In another week I will be on the road (or in my case, in the skies) to ALA Annual in Las Vegas. Not only am I excited to be attending my second year in a row (and in my life), but I will also be speaking on a director's panel for a Conversation Starter. We have the prime final slot on Monday afternoon: come see us!
Now that I have shifted from library directorship to advising library staff, I have diversified the sessions that I want to attend. Leadership still rates high, as this is something that is going to become even more important over the next few years. What I have seen personally, and in participating discussions, is that those in management positions are starting to leave, mainly through retirement (hey, finally some of those jobs we were promised in library school!) yet there is a dearth of qualified applicants. Not the basic tools: we all took some form of "Management of XX Libraries" in our grad courses, but in the skills librarians are not always prepared for: marketing and public relations, dealing with municipal departments and library boards, leadership within the library and dealing with staff, and of course "What do you mean the toilet overflowed again?" aka facilities management. Obviously not all of this can be covered while getting our degrees, yet the need is definitely there.
Also, those that are coming into new management positions are tending to be younger, newer librarians. For some, this will be their first management position, and they will be supervising staff that have been there several years, sometimes decades, longer than they have. While I tend to stay out of observing anything in the "new versus seasoned library staff" debate, it is definitely in existence.
So I am attending a few sessions where newer directors are speaking, along with looking at professional development trends, as this is where my work now lies. You will also find me at sessions on collection development and reader's advisory, as both are a passion and a focus for me. All in all, I once again have too many sessions I'm interested in attending (who doesn't?), and will have to make some choices along the way.
Some of the sessions you may find me at will be:
Friday
Pre-Conference: Stepping Into the Director Role: Preparing for the Part
Library Journal Mover & Shaker Luncheon
Saturday
AAP/LibraryReads Book-a-Licious Breakfast
Turning Books Into A Cool New Tool: RA Marketing in the Age of Maker Spaces
Collective Engagement: What Aspiring, New and Seasoned Professionals Bring to the Table
Grow Forward: Professional Education Needs in the 21st Century
Continuing Education for Libraries: A National Conversation
Sunday
Lightning Rounds: Sustainability at Your Library
Conversation Starter: Change Does Not Suck
Monday
Discovery: The New Name for Reader’s Advisory?
Stranger than Fiction: Reader's Advisory for Nonfiction
My Session! Conversation Starter: What I Really Want to Do is Direct: First-Time Library Directors Discuss Their Experiences.
I am also excited that many social media colleagues are staying in the same hotel as I am, and that I will have a chance to catch up with so many others. So, if you want to meet up, just let me know!