This year’s midwinter conference was spectacular! The program included in-person and online events which were fantastic to involve those unable to attend the conference in Boston.
ALA units and affiliates held lively business meetings including the Intellectual Freedom Committee and the Intellectual Freedom Round Table. As a member and Chair Elect of these, respectively, I attended their meetings and participated of discussions including topics such as the Google Book Search Settlement Agreement, Privacy, religion and library services, and Traditional cultural expressions and libraries. The meetings were powerful and the discussions were enlightening. Results such as resolutions and documents should be up on the ALA/Office for Intellectual Freedom soon. I truly encourage librarians to become part of our ongoing conversation about Intellectual Freedom topics.
REFORMA, The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking held business meetings during the conference as well as its Scholarship Fundraiser. As President of this association, I presided over discussions including the Ethnic Affiliates Family Literacy Focus Grant: http://nochedecuentos.wordpress.com/, Librarian of the Year Award, the Pura Belpre Award, website renewal, suggestions to work with GLBT populations and Student Chapter, and the REFORMA National Conference IV. REFORMA renewed its Agreement of Cooperation with AMBAC the Mexican Library Association during the midwinter conference. It is a joy to work with my fellow Reformistas.
I’ve attended ALA Council sessions for a few years now. They are a must to gain insight on how our association tackles the various issues impacting its membership and its core values. I also like to attend Council Forums which are informal sessions to discuss resolutions being brought up before Council. This year I attended a Council Forum on Monday night and Council III on Tuesday morning. Their powerful discussions and seeing our membership in action confirmed my decision to run for Councilor-at-Large. Loida Garcia-Febo for ALA Council! Vote!
Besides business meetings, I also attended a number of social events including a Fundraiser reception to benefit the Joint Conference of Librarians of Colors 2012, and got together with librarians whenever I could. It was fun to mingle and speak to LIS students, and new and veteran colleagues alike. They had so much energy!! It was great to meet many colleagues and new friends.
Technology made its mark on this conference. It was fantastic to watch the live streaming of LITA Top Tech Trends and it was truly inspiring to see the number of sessions scheduled at the Networking Uncommons. I noticed that my colleagues and I used Facebook, Twitter and text to conduct lots of business while at the conference! For instance, one of my committees was discussing a topic also discussed (at the same time) by another committee, and we were in constant communication via text, phone and instant message. Whoa, that was exciting!
