As #ala11 comes to an end, the conversations continue. Check out what attendees are sharing about their experience via their blogs:
The activities they risked their lives to be part of like Aspen, a public librarian, who ran in the rain to be part of the Library Advocacy ALA Flash Mob.
Or sharing their emotions over having to leave New Orleans and ALA as Erin does on Another Blog: “The end of the ALA Conference is only two days away, and I can’t believe how quickly time flew. A lot of great sessions (sad I couldn’t go to all the ones I was planning on attending, but thank goodness for ALA Connect!), tons of awesome ideas shared (can’t wait until next Annual!)… It was also great seeing some old faces—reconnecting with former classmates or coworkers (which I find to always be very important)… great connecting with my colleagues in a way we haven’t been able to, since we’re always so segmented with our day-to-day work tasks. Overall, I’ve had a wonderful experience at ALA.&rdquot;
Or when they arrive back home, they post a full report as Angela does in her post ALA11 Conference Report. “Whew! The ALA Annual Conference was an amazing experience! I got home late last night and am still recovering from the time away from home… The Emerging Leaders poster session was pretty impressive—it was the most crowded poster session I’ve seen… After my time at the Resume Review desk… I attend[ed] ‘How to Be Successful When Searching for Academic Library Positions—An Insider’s Perspective’…So, the takeaway message for me is that, in this job market, being rejected does not mean you’re not awesome. You’re just swimming in a great big sea of awesomeness!”
Or there’s Krystal, a new library school graduate who shared a recap of her conference and tourist experience on her Stack Monkey blog: “So, yeah…guess I overestimated the amount of time I’d have to document all the things I’m doing with my time. Therefore instead of my schedule, I’ll give you a recap of what I’ve been doing so far. Saturday morning internship presentations went great. There are some seriously motivated and talented students in our program. I was so impressed with the work everyone has done. Afterwords several of us decided to grab lunch at Pier 424 on Bourbon St. I ate my first real New Orleans meal, and it was awesome! Then it was on to Café Du Monde for café au lait and beignets. By the time we got back to Canal St. to catch the shuttle to the conference center it was nearly 4:00—I was seriously shocked.”
And finally Lauren’s post on the ALA Programs. “A lot of people go to ALA just for programs. And programs tend to be fantastic. Many at this ALA were standing (or floor-sitting) room only, spilling out into the hallway. ALA is awesome in that there are programs aimed at every part of librarianship. . . . The last program I have to share about was a really powerful talk by author by Jesmyn Ward. . . . She told a story about how her author peers thought she didn’t take her characters to a dark enough place in her first novel, Where the Line Bleeds. She said she couldn’t do it to them. She felt too connected to them and loved them too much. Her new novel, Salvage the Bones, is about Katrina. She lived through Katrina and knew the dark places that people went to and this book apparently pulls no punches. . . . Towards the end of the talk I realized the book wasn’t out yet . . . and then we were given advance copies that she signed!! I haven’t started the book yet. But I am going to read it, and that says something because it’s paper.”
If you plan on blogging about your experience at the 2011 ALA Annual Conference, be sure to tag your post with #ala11.