{"id":75722,"date":"2014-07-01T11:30:13","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T16:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=75722"},"modified":"2014-06-30T17:42:14","modified_gmt":"2014-06-30T22:42:14","slug":"when-youre-too-poor-for-ala-las-vegas-but-still-want-to-show-you-care-about-those-libraries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=75722","title":{"rendered":"When you\u2019re too poor for ALA Las Vegas (but still want to show you care about those libraries!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rachel Loria, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Colorado<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re too poor for ALA Las Vegas (but still want to show you care about those libraries!)<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"RachelLoria\"<\/a>Although I understand that most conference attendees are\u2014to at least some extent\u2014sponsored by\u00a0their respective organizations, I still cannot help but feel slight librarian-envy at the Facebook status and\u00a0Twitter updates I have been receiving all week(end). Though the alternative weekend of bleaching my\u00a0walls, wet vacuuming my carpet and deep cleaning my bathroom were of paramount fun, my reality is\u00a0that I am a library para-professional with lots of student loan debt and the 1500 miles separating me\u00a0from the ALAAC is a devastating truth. I am a 24 year old new librarian, and I am still riding out my ALA\u00a0student membership\u2014which I managed to obtain just before my graduation date\u2014so traveling to Las\u00a0Vegas for a fun week of networking and conferencing isn\u2019t really a possibility for me right now.<\/p>\n

Now, no one wants to read a blog post written by a bitter curmudgeon, so I shall not devote the next\u00a0several paragraphs to the complaints about my bank account balance and desperate need for low\u00a0humidity warm weather. To be sure, I am beyond happy that there are a multitude of librarians out\u00a0there who care enough about improving the profession to continue this fabulous conference tradition.\u00a0Still, I must assume there are other library enthusiasts out there with similar dispositions to me who are\u00a0also thinking to themselves: are there any more affordable options and alternatives to staying informed\u00a0about library innovation beyond shelling out my month\u2019s rent to attend a conference so far away? If so,\u00a0where are they, what are they and how can I get on board?<\/p>\n

As a recent MLIS graduate, I must admit that a majority of my educational pursuits were devoted to\u00a0professional development, innovation of technology and improvement of services. Simultaneous to\u00a0that I was made to understand that rarely in this economy are library budgets increasing\u2014so somehow\u00a0we have to be really innovative on a budget. Thus, I have developed my own list of suggestions for\u00a0improving one\u2019s library self on a dime. My list of suggestions are as follows:<\/p>\n

1. Attend local library conferences.<\/strong> Sure, they are not as glamorous. Nor do you get the bragging\u00a0rights that you traveled to some exotic locale for a fancy workcation. But they are much more\u00a0affordable (in my opinion anyway) and much easier to accommodate to the hectic library\u00a0schedule. I attended the Michigan Library Association\u2019s Conference just last year and absolutely\u00a0loved it! The year prior I had volunteered so was able to attend some of the speeches at no\u00a0cost\u2014which was ideal to my struggling grad school self.<\/p>\n

2. Get pedagogical.<\/strong> One of the most obvious ways to stay innovative and informed is\u00a0[unsurprisingly] to volunteer your time at various places. Whether an internship or just some\u00a0volunteer hours for the experience, pedagogical learning is one of the absolute best ways to\u00a0network, experience, explore and learn. I have been extra lucky to have volunteered at libraries\u00a0ranging from public to academic to private research institutions\u2014in addition to a recent paid\u00a0internship with Deloitte and Touche where I was able to explore the nuts and bolts of corporate\u00a0records management. I have learned arguably more doing all of these experiences than I ever\u00a0would have done in a classroom!<\/p>\n

3. Visit your local library(ies).<\/strong> Honestly, I cannot stress this one enough. Living in the Metro\u00a0Detroit area I recognize that I am lucky to be in a decent 20 mile radius of 100+ libraries, so I\u00a0really do not have an excuse for being unable to explore the many libraries in entirely different\u00a0communities. Even so: I was bumming this week about not being able to afford a trip to Las\u00a0Vegas (last complaint, I promise!) so I decided to check out some events at local libraries. I\u00a0ended up viewing a remarkable presentation which showcased the documentary Freedom\u00a0Riders<\/a> with a fascinating post discussion led by a local professor. The next day I attended an\u00a0Indian Cooking Lesson at a different library\u2014which was accompanied by delicious and free\u00a0food! While both of these events were interesting to me in terms of topics, I definitely think\u00a0it is important to remember the marketing tactics used to promote the events, the ideas, the\u00a0conversations and library atmosphere each event curtailed.<\/p>\n

4. Pub trivia with your library school friends and\/or co-workers.<\/strong> Do you know what makes for\u00a0an amazing night out? Grabbing your favorite library-lovin\u2019 nerds and heading out to the local\u00a0bar\/pub\/restaurant to get your respective trivia on! Sure, there\u2019s not a whole lot in the way of\u00a0valuable librarian insights to offer here, but I think you will be impressed by just how well your\u00a0team does when the theme for a round is \u201cFamous Authors\u201d or \u201cPopular Literature.\u201d Plus it\u2019s\u00a0surprisingly decent in terms of networking. Go figure.<\/p>\n

5. Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe.<\/strong> Obviously attending conferences is the ideal way to soak in\u00a0the information, culture and passion for libraries (plus, if you\u2019re anything like me: a great way\u00a0to actually have NO choice but to focus and reject distractions). Still, I think there is incredible\u00a0value in reading up on the latest library events\u2014whether in a favorite blog, an online journal,\u00a0a printed journal or just your favorite local library\u2019s newsletter. I actually created an email\u00a0account specifically to entertain my inner librarian. Library Journal<\/a><\/em>, Stanford University Library\u2019s\u00a0Digital Blog<\/a>, The Digital Shift<\/a> and the Ubiquitous Librarian<\/a> are among some of my favorites.\u00a0Figure out what interests you and don\u2019t be afraid to read, read, read!<\/p>\n

\u2026.We\u2019ll get to the ALA Conference someday, and think of all the stories and experiences we\u2019ll be able\u00a0to share! \ud83d\ude42<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rachel Loria, Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ Colorado When you\u2019re too poor for ALA Las Vegas (but still want to show you care about those libraries!) Although I understand that most conference attendees are\u2014to at least some extent\u2014sponsored by\u00a0their respective organizations, I still cannot help but feel slight librarian-envy at the Facebook status and\u00a0Twitter updates I have been…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[6315,4344,6314,69,3592,3630,6316,6080,6186],"class_list":["post-75722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-affordable-options","tag-ala-conference","tag-ala-conference-alternatives","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-inalj-colorado","tag-library-self","tag-local-library-conferences","tag-rachel-loria"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-jHk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75722\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}