Today was another busy day.
Breakfast: Started the morning off by attending a breakfast hosted by Tutor.com. Met some really great people from IL and TX. Got a few ideas from the TX person including strategies for more successful outreach.
Big Ideas: Today’s Big Ideas speaker was Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love. I would have to say that this was probably my all-time favorite talk by an author. She talked about setting boundaries, saying no, living in the moment, and making time to live your passion. I am sure there was more but this was 11 long hours ago and this is what my brain is recalling at the moment! I do know that I was in awe at the ease in which she spoke in front of thousands of people. No notes and she didn’t hide behind a podium. She seemed so genuine. I would love to have coffee with her.
Exhibit Hall: I spent a good amount of time in the exhibit hall. I picked up a number of business cards of possible vendors for WLA.
Session: Talking is Teaching talked about how San Fransisco Public Library really got out into the community to talk to parents about the importance of talking and singing with their children. More on this later.
Lunch: Attended a luncheon sponsored by Innovative. Innovative is the ILS provider that our library system uses. I had a delicious chicken salad and made fast friends with the people sitting next to me. They were from New York, just outside of NYC. I told them all about what our libraries are doing with memory cafes and they were very interested. They shared with me about an app their library is using for their catalog and other services. Great opportunity to share ideas with colleagues.
Health & Literacy Center – So. Philly Branch Tour: See photo gallery.
PLA Pavillion: Caught a portion of Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) Through Play. These pavilion talks are 20 minutes and are located within the exhibit hall, but the area is sectioned off so that the sound doesn’t interfere with the exhibits. This library talked about how every branch has a read and play area. The presenters said puppets are the cheapest and most wonderful way to make play possible in your library. All of their libraries have some form of puppet theater in them. Have a puppet making childcare training day. Showed off some items including click together foam mats which had coding type instructions on them. Encourages engagement of family members.
Session: Libraries Aren’t Neutral talked about offering civic engagement programming. More on this later.
Spark Talks: Five-minute talks by a variety of speakers (about 6) on all sorts of topics from how to get your inbox down to zero to left shark (soliciting programming ideas from all staff) to paperless holds.
Audio Publishers Association’s Dinner: Ok, this dinner I paid for. It was delicious! We heard from four authors, including Kate DiCamillo, and they all related their talks to the importance of the spoken word. It was so great hearing from the authors, two of which narrated their own books. We also left with a swag bag which included at least 10 copies of audiobooks.
A Million Books Bash: This was a celebration sponsored by Overdrive for reaching the million books mark. There was tons of food there but we had just come from dinner so didn’t partake in food, but we found dessert.
Tomorrow is a busy day, but not as busy as today or yesterday! Phew.
Diary of a PLA Liaison 
You’re a professional tour guide. I like it.