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I began this conference day with a 9:00 a.m. appointment at the Bank of America directly across the street from my hotel. BCALA officers gathered to have account signature cards changed and signed according to specific instructions as given to our treasurer by his New York branch of Bank of America. So there we stood all five from five different states equipped with identification. In less than five minutes we are informed that Illinois laws are different that New York’s and that we would need a copy of the minutes of the meeting that installed these folks as officers. I happened to have my folder which had last night’s meeting agenda on BCALA letterhead that listed all of the current officers. In addition, three of the required signatures were already on the account and no real changes would be required. Needless to say I was not a happy camper.I asked for a follow up meeting to be rescheduled for 12:30 p.m. and stressed the importance of meeting directly with this agent since he was familiar with our case. And then 12:30 came, we returned with all the necessary items to find our little agent out to lunch and all of us waiting for the next available agent. Now all of our schedules are interrupted. I miss my free OCLC luncheon and must hurry to make our 1:30 session. There is absolutely no business that can’t benefit from applying the principles of good customer service.

In between these two bank trips, Roberta and I conducted part – 2 of our NCAAL conference planning committee meeting. During this time we continued working on the proposed conference themes and tracks. A lively discussion took place amongst the 20 or so librarians centered around the topic of Black librarianship. Some felt we should embrace this topic, while a few others felt we should center our language around multicultural and changing demographics etc. I was asked if this was our conference or not.Differing views and opinions were everywhere. A part of my push for conference design is to have as many programs as possible that will attract a wide range of attendees resulting in a most diverse audience. I think inclusion is the way of today and tomorrow, the only way we will all succeed. I think we settled on a middle of the road approach. The call for papers and proposals will be issued soon.I hope you’ll give me your opinion.

BCALA co-sponsored a program entitled “Mentoring Minority Librarians” with some of the other ethnic caucuses, REFORMA (Hispanic), AILA, the American Indian Library Association andCALA, the Chinese American Library Association. The four panelist shared stories of successful and/or unsuccessful mentoring programs of which they had each participated. Significant praise and encouragement was given to the less formally structured programs.Some minorities, according to panelist, tend to shy away from being forced into relationships. An audience attendee reminded the group that culturally people respond differently. A wise mentor seeks to understand the mentee and works hard to build a solid relationship. Lack of communication, lack of genuine concern and lack of patience were offered as keys to failure in any mentoring relationship.I added to this list the lack of adequate training.

“Hiring the Best: Looking for Experiential Learning in MLS Students and Asking the Right Questions,” sponsored by ALA Governance was somewhat different than I expected.Both presenters spoke only to potential hires at public and school media systems. The heart of the workshop was based on a survey administered to some 54 MLS students, 181 public librarians and 167 school media personnel.The survey asked how well supervisors felt recent MLS hires or graduates were prepared overall, in regards to technology, ability to do reference work, handling difficult patrons and understanding intellectual freedom. Results were as expected huddled around “somewhat.”The pros of new hires were seen as enthusiastic, energetic and “cheap. “The cons were exactly the opposite, as in inexperienced, unfamiliar with the culture and unable to leap forward without specific handholding. The suggestionsoffered the panelist for internships and interviewing techniques were almost identical to what we currently have in place.

BCALA literary awards program held tonight honored the following authors:

Fiction – Diane McKinney-Whetstone – Trading Dreams at Midnight

Nonfiction – Paula J. Giddings – Ida: A Sword Among Lions

First Novelist – Carleen Brice – Orange Mint and Honey

Fiction Honor Book – Pearl Cleage – Seen It All and Done the Rest

– Jesmyn Ward – Where the Line Bleeds

Outstanding Publishing Citation – Debra Willis and Kevin Merida – Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs.

I have one last program tomorrow morning. It’s the 40^th Anniversary Celebration of the Coretta Scott King awards breakfast. After that I hope to finally get to see the exhibits. See you all on Wednesday.