"We are writing from the New Orleans Public Library to the ALA members who generously volunteered during the summer ALA convention to help New Orleans recover from the aftermath of Katrina. Whether you helped NOPL, schools, churches, or housing organizations, we hope you will be interested in our progress rebuilding our ruined public libraries."
"Late in 2006 we mailed a progress newsletter to 3000 donors and friends across the country, and we would like you to see it too. (After all, many of you literally “had a hand” in our accomplishments.)" (Email, NOPL, 2/15/07)
ALA has created and ALA Conference Media Scrapbook compiling radio/print, television, messages from supporters, volunteer activity, and press conference information in one place. The scrapbook main page offers the following:
"Millions of Americans learned about the spirit of librarians and library supporters when ALA held it's Annual Conference in New Orleans in late June (2006). More than 14 million viewers saw the reports of our efforts during news broadcasts on at least 300 television stations. A search also turned up approximately 350 newspaper articles and radio broadcasts tht covered ALA member and supporter efforts to help the Gulf Coast Recover." - ALA Media Scrapbook
Of special interest is the photoset created and posted to Flickr: Volunteer Days at Annual Conference 2006. As a member of ALA I often wonder about the direction of the mighty mothership.
This is not one of those times.
I am proud to have participated in the Libraries Build Communities effort and even more so after looking at the quality and quantity of work accomplished in a few days by my fellow library supporters.
Tags: ALA, American Library Association, ALA Annual Conference 2006, Libraries Build Communities, Flickr
Since I am waiting, oh so patiently, for my first article to be published and loving the peer review process that makes the article now over a year old before print, I decided this would be a good professional development session for me. With luck, the session would be more than the ever popular "write what you know" rah-rah, blah, blah, blah. Luckily, two of the session speakers were not only informative, but also had common sense tips on publishing.Marie L. Radford, PhD - School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies Rutgers University
Dr. Radford was a particulary engaging speaker who didn't pull any punches. Beyond her handouts detailing her Radford Rules for Increasing Writing Productivity and Enjoyment, she addressed time management and barriers keeping potential authors from actually writing. What resonated with me the most was her assurance each person in attendance was already involved in an interesting project at work that would be suitable for an article. Additionally, she stressed the importance of writing every day. That, coupled with writing what I know (sigh) had an effect on how the entries on this blog have changed.
At first, I created this blog because I could, because it was fun, and because I was curious to see how a personal blog would differ and/or evolve differently from my various professional blogs. The professional blogs have topics of news and information (plus collection development), educational technology resources, and a new childrens book review blog. Of the three, only one will be collaborative in nature with a children's literature professor adding book reviews and class work to the project. Generally speaking, beyond blog spam, none of the three as of yet have any comments. Quite honestly, two of the three do not lend themselves to comments as they are of an informational nature.
This blog has moved beyond the personal only to a cross between personal (baseball, sci-fi, and blogging) and professional (conference, technology, books) with a few snarky personal comments thrown in for good measure. I am attempting to use it as a way to move beyond the barriers Dr. Radford detailed that everyone must overcome to write. With luck, looking back over the topics I've written about and discussed, one or more will stand out and give me a starting point for my next professional article. Right now I appear to be working true to form and blogging mostly about children's books, adult books (not that kind), technology, and professional development opportunities such as the conference and presenting a poster session.
What do I hope to write about? There are a few things at the forefront right now:
Patricia Glass Schuman, Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.
Ms. Schuman is the President and Founder of Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. I remember thinking, a publisher definitely is someone to assist would be authors concerning the "ins and outs" of library publishing. Trite, I know, but definitely true. Two different aspects of Ms. Schuman's portion of the program stuck with me: the craft of writing and the process of publishing.
With writing, she suggested the following:
Concerning publishing, she made the following comments:
I have to admit that right now, publishing beyond articles is something I am not really ready to do ... but you never know. I will keep authoring this blog to work on my writing and continue to be in the habit of writing daily, even a short blog entry. Naturally, I started reading one of the Alex Award winners at lunch this afternoon and it will more than likely be the topic of my next entry.
Tags: ALA, ACRL, ALA Annual Conference, Marie Radford, Patricia Glass Schuman, Neal Schuman Publishing
"The Neighborhood Story Project was a community documentary program based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. The books were bestsellers in the city, depicting vibrant neighborhoods otherwise shunned by the media, but all remains books were destroyed by the flooding. With the assistance of Worzalla Printing, Soft Skull is re-issuing these books under the Red Rttle imprint. The books now stand both as a testament to the resilience of the residents of New Orleans, in particular those from the worst-affected areas, and as a map back from disaster offered by the city's teenagers."
I'm still unpacking and finding ALA conference goodies that need my attention (yes, I found the books first). Yesterday I recovered one little souvenier that tickled my fancy at the airport. After viewing all the alligator soup, alligator pastries, and alligator paraphenelia, I picked up this alligator tipped bright orange pencil.
With luck, the alligator will stop people from snitching it off my desk!
I still have handouts from a YALSA session on the Alex Awards to get through and a few other miscellaneous pieces of conference literature. There was an interesting session on publishing that was very informative and inspiring. Since one of the things during the publishing session was to write what you know and to simply WRITE, adding library pieces to this blog can't hurt.
What about lunches and other breakfasts? It was hard to get away from the conference center craziness to do lunches so I often grabbed something quick from the venue vendors. It was basic conference food fare.
Tags: Palace Cafe, Bourbon House, Hotel Monteleone, Cafe Beignet, New Orleans, New Orleans Restaurants
Because of your efforts, over 24 sections of books were shifted and dusted; the entire Mystery section and the E shelves were read; members of our staff were freed up to go to the ALA conference; and approximately $10,000 was raised by the booksale (email, 7-11-06).
Speaking for myself I can only say you are welcome! It was a great experience.
Tags: Jefferson Parish Library, New Orleans, Louisiana, ALA
Ever get home from a trip and realize you just didn't take enough pictures? I'm finding that true as I look through appropriate shots to post here of just the city of New Orleans. Looking back through these images I'm struck by the lack of people in the pictures. Not people I know, tourists. As I roamed through the city it seemed there were always people around, but the pictures here show a different story. This first image is from the window of my hotel room, The Hotel Monteleone.
This is a shot from Canal Street, oddly enough depicting Saks Fifth Avenue. I can't say if it was open or not because I was more interested in the trolley car. Through the end of June, riding public transportation was free. I was disappointed not to have time to ride the trolley for a tour of the city through the city. Again, this was taken early morning and there are few people on the street.
The last shot is a picture of downtown New Orleans taken from the window of the Wyndahm Hotel. I had meetings there on Saturday morning and was struck by how clear blue the sky was as a backdrop to these buildings. Many of them still had damage, but I could see men working on the outside of the hotel in the foreground (brick building to the left).
Oddly enough, right after I posted the first grouping of photos a comment was left by a resident of New Orleans thanking me, well ALA really, for attending the conference. I'd like to say without a doubt, it was my pleasure.
Tags: New Orleans, ALA, Louisiana , Katrina
The Driftless Area is the story of Pierre Hunter, a 24 year old who lives his life as he sees fit. From his bartending job to his cross country trek to do what he believes is right, Pierre is part of his midwest town and at the same time, not a part of it. When he takes $77,000 from a thief, what follows is a complex journey involving theft, murder, friendship, and love that is not what it seems.
Runaway introduces readers to Holly, a twelve year old, who leaves her fifth foster family in search of a better life. The grim reality of abusive foster homes and what a twelve-year old does to survive living on her own are are portrayed. Day to day living and surviving are depicted with Holly's humor and zest for life, as well as her acceptance of what that life has become. Told through journal entries, the journal was part of an english assignment, Holly is truthful and insightful. While rooting for this plucky heroine to find happiness, the ending was a bit to pat for the circumstances portrayed.
Both of these titles are slated for publication in September 2006. Professional reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly are already available for The Driftless Area (see Amazon links above) but not for Runaway.
Tags: American Library Association, ALA, ARC, Juvenile Literature, Children's Books , Authors
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne, disturbed me on some level. Not because of the topic, it is an interesting premise with the potential of being effectively used in a classroom. Not because it was not well written; it was. But I feel it's classification as a fable, though it did indeed have a moral, is misleading. This is not a fable, especially in the traditional sense. A look at the book.
The cover art is appropriate and depicts only blue and gray stripes of a prison uniform, or striped pajamas. Despite the title and cover, this is not a book to be read unsupervised by fourth and fifth graders. Case in point, the back cover:
This is a book about Auschwitz told by a young boy named Bruno whose father is in charge of the prison camp. Bruno and his family are abruptly moved from their comfortable home in Berlin to "Out-with" because his father has been given an important job by "the Fury." Depicted as a normal nine-year-old who is part of a prosperous family, Bruno is spoiled and slightly arrogant in his various assumptions concerning his new home and the people who live behind the bars wearing only striped pajamas. One afternoon Bruno meets Shmuel on the other side of the fence. Lonely for a friend, Bruno learns they share a birthday. This leads to daily meetings beside the fence and the boys become friends, after a fashion. Through their friendship, we learn about Shmuel's life inside "Out-with" as seen by a nine-year old. Neither boy fully understands the camp, which is understandable since adults to this day do not understand, but readers are able to sense the underlying evil. The story ends in an appropriately horrifying manner that will undoubtedly lead to questions."The story of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the jacket, but in this case we think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about."
"If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year olds). And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to encounter such a fence."
Tags: American Library Association, ALA, ARC, Juvenile Literature, Children's Books, Authors , The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
The convention center was home to many of the main conference functions. From the main opening sessions and special events to the daily conference offerings and vendors, attendees spent a large part of the week in and around this area. Shuttle bus loading zones were at the river's end of the center and clearly marked to help those of us who were directionally challenged.I wasn't sure what to expect from the convention center post- Katrina. Walking there from my hotel late Thursday afternoon, not the smartest idea I had over the weekend, I was interested in the palm - or were they palmetto? - trees scattered thoughout downtown and directly outside MCC. They were all the exact same height and I had a fleeting thought that they were recent additions to the area, part of the MCC renovation. Anyway, I would estimate about two thirds of the center was renovated and ready for use. There were construction workers on site each day of the conference, but not many. I don't know if that was because it would have been disturbing to the conference or because there were not people available to work.
After looking at what is now, I needed some perspective from what was then. Here are links to information about Katrina and the Morial Convention Center:
I continue to be amazed not only at what has been done, but the overwhelming need for help to continue. Getting convention business and tourists will bring money into the region. I heard ALA brought in over $25 million to the local economy; sounds great until you realize it is an $8 billion industry. But I keep thinking, what about the locals?
One of the best opportunites presented to conference attendees in New Orleans was that of being able to participate in one or two planned days of volunteerism. For a simple fee, one that was contributed to the ALA library relief fund, volunteers received free transportation to and from the Morial Convention Center, a boxed lunch and beverage, and a neon yellow t-shirt keepsake. Actually, the most important thing we received for that $10 was a chance to talk with the residents of New Orleans. These are wonderful people who despite all of the obstacles still remaining have a positive attitude and pride in their city and homes. 
My scheduled day was Friday, so I arrived in New Orleans Thursday afternoon/evening with enough time to check in at the convention center, find my hotel, and have time to scope things out so I had a clue where to go in the morning. Departure was for 8 am Friday morning and we were advised to arrive at least a half hour ahead of time to sign our waivers, get our t-shirts, and locate the rest of our group members. Before getting to the conference, this day's planning was great, unfortunately they appeared to be a bit overwhelmed and we never left the convention center until closer to 9 am. It was reported that over 900 people signed up for both days working at more than 22 different areas and projects.
My group went to Jefferson Parish East Bank Regional Library to help with their Friends of the Library book sale. Driving up to the outside of this branch, indications were that it was one of the lesser damaged libraries. See the status report on the regional libraries available from library director Lon Dickerson for an overview of the extensive damage caused. The woman at the book drop in this photo wanted to move her car so I would get a better picture of the outside of the library. She did not understand that, in my opinion, her being there using the library was the most important part of the photograph.
I know I discussed this from New Orleans and the Internet Cafe, but now that my pictures are in the computer I thought it was time to revisit the day. More pics to come when blogger stops giving me fits about inserting them into the text.
I spent Monday morning packing and made sure I had time to walk a few blocks down from Hotel Monteleone to a charming little cafe on Royal Street, Cafe Beignet. Since I'm not a seafood fan, I wanted to be sure I at least sampled a beignet for breakfast. It was a charming place, located next to a police station. I waited in line, placed an order for beignets and a large orange juice (no coffee for me) and found a spot to relax while waiting for my order. Within minutes I had three freshly baked beignets, still so hot from the fryer - I nearly burnt my fingers- and heavily dusted with powdered sugar, placed in front of me. Wonderful.
Insert moment of appreciative silence for fried dough here.
After breakfast, I had time to play tourist one last time while wandering around the French Quarter a bit before going back to the hotel for a final look-see through my room. I checked out of the hotel and was picked up by the prearranged airport shuttle (nice job ALA giving us the chance to reserve the shuttle online beforehand so we didn't have to redial eight million times trying to get a reservation) in a timely fashion. The trip to New Orleans's Louis Armstrong International Airport was quick and I settled in with my newly purchased crossword puzzle book and diet pepsi to wait for my boarding call.
And wait for my boarding call.
And wait for my boarding call.
And wait for my boarding call in vain.
Finally at 3:00 pm the perky (grrrr) US Airways representative said our connecting flight to Philadelphia had been cancelled due to the bad weather. This is where I state I am more than pleased NOT to have been on the plane with storms consisting of thunder, lightening, and rain. Not a great flyer on my best day I can only imagine the angst of being stuck unable to land due to rain. While in line we chatted and heard horror stories of a flight to DC having to circle the airport for five hours waiting to land. No thanks.
The gentlemen in front of me were from New Orleans and told us if there was a coonass flying the plane, we would have gotten there. I was glad to have read Sandra Hill's contemporary romance series featuring a cast of Cajun characters and understood his reference. I just had to laugh.
We had a choice, stay in New Orleans for another evening and fly out the next day or take the last plane to Syracuse, NY and stay the night there. Add to that there were no guarantees we would be able to get out of Syracuse the next morning to reach our actual destination. Either way, no flights would be heading east that evening.
We were told to line up, a full 737 plane load of us; it wasn't pretty. Two hours later I still had not made it to the desk for reassignment and they were babbling about giving them our names so our luggage would not end up in Syracuse. This is where I mention there was only ONE person doing the reassignment. Why? She did the best she could, but if the plane was waiting on all of us why was she not given any assistance? Give them their due, I did get my luggage before it left for Syracuse.
Five hours at the airport and what did I have to show for myself? I had a reservation for 7:30 am the 
next day, my lovely green suitcase of dirty clothes, and an urgent need to find a hotel near the airport for the evening. Six hotels and a call to travelocity later, I was able to share a shuttle ride and have a late dinner with a librarian I met in line who, incidentally, had talked to me at my poster session on Saturday afternoon. Our shuttle driver recommended the restaurant next to Fishermans Cove Seafood, walking distance from the hotel. Dinner, a roast beef po boy, was pretty tasty. I retired back to the hotel to listen to airplanes take off and over my room and dread the 5:00 am wake up call. The airport shuttle was scheduled to pick me up at 5:45 am. I slept with hope to travel another day.
An interesty aside ... the plane bound for Syarcuse was delayed for two hours as we were leaving the airport. They were not deplaning (aargh - what joy) and were still on the tarmac when the shuttle drove by on our way to the hotel. Way to dodge a bullet.
Groggy from lack of sleep, I was none the less thrilled to get on the airplane for Charlotte, NC and my connecting flight home. Naturally, US Airways had other ideas. Seems the weather was a foe again this morning in Newark. My 12:55 pm flight was delayed another hour. The marine reservists waiting to go home to Dayton were not pleased.
I boarded the plane with glee at 1:45 pm. The flight crew consisted of a bunch of comedians; the pilot explained he'd use the tertiary afterburners to make up some of the two lost hours from the morning. The flight attendant told us not to worry, there were indeed oxygen masks in the bathroom. Of course, this was the same person who told me I shouldn't have moved aside to let the pilot off the plane and assured me he could run, but he couldn't hide when it was time for take off. The other flight attendent kept saying we were soon to be landing in Columbia (I was hoping South Carolina and not South America) instead of Columbus. When we were preparing for landing she told us to have a nice day in Charlotte and gave the local time. Like I said, comedians.
We did indeed arrive at the airport ten minutes ahead of schedule. I don't want to know how. I thought it best not to ask. On the bright side, it took me all of 20 minutes to get off the plane, retrieve my luggage, locate the shuttle to my car, and be on the interstate headed home. Probably the shortest part of the trip.
Just finished my poster session. It was my first at a national conference (I've done several at state conferences) and I wasn't really all that sure what to expect. My first experience with poster sessions at a national conference was at ACRL in Minneapolis last spring and that was simply ridiculious, crowded, and enough to turn me off attending any other poster sessions during that particular conference.
This was completely different. I learned, quite happily in fact, that poster sessions are less structured than I thought - even anticipated - and that it was great to have an opportunity to speak to people who are interested in your information one-on-one. Sure it was stressful since we were assigned an hour and a half shift. But that made it easier to speak with more people and have a chance to look at the posters near to mine. Looking at the other offerings, I was relieved to have taken the time to have my poster session information printed professionally by our graphics department since that was the norm (as it should be). Attendance was constant and flowed easily through our assigned space. I even had the chance to meet Jody Fagan, my poster session contact, and say hello. Thanks again Jody for your positive attitude and last minute support. Most appreciated was the floor manager on duty assigned to help with set up and any questions concerning when to tear down the poster session for the next group of presenters.
There were a lot of great poster's near me and I had an opportunity to speak with different presenters from Lousiana, Washington, Canada. It may have been a novice's luck, though I prefer to think I just had a great proposal (grin), but I will be sure to put in a proposal again for another conference.
I was part of the work force of over 900-1000 librarians who volunteered for a day of community help for local libraries and charities. My assignment was at a large Parish library (name and photo coming later) helping the Friends of the Library prepare and run their book sale. The best part of the day was talking with the locals attending the sale. To a person they were grateful for the help they were receiving from the conference. I was struck by so many things after talking to them.
The friends organization. What a fabulous group of volunteers. They run HUGE booksales (and any sale making over $70,000 is huge in my book) on a bi-annual basis. The library itself was free from hurricane damage, but the carpets had to be removed due to issues with a roof leak. There were great displays with before and after shots from different locals within the library system.
The patrons of the library. I was so struck by the stories they were all willing to share. Every conversation began with a simple statement of thanks for being here. The thanks was as much for keeping our committment to have the conference in New Orleans as it was for helping out with sales. The people of New Orleans have been wonderful and gracious and welcoming.
Courage. I continue to be in awe of the positive outlook of the people we spoke with. Many are hurting with little or no help still availbe. Another hurricane season has begun and they are still cleaning up from Katrina. Our bus driver took us through some damaged areas on the way back to the conference center yesterday and there are areas completely untouched and areas completely devastated. These people WANT to be here and still need help.
Communication. I was amazed at how much they wanted to talk. Especially to virtual strangers. We heard about housing lost, families lost, and great feats of joy. The need to talk and communicate what had happend with personal stories was unwavering. We were unable to do much but listen, but I think listening is what they wanted the most. It was the simple human understanding and compassion that meant most during this time.
They are not forgotten.
