Tuesday, March 31, 2009

027.8 TLA Week in Texas: LibrarySpeak 24/7


It's time for the annual conference for all the librarians in Texas to come together to learn, collaborate, and...yes, even play! Three and a half days of action packed sessions with experts on all levels about all kinds of things! Books, authors, reading incentives, everything technology-wise you can think of and everything in between that makes a library a library and THE place to be today...no matter its location or type!


Even though the event is in my hometown, I still moved downtown for the week. Why you ask? Have YOU ever driven to downtown Houston on a week day for an 8:00 a.m. anything? But more importantly, conference time has become an important time to catch up with friends and colleagues from across the state and to have lots of time and opportunities for some good old-fashioned visiting along with new fangled collaboration!


Just in my first day, I have caught up with about ten members of my Tall Texan class, had two in-depth conversations about the 2.0 library world and how to help technology and district leadership understand the importance of "open" resources, reviewed 23 Things staff development with some folks contemplating doing it in their community, and finalized details for an adminstrators' conference on the value of libraries to their schools' success! The FIRST DAY!


Made it to one formal session where two school leaders from Mesquite and Spring Branch discussed the 23 Things program in detail...and got to meet f2f some players from last summer's adventure. Lots of us got to share how we all are incorporating the 2.0 tools into our teaching and learning as we visited after the program. So much enthusiasm and excitement in the air!


I think that is one reason I enjoy conference so much. For one week at least, all things are possible...roadblocks disappear, be they the people or financial type...new ideas emerge and old ones get refreshed. All books are new and full of promise. And the day ended with the best hot-fudge sundae (complete with brownie pieces AND cherries) high up in a hotel where the view of the city lights and the lingering clouds made for a magnificent close to a very good day indeed!


Stick around this week...I have made a promise to myself to try and blog about some parts of the conference that come my way!

3 comments:

lpickup said...

First, thank you for checking out my blog. I sent you a copy of our grant application. It is done.
Second, enjoy your conference. I also think it is wise to stay especially in Houston. It really helps you get the whole conference experience and see other parts of Houston.
I hope you learn lots.

Unknown said...

I am glad you are having a good time - you deserve it! It's interesting that our reactions to conferences are polar opposites.
I went to exhibits after presenting (which I really enjoyed),walked them and left after 2 hours. It reaffirmed that I really don't play well with others! :-)

Mamalibearian said...

I love the conference for all the reasons you listed! Sometimes being the only one on campus who speaks "library" is tough and this in the one week we can be with others just like us! I wouldn't miss it! I already have my reservations for next year!