PLA is offering both individual and group registrations for the Virtual Conference. The group rate allows a single location to host the virtual conference for multiple attendees. Cost is determined by number of attendees. Individuals who register to attend PLA 2010 in Portland will automatically receive access to the Virtual Conference as part of their registration. Register for the PLA 2010 Virtual Conference at here. Registration closes on Friday March 19, 2010.
Offered biennially, PLA National Conference is the premier event for public libraries, drawing librarians, library support staff, trustees, friends and library vendors from across the country and around the world. The conference includes nearly 200 top-quality continuing education programs, preconferences, talk tables, several social events, networking opportunities, and a bustling exhibits hall. PLA 2010 will be held March 23-27, 2010 in Portland, Ore. For more information, visit www.placonference.org.
Share Your Library’s Successes and Challenges
PLA is seeking interested parties to submit virtual poster sessions as part of the upcoming PLA Virtual Conference. The topic of your poster session can be your choosing, but must be related to public librarianship. Virtual posters can be submitted as Web pages, PowerPoint presentations, or other formats which can be ‘mounted’ on the Web. Accepted posters will be mounted on the PLA Virtual Conference website prior to the event (the PLA Virtual Conference will be held on March 25 and March 26 during the PLA 2010 National Conference). Presenters are welcome to participate in online discussions about their posters via the Virtual Conference.
To apply, please send an email to Kathleen Hughes () detailing your idea. Please include the following:
Primary Contact Name, Phone Number, Email Address, Job Title and Institution, Name of Additional Contributors, Title of Proposed Virtual Poster Session, Brief Abstract (150-200 words) describing your poster session, Format of Virtual Poster (e.g., doc, html, pdf) and if any special files/software/effects will be incorporated. We have the ability to do voice-over narration, so if you would like to take advantage of that, just include it in your proposal. Proposals are due by March 8 at 4:00 p.m. Selected proposal will be notified by March 12, 2010.
Floundering at the desk when someone asks you for a book or author you haven’t read? Would you like a ‘go-to’ list for books/authors you may not be familiar with? During this PLA 2010 program, a panel of Readers’ Advisory experts will showcase five top genres (Women’s Fiction, Humor, Horror, SF/Fantasy, and Mystery) and what every librarian should be familiar with about the genre, including the top five authors, books, up-and-comers, and trends. This program will be held during the upcoming PLA National Conference, in Portland, Oregon and also will be featured as part of the PLA Virtual Conference.
The PLA Virtual Conference is a great way to participate in and enjoy conference, even if you can’t be there in person. The Virtual Conference will consist of live programming on Thursday, March 25 and Friday, March 26 and will include five hour-long, live programs on each day. Programs are chosen from among the highest rated in PLA’s session preference survey. Each day also will include a lunchtime author interview and a closing session ‘happy hour’ event for attendees to get together and discuss the day’s programming. Get more information here.
PLA is looking for lots of enthusiastic bloggers to fan out and cover all of the important details of the PLA 2010 conference.
We’re planning to deliver detailed coverage of PLA 2010 programs, social events, exhibits, interviews, and maybe even a few podcasts.
If you will be at the conference and want to blog sessions or other live events, write to or and we’ll give you all the details.
Don’t miss an opportunity to strengthen your leadership skills to benefit your career and library community! The PLA Leadership Fellows Program offers full tuition scholarships for four executive leadership training programs at prestigious universities in the United States. The program provides a unique learning opportunity for public library managers who want to broaden their perspectives, improve their leadership skills, drive change in their institutions, and plan with a strategic vision.
The following Programs are available: APPLY BY MARCH 1, 2010!
Leading Organizational Change
University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School
Senior Executives in State and Local Government
Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government
APPLY BY APRIL 1, 2010!
Positive Leadership: Building Extraordinary Leadership Capabilities
University of Michigan, Ross School of Business
Executive Management Program
University of Washington, Evans School of Public Affairs
Candidates must be PLA members who are management staff in a public library system and have five years of experience in a leadership role.
Two author interviews are scheduled to take place live during the 2010 PLA Virtual Conference. The PLA Virtual Conference will take place on Thursday, March 25, and Friday, March 26, during the PLA 2010 National Conference in Portland, Oregon.
Thursday’s Author Interview (11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. (PDT) will feature Mary Roach, author of the New York Times bestsellers “Stiff,” “Spook,” “Bonk,” and the forthcoming “Packing for Mars.”
Friday’s Author Interview (11:45 a.m -12:45 p.m.) will feature Debra Gwartney, a National Book Critics Circle finalist for her memoir, “Live through This: A Mother’s Memoir of Runaway Daughters and Reclaimed Love.”
Both interviews will be conducted by Booklist’s Donna Seaman. The PLA Virtual Conference also will feature ten live educational programs, poster sessions, networking opportunities, and more.
PLA is seeking interested parties to submit virtual poster sessions as part of the upcoming PLA Virtual Conference. The topic of your poster session can be your choosing, but must be related to public librarianship. Virtual posters can be submitted as Web pages, PowerPoint presentations, or other formats which can be ‘mounted’ on the Web. Accepted posters will be mounted on the PLA Virtual Conference website prior to the event (the PLA Virtual Conference will be held on March 25 and March 26 during the PLA 2010 National Conference). Presenters are welcome to participate in online discussions about their posters via the Virtual Conference.
To apply, please email detailing your idea. Please include the following:
Primary Contact Name, Phone Number, Email Address, Job Title and Institution, Name of Additional Contributors, Title of Proposed Virtual Poster Session, Brief Abstract (150-200 words) describing your poster session, Format of Virtual Poster (e.g., doc, html, pdf) and if any special files/software/effects will be incorporated. We have the ability to do voice-over narration, so if you would like to take advantage of that, just include it in your proposal. Proposals are due by March 8 at 4:00 p.m. Selected proposal will be notified by March 12, 2010.
“Library Leadership Initiatives” is the next topic for the Perspectives Column in Public Libraries, the journal of the Public Library Association.
Many state library agencies and state library associations have established leadership initiatives to recruit, nurture, and mentor new librarians. If you have been part of such an initiative, we’d like to hear from you!
Essays for Perspectives should be 1,000 words +/-. Your essay can include (but don’t limit yourself!): your professional background, who encouraged you to enroll in the initiative, when you participated, how it was structured, what you learned – and what the effect of participation has meant to you.
Photos are welcome. Publication will be the in May/June 2010 issue (mailing date late May). Interested? Contact – submission deadline is March 10.
If you could ask the ALA Presidential Candidates one question, what would it be? Let us know – we’ll pick one to send on and will share their responses on the PLA Blog. Questions by February 12, please.
In January 2010, the American Library Association (ALA) received a two-year grant of $750,000 from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation for “The American Dream Starts @ your library.” This funding makes it possible for ALA to fund 70 public libraries in Dollar General communities to develop literacy programs for adult English language learners.
To be eligible for funding, the applicant institution must be a public library, or a public library with a bookmobile providing literacy services for adult English language learners, and must be within 20 miles of a Dollar General Store, distribution center or corporate office. Each funded library will receive a onetime $5,000 grant.
Applications for funding are being accepted online through Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010. Selected applicants will be notified in early April, 2010. To learn more about the American Dream Starts @ your library, the library grants and to apply online, please visit www.americandreamtoolkit.org .
Dollar General is a Partner in the Campaign for America’s Libraries (www.ala.org/@yourlibrary), ALA’s public awareness campaign that promotes the value of libraries and librarians.
In 2007, the American Library Association received a similar grant from Dollar General, the Tennessee-based corporation, for mini-grants aimed at helping public libraries expand literacy services to adult English-language learners. In 2008, ALA funded 34 public libraries in 18 states serving communities from under 850 to more than 1 million. Libraries used these funds to expand multi-lingual print and digital literacy collections, improve technology, build mobile language labs, add literacy programs and services, develop training manuals, produce outreach videos, and train tutors. For additional information about the funded libraries visit http://www.americandreamtoolkit.org/programs.html.
