Okay, I know this is almost 2 months late, but I’ve been busy. I attended the ALA Conference in Chicago back in late June. It was a special conference for me, not only because it was a very long one (I came in on a Thursday and left on a Tuesday) or that I barely... more ›
Again I am late getting out an Annual blogpost. Fiscal rollover plus weather-extended family vacation will do that, I guess. I am going to try to keep it short. Usually I fail. My main accomplishment (?) at Annual 2026 was reluctantly agreeing to re-up as chair of the Core Awards and Scholarships Coordination Committee. I... more ›
Core Operations Taking advantage of the summer’s lower foot traffic in the library, members of Public Services team rearranged furniture in Reynolds 609 and 611 to enhance usability while longer-term space design configurations are being developed. Internally, the department is working with Human Resources Learning and Development team on a climate assessment within Public Services... more ›
The Graphic Medicine International Collective has hosted the yearly Graphic Medicine Conference (GMC) since 2010 for cartoonists, clinicians, and educators whose work aligns with health humanities concepts and health comics. This year’s meeting was held at Johns Hopkins University’s (JHU) Homewood and East Campuses in Baltimore, Maryland from July 23 – 25 and marked my... more ›
LOEX returned to the East Coast this year for its annual conference, which was held in Norfolk, Virginia on Mother’s Day Weekend. This year’s theme was “Oceans of Knowledge: Diving into Information Literacy,” but the abundant puns and metaphors in presentation titles pointed to the challenges of navigating stranger tides (prime example – a strong... more ›
Core Operations The Public Services Department is in the process of planning the 2026 Public Services Department Retreat. The selected date for the retreat is Wednesday, August 12th in the Heritage Room, located in the Reynolda Hall. The department’s management team is working on the staff position description project, which will update staff position descriptions... more ›
I attended my first ALA 26 years ago and my rough back-of-the-envelope math tells me that the 2026 one was my 13th or 14th ALA annual over the course of my career. Just like my first one, this one was in my favorite big city in the US – Chicago. ALA has changed a lot... more ›
This year was NASIG’s year for an in-person conference after going to an in-person/online-only model a few years ago. The 2026 conference was held in Madison, Wisconsin, on the campus of the University of Wisconsin, a return of sorts to the early days of the organization when college campuses hosted the conference, from meeting spaces... more ›
Resource Services: Who can help me? For work related to ordering books and periodicals (magazines, newspapers, bound journals), receipt and payment, preparing new books for the shelf, and new e-resources for access, are you wondering who in Resource Services can help with questions or problem-solving? Immediately below is a situational list, and further down is... more ›
On May 27th-28th 2026, I attended the Southern Library Support Staff (SLSS) conference at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. I was looking forward to attending a conference focusing on support staff and library assistants, since so many conferences are focused solely on MLS degree holders. Sessions were offered on a large variety of topics, and... more ›