I Should Probably Sign Up

I attended the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting this weekend. It's a huge and rather confused event, with all kinds of great information, ways to get involved in "library world," resources, discussion groups, vendors... and that's not to mention all the official meetings that take place every day!

Going into this, I was fairly certain that I wanted to work toward becoming a Public Librarian, and work in the Reference Department, or in the Children's Library. Leaving the conference, I am fairly certain that I want to be an Academic Library Collection Developer, with subject-specific reference desk duties, and hopefully several other hats as well. Variety is important. And it's hard to know what I want to be when I grow up--- it all seems so very far away at times! I'm fairly certain I'll have it figured out by the time I graduate next winter.

I think the biggest challenge for me has been figuring out what events to attend at the conference. It's not just that there are about fifty-plus events for every two-hour time block... added into that are the other 30+ events that are NOT PRINTED IN THE MEETING GUIDE BOOK! Those are usually the interesting ones, anyway, and they've been published on internal listservs instead of on the general information systems. Add to that the number of events which have been rescheduled or relocated, and you have a lot of frantic librarians with very sore feet! To give you an idea of the size of this-- the smaller of the two annual ALA meetings-- I have taken a look at our map of Seattle. There are events regularly taking place at over five hotels in downtown Seattle. There are at least two other meeting locations beyond this, and it is all centered around the Washington Conference and Trade Center-- which we seem to have more or less taken over for the duration. If you are a librarian, and you've never gone-- you should probably sign up.

So far, I've attended several meetings that I really learned from, spoken individually with many practicing librarians and other individuals in library-world who have aided my understanding and awareness of mass opportunities in library-world, and managed to become active in several groups that I'm not sure I signed up for originally... but I will do as soon as I get home, where I left my ALA membership password. Oops.

Knowing that my experiences are probably being filmed for the sitcom of my life (see previous blogs), I have really enjoyed the insane hilarity that pervades much of the Midwinter Meeting. I've also come to appreciate that a majority of librarians have a really sharp sense of humor. I think the three most common denominators among the librarians I've met and worked with here are
-Sharp Sense of Humor (I know, I mentioned that already)
-Sharply Intelligent (Luckily, most also have people-skills...)
-Distinct Desire to Help People (Not always in that order.)

For these reasons, and many more, I am so relieved to find myself in library-world for the weekend. I think I will be very happy to park my professional career on the library-world escalator once I finish my schooling. These people just make sense to me. Even when I don't understand what the heck they are saying. If you've ever interacted with the military or the government on a long-term project, you know how many acronyms these hard-working people can come up with! You might find yourself talking to a CO about the PT requirements for PJs, and needing that info PDQ, before the next DONSA!

Well, impossible as I'd have said this was a year ago, Librarians Have MORE acronyms than both these organizations, put together! And committees... you like committees? You have an idea-- I guarantee we have a committee for that-- plus committees to oversee implementation, advertising, research, publication, collaboration, confirmation, intimidation, and whatever other -ations you can think of in relation to the said "idea!" Yes. We are organized.
We are hella organized. Dangerously so, you might say.

Personally, I attended a meeting of the ALA ACRL's WSS Research Committee, located in the WCC today. I even know what those mean. I also have a mandate to make sure I'm actually ON the ALA'a ACRL listserv, as I'm now responsible for beginning research on an upcoming project, and I need to double-check that I've signed up for the other group whose meeting I particularly enjoyed attending. It has to do with Collection Development in Academic Libraries-- the acronym escapes me...

I think my favorite memory so far-- the one where I wish I'd taken a picture so I could go back and look for hidden cameras later-- was attending an Academic Library Collection Development Discussion Group (acronyms, anyone?). It turns out that this meeting was called so that we could form focus groups and discuss, summarize, and reiterate to the larger group our thoughts on certain Collection Development questions, which most folks had received a list of prior to attending the meeting. I just showed up. I'm still a student. I'm supposed to be along for the ride.
...somehow, I've never been very good at staying on the sidelines...

I ended up sitting with an intelligent and diverse group of five CD librarians, a book store owner, and another student, working toward his MLS degree (just like I am). Our facilitator gave us our question, and requested that each table assign a facilitator, a recorder, and be prepared to present a re-cap to the larger group in the last half-hour. I signed up for the job of taking notes. As a student, I didn't expect to have much to add to what is traditionally an experienced librarian's Management position, and I had very little experience with the topic.

Surprisingly, NOBODY ELSE wanted to take on facilitating the table discussion, EITHER. Realizing that this reluctance was due to a dislike of presenting on the fly, I offered to read my own notes for the group if someone else would facilitate-- as it made more sense for me to read my writing anyway. Thankfully, at that moment someone accidentally volunteered themselves. Our topic was "The Future of ILL and Collection Development in Academic Libraries."

So... I gave my first Committee presentation yesterday. I talked about the future of ILL in Collection Development. I talked to a room of over fifty experienced librarians. I spoke way too fast. I know this because I kept having to slow down enough to breathe. And everyone at the table reassured me that I'd done a good job as soon as I sat back down. That is not usually a good sign. Self-criticism aside, it was a really rewarding experience to be an active participant. I'm not just saying that, either. I have truly missed public speaking opportunities, and the days when mine was the name called whenever a group's speaker or discussion facilitator failed to show up for a campus event. It's not that I like the spotlight-- it's more a burning desire to be helpful, mixed in with a great appreciation for a well-conducted discussion of intelligent ideas and varied perspectives. "Let's go solve something!" seems to be the gist of my mindset at these times.

You'd never know I was once so painfully shy that I refused to go to kindergarten without my mom. You'd never know I spend my free time these days watching corny movies and working as a nanny. It's good to be reminded that an encouraging hug and the willingness to read a special story aloud are as appreciated in library-world as they are in nanny-land. Maybe my professional success can be personal, too. Who knows, by the time I finally get my MLS, I may be running for President!
...I wonder if Congress responds to a good firm "mommy-voice"... Either way, I should probably sign up for some of these groups I just finished contributing to. Next time I go, I want to know what's going on before I get there. Next time, I want to wear more comfortable shoes. Next time, I want to be an official member of the group.