Changes

I changed the name of my blog.  I had been emphasizing all of the things that I wasn't, and I had it as a theme for a long time.  As it turns out, that was stupid.  I know who I am; I like who I am; and I also ran across a really great library quote by Herbert Samuel (even if he WAS a Brit).

Here we have it: Thoughts in Cold Storage.  I thought it was appropriate because this is where some of my thoughts will be preserved.  Also, if I don't post for a while (like I did previously), my blog will go cold for a while so there's that?  Hope you enjoy.

Here's Pete the Cat:

Toodles...

Conference Season, Part 3 or “You’re From Missouri?!”

I pulled into Topeka.  First thing I noticed?

You can ask me...what does the fox say at conference? #klc2013
— Erin Downey Howerton (@hybridlib) October 9, 2013

 Well, this was going to be an adventure; I could already tell.  That first day was a blur:  hashtag confusion, neglecting to live-tweet a session, my first Thai food (DELICIOUS IN MY FACE), and getting to watch the Cardinals at the Blind Tiger brewery before I nearly fell asleep.  It was a long day, apparently.  Day 1 over.  Crash.

I woke in the morning, as one does, and caught the keynote address by Jeff Kober, Customer Service guru of Disney.  Yeah, he talked about customer service; there was a lot to say.  However, the most impactful part of his address was how the library changed his life.  When he was in school, he went to the library and gravitated toward a National Geographic issue that had a 26-page report on Walt Disney/Disneyworld.  He would go and read it, and put it back.  He’d come back the next day and do the same.  One day, after probably memorizing the entire article, he approached the librarian.  He said that he really REALLY liked the magazine and asked if he could have it.  The librarian obviously said yes.  How did that change his life?  Well, just then he pulled out that exact issue on stage.  With tears in his eyes, he explained that librarians change lives in ways that we don’t even know.  At the beginning of the second day of my third conference, I realized that my library journey had come full circle.  Damn.  Also, 3 keynotes in as many conferences bringing my average up to .600.

The next activity that got me excited?  A session on comics followed by Battledecks, KLA style.  On the flatter side of the border, Battledecks was done as a breakout session.  Guess who was a contestant?  That’s right…

Time for @hybridlib to go for #battledecks! #klc2013
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 10, 2013

She didn’t win 1st, but she did win a giant flamingo subsequently named Floyd which might actually be (no, it IS) better.  The next stop was lunch.  Jo Budler, library rock star and Kansas State Librarian gave a great address on the state of Kansas libraries while we devoured lasagna.  My lunch buddies included twins, Floyd the Flamingo (and Erin of course), a free book, a South Dakotan, and MORE library swag.  Throughout the entire day, I kept hearing “you’re from Missouri?” like it was an extreme curiosity that I was there.  I guess it was; I was the only Missouri librarian there.  They didn’t seem to mind, though.  They commented on the Juvenile Series/Sequels database which MCPL has, and I thanked them and commented on… how flat Kansas is? In my defense, Kansans commented on that fact, too.  It IS a fact.

I went to the SLIM reception that night.  I won’t elaborate on that here.  Maybe I’ll wait until February.

After that, we toured the State Capital, including the State Library.  Wow.  The restorations/renovations to the entire building were amazing.  So many things kept being more awesome than the previous awesome things!

When we got back to the hotel, I had a couple of drinks, spent the night talking about different things with a new friend, then crashed.  Day 2, over.


Day 3 – learned some crazy ideas to try for NaNoWriMo, then listened to Jack Gantos talk about his pets’ incredible deaths.  An alligator, a car, digging their own grave?  Dang…  He still uses small journals to write his books and has written about 30 books while in a library.  I’m telling you, Jack Gantos is a riot and a magnificent storyteller.

Seeing Jack Gantos at KLA! Great outfit BTW. pic.twitter.com/kRbF4qW8LE
— Lawrence Public Lib (@lawrencelibrary) October 11, 2013

Apparently, I sat next to Lawrence Public Library, too.  That’s my watch and phone.  Oh, and Corduroy?

Corduroy: "Everything sends him into a decline" #truth #klc2013
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 11, 2013

Some other things happened, but they were mostly KLA business things, so I headed to Lawrence and started reading Locke & Key at the library.  I’m such a library fangirl.

I don’t want to think about how many emails I have when I get back to work...

Conference Season, Part 2 or “Why Do Roads Going North Take You South???”

After a brief rest in St. Louis, I began my journey to Hot Springs, Arkansas by way of Memphis.  Yes, by way of Memphis.  I wasn’t going to try to take a two-lane highway down through the Ozarks; I’m not THAT crazy.  Since I was going near Memphis, I thought that I would grab some BBQ.  Well, that didn’t work out so well.  I was probably a bit out of it because I couldn’t find a BBQ place that was open on a Sunday.  So, I ended up eating in… a very small town in Arkansas.  The names have been removed to protect the innocent.  This town… This town looked liked a methocracy used for shuttling migrant workers through the flyover states.  Wow, I’m going to hell for that.  There were very few teeth there, and a lot of people (NOT NECESSARILY MEXICANS) who piled into trucks dressed as farmers/laborers.  Anyway… enough justification.  I got back on the highway only to find roadwork.  I had to take a long detour through the country which was pretty nice.  It set me back about an hour and a half, but it was nice.

I arrived at the hotel in Hot Springs after driving through some truly beautiful landscapes, and headed over to scope out the convention center.  Good grief; it was at least a half-mile walk to the rooms.  After burning about 20,000 calories, I headed out to meet some conference goers at a bath house turned brewery.  While there, I met Lowell, who might just know more about history than I do.  Trivia: did you know that Hot Springs was the first location of baseball’s Spring Training?  Also, Hot Springs was where all the gangsters hung out.  Al Capone and all of those guys came down to Hot Springs and relaxed.  It was neutral ground because, well, THEY’RE HOT SPRINGS.

Back to the conference.  We presented at 11am and had about 40 attendees!  A couple of ladies were far too nice and said that it was the best training session they had been to.  I doubt that, but thank you kindly.  Jennifer and I ended up sitting with them over lunch and the gentle sounds of Ozark music.  After lunch, I went to a couple of sessions, and I made it a point to sit in on Pam Sandlian-Smith’s keynote.  She is the director of Anythink Libraries (Adams County, Colorado).  During her time there, they have completely rebranded and become a vastly different system.  They strive on infusing creativity in everything.  90% of kindergartners self-identify as being creative, but only 2% of high-schoolers do.  Anythink embraces and encourages creativity.

"The library's role is the interaction between content an people." #ArLA2013
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 7, 2013

We ARE that place. We ARE that connector. We ARE the #thirdplace. #ArLA2013
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 7, 2013

It's our job to change everyone's perception of #libraries. #ArLA2013
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 7, 2013

I could go on and on about her, but I think that those words can convey a brilliant message to the masses.  These are the kinds of things that keep me passionate about libraries.  Oh, and if you’re keeping score, that’s 2 keynotes after not having gone to one previously.

Farewell, ArLA.

I slipped out of ArLA shortly thereafter and headed up to Topeka, by way of Springfield.  You know how odd-numbered highways go north and south?  Well, US Highway 65 definitely goes north AND south.  I was trying to get to Springfield, and the road kept leading me south… stupid Ozark mountains.  To end on a brighter note, I followed a log truck most of the way, and I kept imagining the Final Destination scenario where the log dislodges and flies through the windshield.  Happy thoughts!

On to Topeka for another great adventure in libraryland, the Kansas Library Conference!

Conference Season, Part 1 or "Hey, I'm a Fangirl"

I haven't posted anything for almost 6 months.  It's not that I don't care; I just haven't had time.  Somehow, I can tweet multiple times a day but can't put together enough cohesive thoughts to form a full blog.  I have time and cohesiveness now.  Prepare.

It's the most wonderful time of the year: Conference Season.  I love working in libraries, but this is my time of year.  At conferences, you can learn new things.  You can meet new people.  You can see new places.  For me, this is the time of year where I get inspired.  In fact, projects that I have started at MCPL can be attributed, at least in part, to the wealth of ideas that were shared at previous conferences.

This year was different.  Yes, I went for the ideas and networking, but I was also supposed to start getting a feel for how the conference happens.  Since I'm coordinating (along with the fabulous Kelly from Kansas) the 2015 joint conference of KLA & MLA, I had to start getting things together.  So, my first stop was MLA.

Tuesday:  I was invited to the annual Board dinner before the conference.  I arrived and saw many people whom I recognized, and even helped a colleague crash the invite-only dinner!  In my/his defense, there was food that was going to go to waste, and we can't have that.  Well, he crashed and Barbara Stripling, ALA President, ended up sitting next to him.  After the dinner, we moved over to the students' reception WITH DESSERT.  While there, Barbara and I talked for what must have been an hour!  If you haven't met her or read anything about her, you should.  She's an awesome, AWESOME lady and I am proud that she is at the head of such a wonderful organization.  I think I'm a fangirl.

Uh... I just met and talked with the president of ALA, Barbara Stripling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 2, 2013

#molib2013 Dessert Social for ALA President Barbara Stripling and LIS students pic.twitter.com/Ty7ssPxwFU
— cnpryor01 (@cnpryor01) October 2, 2013

Also, I kept trying to look beautiful for the photographer, but I must have let down my guard for that pic.  However, there lies the PROOF.

Wednesday: HUMP DAYYYYYYYY!
Wednesday was fairly uneventful (as uneventful as it could have been).  I went to a nice presentation on Outreach to the Blind, and was sure to catch the Keynote address BY BARBARA STRIPLING.  This was my 3rd MLA Conference, but only my first Keynote.  Barbara spoke about her/ALA's initiative, "Declaring Our Right to Libraries."  It's pretty powerful stuff.  Libraries change lives, enrich communities, and are a necessity in the world.  Read more about it here.  That night I participated in Battledecks, a PowerPoint Karaoke of sorts involving random slides and contestants trying to bring them together in a cohesive theme.  I didn't place, but I got to enjoy a lot of Cardinals gifs and dance on a stage, which is ALWAYS a good night.

Oh, and St. Louis Public Library's newly renovated Central Branch is AMAZING.  Like Gerald Brooks said, "It's amazing what $55 million can do."

Thursday:  Thursday is when everything happened.  I presented for the first time, along with Jennifer on Making the Transition from Trainee to Trainer.  Then, after learning about integrating science into preschool events and librarian trading cards, we headed up to the room and changed into our Cardinals' attire for the annual business meeting.  Life Pro Tip: Don't yawn while sitting near the front of the meeting AND within direct line of sight of the President; they'll call you out on it.

After that, it was time to eat.  We shot up to the 12th floor to eat at Kobe, and we were easily the loudest people there.  Hibachi takes time, and we didn't make it back quite soon enough for me to see all of the awards given out.  However, I was coerced to sit at a table (instead of in back) for the awards.  I just wanted to sneak in, watch, and sneak out.  Well, as I'm getting up to leave, Candice wants me to come with her to check on everyone.  Next thing I know, I'm being introduced to State Senators in my Cardinals shirt, shorts, and boat shoes.  I was told later that they won't remember the way anyone was dressed.  FALSE; they will definitely remember the DUDE that came in to a formal dinner with a t-shirt and shorts on.

Then there were random people coming up to meet me.
Then there was the dance party, and photo booth.
Then there was the hotel bar and a night spent with Gentleman Jack.
Then the cops came to break up the loud librarians at 1:30 in the morning.
Then there were the free drink glasses.
Then I died temporarily until 8:30 this morning when I ate breakfast by myself.  It was nice to have a little bit of down time.  I felt like I was constantly talking with people (I probably was).

Friday:  After that breakfast, I stopped in on the final "Web/Tech Tools that Make You Look Cool" by the magnificent Cindy Dudenhoffer, and then proceeded to catch the end of the Performers' Showcase.

Can I live at conference forever? #molib2013
— Dan (@kasmsod) October 4, 2013

2015 is going to be amazing, guys.  Stay tuned.  For me, it's on to Hot Springs, Arkansas for a second helping of our presentation.