It's all over but the shouting--PLA

I've been to some outstanding programs here at PLA--Minneapolis.

The two perspectives on changing/dropping Dewey were fascinating--real food for thought.

"Dangerous Ideas--What if?" is one that we should continue to ask ourselves all the time--challenging the assumptions and traditions that we have or carry on in libraries.

I also vow (hope?) to be nicer in the way I think about patrons--what can I let them do, instead of how they make me mad.

I want to read nothing but memoirs and books with librarian characters for the next six months!

I'm off to hear Paula Poundstone (will there be shouting? I don't know). Then a walk to the Minneapolis sculpture garden, and the Macy's flower show. I meet the airport shuttle at 5.

Tomorrow will be full of hugging my boys, laundry, and quilting. My feet also need a good soak and rest.

PLA All the Way!

There are gale-force winds and gray skies, and $10 fees for 2-minute cab rides. But I just heard Meg Cabot speak, so everything is rosy! She is an amazing, funny speaker. She talks just like in her books. She said this was her first time delivering her "librarian" speech, and it's a winner. I got Leona's two books signed for her, and my own copy of Jinx. She was very inspiring. She reinvigorated my dream of someday writing a book, even though I do no writing of my own yet. I have ideas percolating!

I sat with a wonderful librarian from western Wisconsin and her 7th-grade daughter. She does a Feast of Books for teens--short appetizers, then an entree, then desserts, that seems to go well. Her library is 3000 square feet (Malcolm Library is currently 4,000) with just 2000 items. We have around 35,000. I'm grateful for my district and my materials budget!

Rachel and I are in a lovely Doubletree Inn suite--incredibly comfortable beds with 5 pillows each! Dinner last night at a pub called The Local with comfort food well-done (pot roast and cheesecake) was perfect before an evening of napping, reading and TV. Classes start tomorrow, after a morning tour of the Twin Cities. I've never been to Minnesota before, so I wanted to see something besides our hotel and the convention center, and the windy streets in between.

I hope Patrick made it to school on time today. I hope his bicycle tires weren't flat, since I have our tire pump at work to blow up our dolly tires. Guess I'd better buy one for the library when I get back!

Flickr-ing

Had fun exploring Flickr today. Loved the feature under "Explore" called "Last 7 Days Interesting." I could Reload and browse forever. Particularly loved this image of a French street. I have lots of framed postcards, posters and tea towels that show French streets from when I lived there. This is a lovely one from Chartres, one of my favorite places to visit. French street scenes are sheer poetry--the old architecture, the colors and the French names. I'll try uploading the image. Here goes:

Hmmm. That didn't seem to work. So here is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acetosa888/2280929955/.

The videos

Being a little lazy here and just copying and pasting my comments on the videos: "The machine learns every time" made me think of "The Terminator." Do we have John and Sarah Connor on our staff? But seriously, watching the great videos I saw scads of tools that I still know nothing about. I'm so excited to find, explore and use them!

Test

This is just a second posting to test my skills. I think I have mad skills!

I did it!

I can't believe I've actually created my own blog. I'm off and running!

And I've had a brainstorm! I'm in charge of doing a family newsletter for all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. on my Dad's side. I'm switching to a blog!!! It will be so much easier for family members to post their own news and pictures, than for me to try to gather it all together and produce a cohesive document. This is brilliant!