At the end of a long day of attending conference sessions, my mind is swimming with ideas; being at the ALSC National Institute is exciting, but it can also be overstimulating. In the quiet of my room, I look over my notes, scan my photos, and look through the variety of flyers I have accumulated over the course of the day. Reflecting on the day, I ask myself what did I learn about that I actually plan to bring back to my library? Did something I hear about spark an idea for an entirely new program? Was there a session that helped me to understand issues I’m grappling with or want to pursue as part of my professional development? Was I able to network with people that are working on the same kinds of new ideas that I am? All of these are things that can happen during the ALSC National Institute.
Sometimes, however, the answer of what you learned in a day is not the perfect new program or an entirely new approach to doing your job. Instead, there are numerous threads of good ideas that you picked up over the course of the day; you slowly begin to imagine how you can weave these nuggets of wisdom into the programs you are already doing:
- a new approach to setting up the interactive stations in a program you already love
- more direct ways to engage care givers in programs and out on the public floor
- a new way to use art materials with children that you can easily incorporate into the process art program you do every month
- a new way to think about using the oddly shaped space that you have in that one corner of the library.
Before you know it, you realize that you have a growing list of fantastic fresh ideas that can be woven in to the good work you already do, with the resources you already have.
The Conference Blogger for this piece is Catherine Ash (she/her/hers). Catherine is a Youth Services Librarian for the Clinton Macomb Public Library in Clinton Township, Michigan. Catherine couldn’t wait to play at the Strong National Museum of Play and to hear Angie Thomas speak – what a way to begin the conference! Catherine is also looking forward to lots of learning from and connecting with youth services professionals from around the country. As a child, Catherine wanted to be an archaeologist to uncover stories from the past; while that never happened, she continues to be fascinated by stories and histories of all kinds.
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.
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