Conferences. You hear a lot about them in library school, and as you delve deeper into the library world, you find they are kind of a big deal to librarians. Just like in any industry, library conferences are loved up by librarians for the opportunities they afford to exchange ideas, let loose a little, and, of course, network with other librarians.
As a student, I’m offered free membership to ALA and the California Library Association for a year. I’m also offered opportunities to volunteer at conferences for said organizations in exchange for a very reduced conference fee. This year’s CLA conference was in Pasadena, CA, and though I don’t yet work in a library and didn’t have an institution to pay my way, I kind of wanted to go anyway to see what all the hype was about.
While I stayed in meager accommodations about three miles from the convention center, and took public transportation to and from, I was pleased to see that many working librarians were able to afford (or have their libraries pay for) centrally-located Hiltons, Sheratons and the like. This is comforting to me and gives me hope for my (financial) future. It also speaks to at least some degree of stability in California libraries, despite all the evidence to the contrary.
Though some might say that conference workshops are just an excuse to get together, I really did enjoy the workshops themselves, and learned a ton. Here are some points from my notes:
- Open source ILS software is thriving, and you may not need to be a tech genius (or employ one) to use it at your library. A group called Open Source Open Libraries is working on test cases of using software like Evergreen in libraries with minimal tech infrastructure.
- It’s hard, but not impossible for regular librarian folk to get a job in an academic library. BUT, it might help to: a) get a second master’s degree; b) hone your teaching skills; and c) do something flashy in the interview, like show an instructional screencast you’ve made.
- Even being familiar with Web2.0 basics like blogs, Twitter, RSS feeds, etc. can give you a ‘tech’ edge in an interview. It couldn’t hurt to play this knowledge up.
- If you live in the Bay Area (like I do) or in a similar librarian-saturated part of the world, you might want to consider moving to a less urban area to get your first job and your foot in the door. I have my eye on Placer County.
One of the main impressions that struck me throughout the conference is that the library is a creative, ever-changing industry. I used to work for a music search engine startup, and attended a fair amount of trendy music and search technology conferences in San Francisco. The CLA conference felt surprisingly similar, except there was a wider variety of people (and especially ages) represented. The same kind of vibrant, creative energy and excitement pulsed throughout the weekend, and it wasn’t a disingenuous “let’s make libraries relevant by signing up for Twitter” kind of thing.
Perhaps more than anyone else in any other industry, librarians enjoy discovering new things and sharing them with other people. This kind of attitude makes for a fun and very worthwhile conference. If you’re a library student, take advantage of student rates and GO to a library conference now.
Filed under: By: Paige Turner | 4 Comments
Tags: California Library Assocation, CLA, library conference, MLIS
Great blog & glad you enjoyed this year’s conference!
Can I repost this on CLA’s blog? Would love to hear from you, please contact me at rberta@cla-net.org.
Great advice here!
You don’t even need to move to a rural area to take that first job. Live in the city and travel to the ‘burbs, by car, bus, train, whatever. It’s like a reversal of the typical commuter flow, and you’ll never be stuck with crowds or traffic. Plus, you’ll have the best of both worlds.
Reverse commute is also a good idea! Traffic is the bane of my existence!
Great recap!
I was also relieved to hear that non-LIS experience counts too, when looking for library positions.