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The first two days of my ALA Vegas experience were spent getting training on being a Team Leader for the Assessment in Action cohort, a grant funded competitive training program offered through ACRL. Assessment in Action trains librarian leaders to lead campus teams in conducting assessments that demonstrate the value of academic libraries to the academy. The training was intensive and included instruction from “writing a good Outcome statement that aligns with institutional and library values” to “how to lead your team” and “resolving conflict”. I’ve shared the information with the Assessment in Action team (consisting of Meghan Webb, Rachel Weaver, Ryan Shirey and John Champlin) who will be helping to assess spaces and services in ZSR this next year helping to identify and quantify how we help students succeed.

ALA proper started on Saturday morning with Jane Fonda’s session on her new book “Being a Teen“. She spoke about the difficulty young people face transitioning from childhood to adulthood and the influences that cause them to lose their identity. She didn’t reference it, but it is very like the message in the “Run Like a Girl” video that has been getting attention in the last few days. Her talk indicated that it is just as difficult for boys growing up and maintaining identity as it is for girls.

I had the opportunity to present at the conference in the 4th annual FEAST (it stands for “Future and Emerging Access Services Trends”) and I presented on our ZSRenews service. Other topics presented in the hour included “staffing for staying open 24/5”, “moving to offsite storage” and “utilizing ILLiad for scanning requests”, all of which we’d already done, so I’m confident that ZSR is staying ahead of the curve. MB @ FEAST

Prior to attending the conference I entered into a lottery for some one-on-one time with a space designer from Demco and I won. So, I spent an hour discussing our atrium space renovations and took away some great design and furniture ideas.

As usual, or perhaps more than usual, I had great opportunities to build and strengthen relationships with librarians I work with here in ZSR, know throughout North Carolina and Michigan, and meet through the conference. Vegas, even in the heat of summer, (it was 119 degrees at the Hover Dam!) was a very fun place. No need to go to a show, the whole town is a show! (And, I won $10 at the roulette table.) More photos are available here.