PLA Programs at the ALA 2003 Annual Conference - Toronto, Ontario

PRECONFERENCES

Librarians and Trustees: Teamwork for the Community's Benefit
Martha Hale, Emporia State University/SLIM, Organizer

What will community libraries be like in the future? How can library trustees and directors form productive partnerships to make a difference in their communities? Participants will hear short presentations, participate in hands-on exercises and break into small group discussions that will focus on solving problems and practicing conversations. Recommended for pairs of trustees and directors from the same library.
Speakers: Ken Haycock, James Fish, Ellen Miller, Martha Hale
Tentative Schedule: Friday, June 20, 2003, 9:00am-5:30pm

How Libraries Add Real Value in a Warp-Speed World
Bruce Ziegman, Ft. Vancouver Regional Library District, Organizer

What distinguishes libraries from their information competitors? The Practical Applications of Technology Committee will conduct a one-day preconference about how libraries add real value to their communities using new technologies, beyond what other organizations and the public or commercial sector are providing. Segments will include an overview by noted technology consultant Joan Frye-Williams; innovations at the Cerritos (Calif.) Public Library; the effectiveness of Ottawa's Smart Capital connectivity project; and advances in Virtual Reference.

Speakers: Susan Kent, Mary Cavanaugh, Stanley Strauss, Joan Frye-Williams, Susan McGlamary, Bruce Ziegman
Tentative Schedule: Friday, June 20, 2003, 9:00am-5:30pm

PROGRAMS

PLA President's Program & Awards Reception
Monday, June 23, 4 - 7 p.m.
PLA President Jo Ann Pinder invites you to attend PLA's premiere event at the ALA/CLA Annual Conference featuring Margaret Atwood. Atwood, who was born in Ottawa in 1939, and grew up in northern Quebec and Ontario, is the author of more than 30 books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Her next book "Oryx and Crake" is due to be released in May of 2003. Atwood's presentation will be the culmination of the first-ever association-wide reading and discussion program hosted by the ALA Public Programs Office, in collaboration with PLA. "One Book, One Conference" aims to engage ALA, PLA and Canadian Library Association (CLA) members and attendees at the ALA/CLA Annual Conference in reading and discussing Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale."

Do We Make a Difference? Evaluation of Public Library Services to Preschool Children
The PLA-ALSC Preschool Initiative and the Johns Hopkins-conducted research for Maryland public library children's services will be highlighted. This program will report on the results observed in these two programs and will provide recommendations for future implementation and evaluation.

Speakers: Stephanie Shauck, Virginia Walter
Tentative Schedule: Monday, June 23, 2003, 1:30-3:30pm

They Never Tell Me Anything!
Communication is a two-way street. Staff needs information from administration and vice-versa. This program will focus on effective communication skills, especially electronic communication. Producing library newsletters that will get read will also be included. If we communicate clearly, no one should have to hear "They never tell me anything!" again.

Speaker: Maureen Sullivan
Tentative Schedule: Monday, June 23, 2003, 8:30-10:00am

Teaching for Lively Learning: Putting Active Learning into Classes
Do the words "bibliographic instruction" cause people's eyes to glaze over? Learner-based education is the best way to demystify the library for adults. Hear from libraries that have popular classes on ways to get the learners involved.

Speakers: Kathleen Degyansky, others TBD
Tentative Schedule: Saturday, June 21, 2003, 8:30am-Noon

Hot Topics Talk Tables
Roundtable discussions of topics of current interest to public librarians facilitated by members of the Emerging Issues Discussion Group.

Tentative Schedule: Sunday, June 22, 2003, 1:30-3:30pm

Détente: Peace Between Public Service and IT Staff is Possible!
With the heavy dependence of public library services on technology, libraries have new challenges in the area of interpersonal relationships between staff areas. The Information Technology vs. Public Service Staff rivalry of this century overshadows the Central Library vs. Branch Library and Public Service vs. Support Service "wars" of the last century. This program will feature two library models that demonstrate it is possible to have peace in our time.

Speakers: Barbara Clubb, Greg Geddes, Mimi Morris, Barbara Kuhns
Tentative Schedule: Sunday, June 22, 2003, 1:30-3:30pm

The Librarian as Personal Information Shopper: New Ways of Looking at Service Delivery
In a day of easy Internet access from homes, the librarian must promote the library by providing high quality personal service-selling trust and excellence of information services. S/he must become proactive and seek ways of serving the community. E.g., setting up appointments to do in-depth health searching. The program offers a look at new models of service and how to measure your results.

Speakers: Maxine Bleiweis, Jerry Thrasher, Rivka Sass
Tentative Schedule: Monday, June 23, 2003, 1:30-3:30pm

The Numbers that Count
Drowning in data, yet still lacking the right numbers to make your point effectively? This program features veteran number crunchers who will provide practical suggestions for creative ways to use statistics you have already to make sound management decisions for your library. The speakers will share examples, studies, and case histories that use statistics effectively.

Speakers: Maribah Mansfield, Steve Wood, Susan Paznekas
Tentative Schedule: Saturday, June 21, 2003, 10:30am-Noon

Good Times, Bad Times: Strategies for Managing Your Collection Budget
Collection Managers know that materials budgets, costs, and public demand are difficult to predict and changeable. Yet their work is driven by these factors. A panel of specialists will discuss strategies and tools for using resource sharing and collective clout to manage materials budgets, small or big, and how to make budget and collection issues understandable within and without the library.

Speakers: Elissa Miller, Laura Lent, Marsha Spyros, others TBD
Tentative Schedule: Saturday, June 21, 2003, 8:30am-Noon

Policy Matters: A Guide to Writing Effective Public Library Policies
Why should busy public library managers spend valuable time writing policies? Isn't it enough to tell staff what the rules are? In a word-No! Written library policies are essential for effective library operations. This program introduces you to the tools you need to review, revise, and update your policies.

Speakers: Sandra Nelson, June Garcia
Tentative Schedule: Saturday, June 21, 2003, 1:30-3:30pm

Reading Education Assistance Dogs (R.E.A.D.): A Pawsitive Reading Experience in the Library
Intermountain Therapy Animals and the Salt Lake City Public Library system founded a unique literacy program pairing kids, therapy dogs, and books to improve kids' reading skills. Launched in late 1999, the Dog Day Afternoons program at the City Library has become the model for creating similar programs in libraries across the country.

Speakers: Sandi Martin, Kathy NcNulty, Dana Tumpowsky, Dogs TBD
Tentative Schedule: Saturday, June 21, 2003, 8:30-10:00am

Compensation: Trends in Public Libraries
Compensation systems haven't changed in many years, yet the workforce is entirely different. A high degree of emphasis is placed on accountability, high performance and rewarding employees in accordance with their contribution. This program will provide an overview of trends in reward systems as well as recruitment and retention, and provide ideas that can be implemented in your library.

Speakers: Jeanne Goodrich, Paula Singer
Tentative Schedule: Sunday, June 22, 2003, 4:00-5:30pm

Challenges and Opportunities: The Leadership Role of Public Libraries in Helping Young People Develop Digital and Information Literacy Skills
This session will feature the Web Awareness program developed by Canada's Media Awareness Network and adapted for use in public libraries in the U.S. by New York's Ramapo Catskill Library System. Based on extensive research findings, the presentation will take participants through a range of kids' favorite online environments, and present education strategies to address the challenges that young people face when they go online.

Speakers: Robert Hubsher, Gwynneth Evans, Jan D'Arcy
Tentative Schedule: Saturday, June 21, 2003, 8:30am-Noon

Homework Help for Children and Youth: Strategies for Successful Library Involvement
Learn from experts who have developed and successfully applied Homework Help methodologies. A broad spectrum of tradition, online and virtual reference services will be presented: peer mentoring, use of volunteers, hiring teachers and online tutoring (Tutor.com, HomeworkNow). Panel includes Cindy Mediavilla, author of Creating the Full-Service Homework Center in Your Library.

Speakers: Robert Carterette, Jr., George Cigale, Elizabeth Glass, Lucrece Louisdhon-Louinis, Cindy Mediavilla, Melinda Munger, Katherine Palmer
Tentative Schedule: Monday, June 23, 2003, 8:30am-Noon

Providing Effective Library Services to Homeless People
This program will present the design and development of an educational workshop for all levels of public service staff who provide library services in neighborhoods with homeless populations. Components of a workshop hosted in Toronto in 2002 will be presented, with opportunities for discussion included.

Speakers: Jenny Schnoll, Clive Jones, Ilka Abbott, Susan Shephard, Pat Bull
Tentative Schedule: Monday, June 23, 2003, 8:30am-Noon

AV 101
This program is intended to be a mini training session for new AV librarians. It will also be advantageous for librarians who are required to do multi media collection development in various media. Since AV format change frequently there is a lot of information required to be knowledgeable in all of the popular formats. Experienced AV librarians will cover such topics as audiobooks, video/DVD, CDROMs, music CDs, sheet music, etc.

Speakers: Mark Sober, Judy Napier, others TBD
Tentative Schedule: Saturday, June 21, 2003, 1:30-3:30pm

How We Survived: Coping Strategies for Rural Libraries
Many libraries across the U.S. and Canada are experiencing their worst budget crises in decades. Library representatives from both sides of the border will share strategies they used to successfully cope with drastically reduced funds from government sources.

Speakers: Rowena Lunn, Donna Jones Morris, Sandra Cooper, Eric Hansen
Tentative Schedule: Saturday, June 21, 2003, 4:00-5:30pm

Emerging Immigrant Communities: The Public Library Responds
Canada and the United States both have emerging immigrant communities. Learn how to identify these groups within your community, how to provide effective outreach services and how to create successful community partnerships.

Speakers: Chryss Mylopoulos, Adriana Tandler, A. Issac Pulver
Tentative Schedule: Sunday, June 22, 2003, 1:30-3:30pm

Spotlight on Canadian Authors and Books
This program will feature several notable Canadian authors talking about Canadian books and writing today, and on being a Canadian author. Canada's literacy reputation is at an all time high level of international recognition. Find out why!

Speakers: TBD
Tentative Schedule: Saturday, June 21, 2003, 1:30-3:30pm

Don't Drop the Baton: Workforce Planning and Passing on Responsibility in Your Library
Libraries are facing an unprecedented number of retirements in the coming years while staffing patterns have changed significantly. Leadership identification and development is an essential part of planning for the future. This program will provide attendees with an introduction to the concepts of workforce succession planning and basic tools to begin this essential planning.

Speakers: Paula Singer, Jeanne Goodrich, Ernie Ingles
Tentative Schedule: Sunday, June 22, 2003, 1:30-3:30pm

Intellectual Freedom on Both Sides of the Border
This program will explore the difference between the U.S. and Canada's approach to intellectual freedom: the U.S. Bill of Rights vs. the Canadian Chartre. The Canadian and U.S. experiences will be compared and contrasted.

Speakers: TBD
Tentative Schedule: Saturday, June 21, 2003, 4:00-5:30pm

Intellectual Freedom is for Librarians Too: Freedom of Speech in the Workplace
Library employee freedom of expression on professional and policy issues will be explored through this jointly sponsored program (CLA & PLA). Do libraries have a special responsibility to protect intellectual freedom and freedom of expression by tolerating employee expression more than other professions? A panel of speakers from the U.S. and Canada will discuss this issue.

Speakers: Stephen Carney, Mark Rosenzweig, Toni Samek, Scottie Wallace, Other TBD
Tentative Schedule: Monday, June 23, 2003, 10:30am-Noon

Alphabet Soup: RFPs, RFIs & RFQs
Staff from small and medium sized public libraries will learn when and how to use "Request for Proposal," "Request for Information," and "Request for Qualifications." Two experts representing library and vendor viewpoints will define terms, suggest strategies and review the process to a successful outcome.

Speakers: Lana Porter, John Cohn, Ann Kelsey
Tentative Schedule: Saturday, June 21, 2003, 8:30-10:00am

Suffering Innovation: Staffing Implications of Changing Technologies
This program will explore implementation of new library technologies and how they affect staff and their delivery of service. Topics include: how technologies alter staff procedures and processes, new competencies required of staff, and redeployment of staff to maximize the benefits of new technologies. Speakers will also address the implications involved.

Speakers: Glen Holt, Cate McNeely, Jeanne Goodrich
Tentative Schedule: Monday, June 23, 2003, 1:30-3:30pm

The Best of the Best from the University Presses: Books You Should Know About (New)
The 30-35 titles presented by PLA and AASL librarians will represent those featured in the 2003 University Press Books Selected for Public and Secondary School Libraries, an annual collection development bibliography produced by the AAUP in coordination with the University Press Books Committee of ALA.

Speakers: Rex Miller, Rachel Weiss, Others TBD
Tentative Schedule: Saturday, June 21, 2003, 1:30-3:30pm