PLA Electronic Newsletter, Vol. 5 no. 4

In this issue:

MORE THAN 7,000 ATTEND PHOENIX CONFERENCE CONFERENCE EVALUATION ONLINE
CONFERENCE HANDOUTS ONLINE
PLA STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
TUNE IN TO www.pla.org ON APRIL 1
PLA TO HOLD PLANNING FOR RESULTS WORKSHOP
BENTON FOUNDATION: DIGITAL DIVIDE FUNDING CUTBACKS

MORE THAN 7,000 ATTEND PHOENIX CONFERENCE

More than 7,000 people attended PLA 2002, the Ninth National Conference of the Public Library Association, held March 12-16 in Phoenix, Arizona. "Enthusiasm, excitement and a sense of friendly solidarity abounded at the convention center as public librarians packed into meeting rooms, eager to learn more about their profession and to help prepare their libraries for the future," said Toni Garvey, PLA president. "Comments from participants ranged from `inspiring, rewarding and rejuvenating' to `the best conference I've ever attended'."

The conference began with tours of Phoenix and environs as well as preconferences on marketing research, readers' advisory, weeding practices, library building, storytelling, young adult services, library websites, and public relations for libraries. From there, conference-goers created schedules tailored to their specific information needs from more than 110 programs. Program tracks helped attendees focus their learning experience in one of eleven areas: library buildings, collection management, community connections, customer service, running the library, serving adults, serving children, serving teens, staff development, targeted service, or technology trends.

PLA 2002 also featured a number of author events, Talk Tables, and a postconference program on public library leadership. In addition, more than 650 booths filled the busy exhibits hall, where PLA attendees discussed new products and services with the vendors. A number of special events were held in conjunction with the exhibits, including author signings, coffee breaks and exhibits opening and closing receptions.

Keynote speakers for the conference included acclaimed motivational speaker and conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Benjamin Zander, at the Opening Session and famed journalist Helen Thomas at the Closing Session. Authors Nancy Kress, Diana Gabaldon, Francisco X. Alarcon, Juan Williams, and M.E. Kerr were featured at the author lunches held during the conference. A new event this year, "The Sizzlin' Southwestern Supper," held on Thursday night featured four speakers: George Guidall, Richard Ben Cramer, Ron Powers, and Nora Roberts.

Other exciting innovations at this year's conference include the mobile conference guide and the webcasts of two programs. The mobile conference guide was available for attendees to download to their Palm or other personal digital assistants (PDA) from beam stations located throughout the convention center or from PLA's website. Two programs were videotaped during conference, the webcast will be available on our website (www.pla.org) by April 1, 2002.

PLA's Tenth National Conference and Sixtieth Anniversary Celebration, "PLA 2004," will be held February 24-28, 2004, in Seattle, Washington. Check out our web page for 10th National Conference updates (www.pla.org), and for program proposal information.

CONFERENCE EVALUATION ONLINE

An evaluation of the 10th National PLA National Conference is being conducted online. The online survey is accessible from the PLA web page at www.pla.org. The survey will continue to be accessible through March 31. We very much value your opinions and suggestions and will use your comments for planning future conferences.

CONFERENCE HANDOUTS ONLINE

Many of our national conference program presenters have agreed to allow PLA to post their handouts on our web page. Check www.pla.org to see if the handouts for the program you are interested in are available on our website. If the handouts are not available, it is likely because we do not have permission to publish from the handout's author. Alternatively, some handouts are still coming in to our office, so check back to see if they are posted later.

PLA STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS

Tell Us What You Think! Check out the draft PLA Strategic Plan at www.pla.org. We'd like as much input as possible from you, our members. So, please take a look and let us know what you think. You may post your comments directly to the form on the PLA web page.

TUNE IN TO www.pla.org ON APRIL 1

Thanks to funding from ALA President John W. Berry's "President's Task Force on Electronic Participation" and assistance from Task Force chair Ken Dowlin, PLA will webcast two programs from its recent National Conference. The programs were videotaped live and will be made available on the PLA website by April 1, 2002. PLA would like to thank President Berry for this contribution and Ken Dowlin for his work on the project. Be sure and tune in! The programs to be webcast include:

Is YOUR Library Safe?
No one likes to think about it, but any institution may be faced with it--the prospect of violent or other criminal acts unfolding in our libraries. This program presents a professional, safe, and cost-effective approach to prevention, preparation, and response. The program leader will discuss and demonstrate proper methods of defusing potentially violent situations, identifying potential troublemakers, protecting patrons and staff members, improving employee awareness and responding to emergencies.

Preparing your Library for Disaster
A topical, nationally acclaimed program discussing recommended methods to reduce injury, loss of life and loss of collections. A leader in emergency preparedness walks attendees through step-by-step procedures for assuring that necessary arrangements are in place to prepare any library for dealing with emergency evacuations, transportation, and protection of assets, working with emergency response agencies, and more. This is a "how-to" session dealing with real scenarios and life-safety issues. Attendees will also learn the results of a survey on library security issues conducted after September 11 by the Lib. Research Center of the U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

PLA TO HOLD PLANNING FOR RESULTS WORKSHOP

PLA will hold a workshop entitled "Planning For Results: Transform Your Library for the 21st Century," on April 23, 2002, at the Public Library of Nashville and Davidson County, in Nashville, Tennessee. The one-day workshop will introduce public library staff members to "The New Planning for Results: A Streamlined Approach." The "New Planning For Results" is the fourth in a series of PLA books dedicated to helping public librarians develop strategic plans for their libraries. Workshop leader Sandra Nelson is a consultant specializing in public library planning and management issues. She is co-author of "Wired for the Future: Developing Your Library Technology Plan" (ALA, 1999) and "Managing For Results: Effective Resource Allocation for Public Libraries (ALA, 2000) and recently completed "The New Planning For Results: A Streamlined Approach" (ALA, 2001). PLA has reserved a block of sleeping rooms at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel (800-327-6618). The registration form for this workshop is available by emailing the PLA office at pla@ala.org or calling 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5PLA.

BENTON FOUNDATION POLICY BRIEF SERIES TO EXPLORE CONSEQUENCES OF DIGITAL DIVIDE FUNDING CUTBACKS

Nonpartisan analysis to assist decision-makers in weighing value of existing federal programs

Download the first brief:

http://www.benton.org/policybriefs/brief01.pdf (requires Adobe Acrobat)
http://www.benton.org/policybriefs/brief01.html (low-bandwidth HTML version)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Benton Foundation issued the first in a series of policy briefs today that will explore the importance of continued investment in federal digital divide programs.

With the federal government at a crossroads in its commitment to dedicated funding to close the digital divide, policymakers need quality, fact-based information to inform their decision-making. "There is no shortage of strong opinions on the importance of digital divide policymaking," declared Tony Wilhelm, the foundation's senior director. "To steer clear of the hype and the gloom, the Benton Foundation is filling a critical niche, providing knowledge-based analysis to separate myth from reality."

The first policy brief, "Federal Retrenchment on the Digital Divide: Potential National Impact," is authored by Benton senior associate Norris Dickard. This article provides an overview of the major arguments decision-makers confront in assessing the benefits of existing national digital divide programs. Our findings, based on our analysis of survey research and existing studies reveal the following:

The digital divide is wider than ever.
Community technology investments are paying off.
Federal block grants are insufficient-direct, targeted funding for community technology is essential to maintain national digital divide leadership.
Effective social use of rapidly emerging technologies requires continual demonstration, particularly in underserved communities.

Upcoming policy briefs will provide deeper analysis of the key issues in the debate:

Analyzing when and why government intervention is most appropriate to ensure that everyone has equal access to information and communications technologies.
Understanding why other government programs, including state block grants, are not sufficient to create a national network of community technology and training facilities.
Forecasting next-generation technologies and the merits of ongoing national demonstration projects.

Since 1981, the Benton Foundation has worked to realize the social benefits made possible by the public interest use of communications. Through its projects, the nonpartisan organization seeks to shape the emerging communications environment in the public interest. The Benton Foundation is located in Washington DC.