Snow and Cold

Well, it has been winter.

Today, for about the third time in this decade, I made the decision to close the Library early. It was an interesting process, but for those not paying close attention to the weather here, the City Director of Public Works included this in his email on snow clean-up operations:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1053 AM CST TUE JAN 29 2008

IN COMBINATION WITH THE SNOW AND WINDS...BITTERLY
COLD AIR CONTINUES TO FLOOD INTO THE REGION. WIND
CHILLS OF 25 TO 40 BELOW ZERO ARE EXPECTED THIS
AFTERNOON WEST OF INTERSTATE 35 IN MINNESOTA. THESE
WIND CHILLS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE ENTIRE
REGION TONIGHT AND LAST THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING.
THEREFORE A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TONIGHT
AND WEDNESDAY MORNING.

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR AND
STRONG WINDS WILL COMBINE TO GENERATE LOW WIND CHILLS.
THIS WILL RESULT IN FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA
IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. IF YOU MUST VENTURE
OUTDOORS...MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES.

When the Mall closed, it was easier to make the decision since that was the standard which my predecessor used.

Closing for weather is tough. Actually, any unexpected closing is always fraught with possible public relations faux pas.

I hate closing the library, but the safety of staff comes first.

Post ALA Blues

I always find it both invigorating and exhausting to go to conferences. It is fun to go to ALA and see those friends and colleagues who I see generally twice a year. There are so many who are great people.

It is also exhausting being in a new city, learning the way around. There are the early mornings and late evenings. Then there is the travel. Airports are not much fun after 2001.

I always feel slightly blue, and certainly this year is no exception.

Books Read -- July to December

Books I read in the second half of 2007, in reverse chronological order. (In other words, cleaning up the sidebar!)

Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Safe by Susan Shaw
You'll be okay : my life with Jack Kerouac by Edie Kerouac-Parker; edited by Timothy Moran and Bill Morgan
Sexy by Joyce Carol Oates
Foreskin's Lament: a Memoir by Shalom Auslander Advance Reader's Edition
Asking : a 59-minute guide to everything board members, volunteers, and staff must know to secure the gift by Jerold Panas
A Good Match: Library Career Opportunities for Graduates of Liberal Arts Colleges by Rebecca A. Watson-Boone
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Daddy's Girl by Lisa Scottoline
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
Forever by Judy Blume
Spare Change by Robert B. Parker
One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
The Sportswriter by Richard Ford
Finding Center: Strategies to Build Strong Girls & Women by Maureen Mack
Sandpiper by Ellen Wittlinger
Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder by David Weinberger
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson
Antiques Road Kill by Barbara Allan
Rules by Cynthia Lord
Capital Campaigns by Stuart R. Grover

ALA Midwinter

When I got here I thought I could do it.

I thought I could both post here and do some PLA Blogging. Well, that is not working. I did one post here because I had some difficulty logging into the PLA writing portion of the Blog, but now that I am there, I am posting primarily there.

So....see the PLA Blog for my notes and the notes of others. I will do some social reflections and outside items here -- ex post facto.

ALA Presidential Candidates Forum

About 100 people are here listening to the candidates debate. First to speak is my friend (and the candidate I support) Camila Alire. Her theme is "Vision, Vitality, and Voice."

Among other proposals is for an "At Home ALA Legislative Day" to have coordinated visits to legislators while they are home.

Good salaries and better salaries are on her agenda, including our ability to advocate for ourselves. Camila is committed to diversity (and was president of REFORMA a number of years ago). Equity of Access is on her list. Literacy skills are critical.

Camila is incredibly vivacious and the vitality part of her platform rings personally true.

Linda Williams is a school librarian from Maryland and is someone I know and like. Libraries are our foundation and our future is her theme. Equity of Access is an important goal. (She mentioned speaking with one voice (which can be a sensitive topic in ALA!) She will work to break down the "silos" in ALA. (A good idea!)

She did focus on the closing of school libraries and the fact that 40% of schools do not have library professionals.

We need to engage more members in the association. She referred to an ASAE book which addresses the needs of younger members of the profession. She wants ALA to use Web 2.0 skills to engage members of the Association.

Dr. Ruth Gordon asked the first question. Which was a multipart question and included a reference to ALA's "third rail," the Operating Agreement.

Leonard Kniffel, editor of the American Libraries, talked about the various ways that AL will distribute the statements and question and answers in several ways. His question was about bi-lingual education. (And there is not much difference between the two candidates on this issue.

[I am going back to the PLA Board, having "shown the flag" at the forum.]