Perspective from Clint Rudy, 2018 VLA Conference Chair

Hello everyone!

I wanted to start by thanking everyone who participated in this year’s conference.  Special thanks to Todd Elliott, VLA Past President, Lisa Varga, VLA Executive Director, and the entire Conference Committee as well as all of the volunteers.  It is truly a team effort to make something like this successful.

One of my priorities for this year’s conference was to solicit feedback about the entire conference experience.  This involved several surveys (online and in person), thought boards, and small group discussions.   Now that we have had time to review and analyze the information, I wanted to take the time to share a few things about the conference planning process.  I had no idea how many details, decisions, and “no win” situations were involved.  

Things I learned as Conference Chair:   
Conference Venue:  There are very, very few locations in Virginia that are able to accommodate an event our size.   This means that the conference experience will almost always involve limited parking, lodging spread across several hotels, limited meal options, crowded rooms, limited seating/tables, and lots of distance between all of the above.   

Sessions:  This year’s theme was “revolution” and the committee was very strict about selecting sessions that met the defined selection criteria.  The committee is generally limited to the proposals submitted, but did make an effort to try to recruit additional proposals from outside Virginia and outside “library land.”  Once a session is selected, the committee has no control over the actual content of the session or presentation style.                  

Food:  As mentioned above, there are very, very few venues that offer the desired number of dining options in a very close proximity.  The food options from the venue itself are often much costlier than most people expect.  VLA subsidizes the difference between the cost of your meal ticket at the actual hotel cost.

Options:  With almost 600 attendees, it is super challenging to try to meet the needs of so many people with diverse interests and needs.   Each option considered comes with risks of conflicting with other things, associated costs, marketing, etc.  The philosophy is to try and provide as much as possible to as many people as possible while also being inclusive to everyone.     

So, my take-aways from my own experience:
Expect lots of walking, arrive early (if you can) to account for parking, plan food/dining options ahead of time, submit session proposals and aggressively encourage colleagues to do the same, research the hotel/conference center/surrounding area ahead of time, force meaningful interactions with new people, choose the options that meet my needs and ignore the rest, and, most importantly, LEARN AND GROW.      

I hope you will also consider volunteering to be part of a VLA Committee or Forum, or a future Conference Committee I learned so much about the conference planning process and have even more respect for anyone involved in planning large events.

Thank you!




   
   


     

Letter from VLA President Jessica Scalph: October 2018

Hello VLA colleagues,

We returned from a wonderful conference at the end of September and we are starting the process of planning next year’s conference (Oct 23-25, 2019 in Norfolk at The Main).  The conference committee for the 2019 conference will be meeting soon to plan and work out many logistical issues.  

The poem below is by, Lao Tze.  To me, this poem expresses a picture of climbing up a mountain to reach the summit of peace in our world.  As you can see, there are quite a few steps to get to reach that peak.  

“If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.”

In my opinion, libraries can promote peace in our communities by offering a safe place for discussion, communication, and listening.  How can we achieve these qualities?  We offer programming that exposes attendees to viewpoints different from their own; we create displays of items visitors might not come across by themselves. We educate ourselves with professional development and bring those lessons back to our communities. People of diverse views and backgrounds may not have many opportunities to express their ideas in an open forum and we can – and do -- offer that.  Some libraries in Virginia have hosted events to discuss controversial issues (such as, “ten foot pole conversations”) but within the framework of respect and civility. If this is something you are interested in hosting, please reach out to me to discuss a possible partnership with VLA. The American Library Association encourages these events and provides information about dialogue and toolkits to assist you with the process.

There are so many ways we support our communities every day. When you have a successful event, teachable moment, or lesson you want to share with others, we encourage you to consider submitting a conference session proposal when our call goes early next year. We need your voice.

Please feel free to reach out to me throughout this year at my email: [email protected]

Thank you!

Annual Banned Books Week Display Contest sponsored by the VLA Intellectual Freedom Committee

Each year, the Intellectual Freedom Committee sponsors a Banned Books Week display contest, to recognize outstanding events and programming during this week. We support access to information in all its wonderful varieties, formats and genres. We want to help libraries across Virginia highlight their collections, including materials which have been challenged.  We will choose winners in three categories: public libraries, academic libraries and school libraries! We encourage you to document your Banned Books Week activities, displays, events, and programs, and to submit your best for this contest.

The IFC will review all submissions and choose the winners, which will be announced online. We encourage (but do not require) a narrative detailing your events. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, October 17 2018.

Submit today!