by Lizzy Baus
Quick Summary
A few short weeks ago, I attended and presented at the Wisconsin Library Association Annual Conference in Middleton, just outside of Madison. The theme for this year’s conference was “Let’s Make it Happen.”
A few short weeks ago, I attended and presented at the Wisconsin Library Association Annual Conference in Middleton, just outside of Madison. The theme for this year’s conference was “Let’s Make it Happen.”
Day 1 started off with a keynote address by Mita Williams of the University of Windsor, who spoke about embedding the library in the community and engaging “the city as classroom.” She identified several movements or trends, such as bookmobiles, Little Free Libraries, and how-to festivals, that use the wider community as a place of learning. She then moved to the idea of “city as playground” and discussed entertainments like the augmented reality game Ingress and Google Goggles. After addressing how these ideas pull people into and through their communities, she urged listeners to ask “How can libraries help communities make their own spaces their own?”
In the afternoon, I presented a three-part session on “RDA the friendly way,” which aimed to make it easy for copy catalogers to identify and produce RDA-friendly records without monopolizing their workflow. I got some positive feedback from the attendees, including one archivist who told me that if she were kidnapped and forced to copy catalog in RDA she now felt she could do it!
The second day’s keynote address was given by Jay Turner, a development consultant who has spent much of his career in libraries. The talk, entitled “Shift Happens (and I helped),” focused on self-development and the ability to adapt with rapidly changing times. Turner used the metaphor that we are in an age of permanent whitewater, and we must find a way to navigate the rapids. He contrasted barges (large organizations where change is hard) and kayaks (individuals with the ability to constantly adapt), saying that we must strike a balance between stability and agility. He called for the audience to lead themselves – find opportunities to broaden and strengthen personal and professional skills. When enough people in a barge become kayakers, he said, we can help guide the barge through the whitewater and come through a period of change having successfully adapted.
The three days of the conference were packed with lots of other interesting sessions, including presentations on “maker boxes” for smaller libraries, lending nontraditional items (seeds, tools, etc.), banned books and intellectual freedom, and so much more. There were also opportunities to tour the local public library, the Wisconsin Historical Society, and the nearby Holy Wisdom Monastery. Perhaps the most energetic activity was the WiLS 2nd Annual Fall Classic: Library Games! We had great fun slingshotting stuffed cats, bowling with coconuts, racing scooters, and building the tallest book towers possible. I was fortunate to be a part of team Rainbow Warriors, and my new friends and I took home the prizes for most cats flung, most trivia questions correct, and highest overall score.
The week was enjoyable from start to finish, and I’m looking forward to the next conference!
