ALA Midwinter

I don't get many chances to go to national conferences. ALA conferences are usually held at the end of the college's fiscal year (late June). Summertime is a busy time for me at the library because I get a chance to accomplish some housekeeping duties I don't get a chance to do during the fall and spring semesters.

In addition to their regular convention (which will still be in New Orleans in June 2006), ALA also has a Midwinter meeting-- chiefly business, which is good. I like events that are more businesslike. I will get to go to the Midwinter conference.

It'll the first time I'll be at an American Library Association event in over eight years. I was at the ALA conference in San Francisco in '97. I spent about 95 percent of my time over there interviewing for jobs. It was helpful in the sense that I'd made contacts and was a finalist at academic and public libraries throughout the US. My first professional gig though was at a public library near where I lived.

Midwinter is in San Antonio. It's supposed to be a nice city. I've not been there before. I'm not counting the time I was with my family when we drove back from El Paso to Mississippi after the '74 Sun Bowl. We drove over there on I-20 (the Northern route) and returned via I-10 through San Antonio and Houston.

Unfortunately, I have the feeling that it won't be enjoyable. Although I am a member of ALA, I've not really had the feeling that I belong. The communications I receive from them have tended to be (at least that's my impression) from people who are running for one organizational office or another. And the first email I get from ALA after renewing my membership is a test email for electronic voting for officers. Sigh.

I try to keep up a little with the issues discussed by those more involved in the association than I am. Sometimes I wonder why it's an issue. Other issues such as the Patriot Act are most definitely issues. I guess what I'm trying to communicate here is that I'm more concerned about the practicalities of the profession. What can we do to improve ourselves-- to serve people and communities more effectively?

My emphasis on practicalities is something that I try to exercise with consistency. I don't particularly care about theory. I've always been a results-oriented guy. Theory is okay (I've heard it often enough when I was a grad student), but librarianship is essentially a practical profession.

Because it's practical, I'd rather attend conferences and sessions on practical matters and issues affecting librarians and libraries. MLA conferences are often very practical. I'm involved in the state and local levels-- having served as chair of a couple state committees and two other organizational round tables-- not to mention chairing a local group's scholarship committee.

I would like to attend a national NASIG conference in the future. I've been to a couple of regional NASIG meetings. I've found them to be very educational. Unfortunately, national meetings are held at roughly the same time as ALA conferences and I know there's no way I'd be able to attend them. It's too bad because they'd be useful. And I don't know if I can say the same for ALA events.

I hope my concerns about Midwinter are wrong. I hope it's enjoyable. I hope it's practical. I hope it's informative. I especially hope that I don't get pestered beyond the breaking point by people running for office. (I've already resigned myself to the fact that people will ask me to vote for them. I just hope they're reasonable.)

We'll see. I'll keep you informed (and it'll be easier if I get a hotel with internet access). Currently there's a long waiting list and the ALA travel agency folks are working to get other hotel rooms available. I should hear something in about a week or so.