing too much. Both Jeff and Lois believe that diversity is good. Lois explained that she is able to write about different characters and tapping into their emotions by remembering things from her own life. So now we know how to be a writer.
Prior to this was an award for Librarian Under the Most Duress, or something like that. She had starts doing story times and a library on a bike, down in new Orleans after Katrina. Her commitment was very impressive. Giving the award was Lemony Snickett, the award is sponsored by his publisher, and the guy who does the "Don't Let the Pigeon..." Books. It was great, they're both very witty and played off of each other really well. If it's online somewhere its definitely worth checking out. LS said the next pigeon book is something like "Don't let the pigeon lose at blackjack and beat up a hooker." Looking forward to it already.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Create, Transform & Sustain: Managing for edgy new tech services
I also attending this program since it sounded like it was about edgy new technology. It was more about planning and implementing change around technology. The digital media lab is gorgeous but they didn't really demonstrate much of a need - just thought it up once a big money donor showed up. As the director said, they now face the prospect of sustaining the lab and she hopes to gather success stories to show potential donors. As we know, hope is not a plan, but there is certainly potential at this impressive and cutting edge public library space.
CV
Ideas and Practices in STEAM learning
For an hour program about 20 min focused on IMLS funding of STEAM projects and wasn't that intesting. The woman next to me commented "get to the meat and potatoes." Unfortunately the examples of STEAM programming was very short. IMLS funded Pittsburgh libraries 3 labs and materials. They provided weekly workshops and open labs. Unstructured open labs were monitored by library assistants and volunteers. Lots of partnerships for a variety of programs - music lab, bicycle repair,popsicle stick creation labs,camera and computer software for animation projects.
Created kits for branch libraries - Hummingbird robotics kits, something called Makey Makey.
Person from IMLS said to look at informalscience.org for great grant advice - tailoring programs to your community's needs assessment. Funding for learning spaces featuring partnerships and projects that demonstrate positive impact on a specific group of individuals.
Culture of Learning.
The title of this program is good - Creating a Culture of Learning from the Inside Out, but it's not delivering, in my humble opinion. I think it's overly simplistic. The speakers are very unfamiliar with their own PPT and are very reliant on their notes. I was hoping to hear ideas and strategies that other libraries are using to be innovative, creative, and creating that culture of learning. I think we are going in the right direction but there is always room for improvement. This appears to be two people who have heard about this concept of culture of learning, did some research on The Google, came up with the top 7 things you need to to have in place to make that culture of learning happen and they are presenting them. I don't get a sense that they have done a lot of it. The areas you need in place to have this culture are:
Engagement. Curiosity. Openness. Innovation. Creativity. Collaboration. Enthusiasm. Sharing.
They are talking about sharing ideas and how important that is. Yeah, no kidding. Luckily the guy from Pittsburgh PL seems to be trying some new things and has a few ideas to share, but the female speaker is very simplistic. I don't think she has any content or practical experience for this presentation. Maybe she does, but she isn't presenting anything tangible.
Every other slide of their PPT has chickens or eggs on it. Don't understand the connection.
Good news - lunch is next.
MP
Create, Transform & Sustain: Managing for edgy new tech services
While the first part of this session was not very helpful, the other half was intriguing. The speaker from Orange County Library in Florida described how a patron wanted to donate $5 million to the library and name something after his mother. He decided on a media center with:
-Video production space
-audio production studio
-sound booths
-photo studio
-creative work stations
-digital media wall
-STEM lab
-simulation lab
-classroom
The speaker described the whole project from start to finish and offered some tips for others contemplating a similar one. I left wondering what Oculus rift was.
Best apps for teaching and learning
This was a rapid fire presentation of best apps and they were "wow" quality. AASL publishes this list annually and here's it is:
http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/best-apps/2014
My fav was Historypin which is a match of GIS and history where you enter a place and time on a timeline and get photos that users have uploaded. There are also now and then photos which are hard to resist. Best of all it's free. (not all apps on the list are.)
Uniforms!
Saturday was uniform day. Who knew these Land's end shirts would hold up so well in the 110 degree heat and through a long day of conferencing?
Margaret stylin'
Margaret wearing the latest in the library logo line ready for another morning in the booth.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Cutting-edge Technology in Library Services
At this session, I heard about four ALA-recognized libraries who were using technology to enhance their library services. These were:
-Somerset County Library System in New Jersey - they created cut-rate digital signboards using Raspberry Pi
-Edmonton Public Library in Canada - "Me Card" technology which lets patrons check out books from several different library systems by using just one library card
-Hunt Library at North Carolina State Univ. in Raleigh, North Caroline - used Instagram to capture digital images of new library and showed user engagement within the space
-Penn State Univ. Libraries - one-button video creation for recordings to support teaching and student projects.
Nice to see these libraries getting recognition for their efforts!
Transforming Communities program
I attended this program on Sat morning put on by the Harwood Institute which discussed how libraries can help their communities achieve their aspirations. By turning our attention outward, libraries can start a conversation with the community and understand their hopes, challenges and conditions needed for change. The important thing is not to see through the lens of a library professional, but what the community would see. It requires respect and a willingness to work together.
Booth 1958
Here's Cara in our booth promoting the Play and Learn Islands on Saturday. We are enjoying a lot of foot traffic with our corner locations. Early childhood specialist Saroj Ghoting stopped by.
What! No Tchotskes? Creating an experience based Summer Program
Speakers were Chicago Publc Library. One of them had on jeans and a skimpy halter top.
This was a really interesting program which examined a totally different way to look at SRP. Emphasis is on experiential programming versus prizes to get kids to read during the Summer. Summer Learning Challenges involved making, reading, discovering and creating projects.
Programs focused on collaboration - zip tie trees, woven art projects, dog tug toys which were donated to animal shelters. One cool program they showed was transforming the childrens room into a Rube Goldberg creation - stuffed animal flew across room to trigger books which triggered chain reaction throughout room - really cool and fun.Children were given blank journals to report on 3 goals which they set for themselves - giving them more freedom and self direction.
Since this was a radical change for these libraries, they feared parents would be upset and that children would be dissapointed. One system registered 4600 children and they had only 2 complaints.
They also talked about collaborative teen programs - light up brain mural. As teens came back to report on their reading or creative projects they were given light bulbs to add to the brain. The mural had 800 xmas light sockets.
I think this idea of changing to experiential programming to encourage summer learning is something to consider. With our big crowds, incentive costs are a big chunk of our budget.
Busy busy busy!
We have a great corner location. This family from Utah had the cutest kids wearing costumes - Wonder Woman and astronauts. Wish they could stay the entire conference! Best way to market the PALs.
Is the Public Library the New Education Institution of the Future?
Came to this program because Maureen Sullivan is one of the speakers and in my experience is always good (plus, she was the trainer for my leadership institute in Chicago last year.) Problem is, she is the last of 5 speakers. :-( Interested in hearing about how libraries can get involved with more formalized education. Schools are slated to get more funding in California, so maybe there is a way to piggy-back onto them or develop some different types of partnerships.
So far,
- having technical difficulties
- talking about this task force to discuss public libraries and their role in education (Aspen Institute)
- major focus on digital learning - learning networks, equity of access, broadband, etc.
- finally, someone good speaking - from Cleveland Public Library - he was part of the taskforce - they call themselves the People's University. At the end of year, they are going to formalize their program by offering certificates, badges, or even credit at local restaurants for food if people sign up for classes through their library. (They didn't talk about accreditation or anything).
- how do we create a world where the learner is at the center of a networked world. The question is, how do we make this happen. Major broadband question - the problem is, didn't give an answer.
Overall, looks like there is a place for us to think about how we fit into this role where libraries serve as that hub for education for everyone, with formalized programs for adult leathers.
Not the best program. Really too much focus on the data received from Aspen Institute vs. what some individual libraries are doing.
Oh well, back to the booth.
MP
Quick Apps are alright review
I attended this workshop wondering if Cen and Carisa would mention RC but they didn't.
People kept yelling for Carissa to speak louder. I felt bad for her because I don't think she's done any major conferences. On their return visit we might want her to repeat some of the information that she went over today - specific sources on evaluating apps. Common Sense Media launched a new page called Graphite which indexes apps by common core criteria.
Cen did a good presentation - but I didn't learn anything new.
The other presenter was pretty bad - Tess Prendergast. Before EACH powerpoint slide she said "Now hold on" to us like we were all impatient with her. Very odd style and delivery. The program says she's a doctoral candidate studying early literacy.
Boba Fett at the Circ Desk
So the library world as seen as an analogy to The Empire Strikes Back. cute idea and packed house, but we learn that in the Empire if you fail you get forced choked, that the empire had one leader or maybe 2 but the rebels had lots of leaders.
Other takeaways they mention :
Communicate
Develop leaders
Embrace failure
In other words be the rebels
Vader seeing the emperor takeaways : be respectful to those above you, if you disagree offer other suggestions.
Essentially this is Management 101, but with movie clips. On a meta level, considering how packed the room is and the awkward love-fest feel as long as you market something with Star Wars, people are going to be all over it.
Friday, June 27, 2014
Nuts and Bolts Program
RK did a program for United for Libraries on the nuts and bolts of working with Friends groups, Library Boards and Library Foundations. An interesting program (and I realize that I have become a walking cliche; phrases like "a hill to die on...", "it's not what you do or how you do it but WHY", and "the mission of our library is to create better human beings") were written down by others and even quoted back to me as newfound wisdom. Actually kinda funny since none of these things are originally mine.
Opening of the Exhibits
Tonight was the opening of the Exhibit Hall. Here is Michelle working it, talking up the Play and Learn Island. So far, so good!
Jane McGonigal
She's the special speaker for the opening general session. She's speaking of the virtues of gaming and all the positive effects that gaming has on the brains, emotions and a plethora of other positive traits. On the other hand a hardcore gamer would possibly accuse her off taking all the fun out of video games.
ALA Opening ceremony
We (all of us here) got the booth set up and now Casey and I are checking out the opening ceremony. It's kind of like the Olympics but with fewer doves.
Meanwhile it's 108 degrees outside, which seemed a bit extreme to me.
Tomorrow the main sessions kick off and I'm expecting to run into Allen at "Boba Fett at the Circ Desk: Library Lessons from The Empire Strikes Back."
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Checking off the list for our exhibit booth to show off the Play and Learn Islands™ at ALA. We've got updated sell sheets and new lower pricing since we exhibited at Anaheim in 2012. Hope the lower price is enticing. Just need to update our booth opening and closing procedures and I'll let Jason, Wess and Margaret take over loading the truck tomorrow. The Play and Learn Islands™ are also on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/rcplibrary
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