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This morning after reading the BCALA schedule of weekend activities I noticed that an update on the 7^th National Conference was to be given at an 8:00 a.m. session entitled “Orientation to the Black Caucus.”I quickly offloaded my free breakfast to Susan and proceeded to the session.I was really glad that I did.Participating in the session were 6 new recruits to our profession, 5 of which became new BCALA members also.One was a recent 2009 graduate, while two of the others were currently enrolled in an MLIS program.It was exciting for me to see their joyous faces filled with interest, energy and enthusiasm towards our profession.One even compared her first ALA conference to the first day of kindergarten; a youngster eagerly seeking someone to be her friend.It was from this session that I felt validation towards my support of BCALA and its’ mission to support new librarians.

On a high from that session, I made my way to the ACRL Personnel Administrators & Staff Development Officers Discussion Group only to be totally taken aback when the round robin reports given by the Librarians in attendance showcased doom and gloom for most.The schools able to still post and fill vacancies, reported receiving record numbers of applicants.Such as 350 applicants for an entry level Reference Librarian vacancy; 150 applicants for an Archivist vacancy, and a 150 applicants for a Manuscripts vacancy.One Librarian reported a 25% cut in academic programming at her institution, while yet another reported a 12% cut to her library budget or 3.6 million a year.Several reported required furloughs and pay cuts.The University of California system had the saddest of all stories with a proposed 700 million dollar cuts; a possible mandatory 8% cut in salaries and up to 21 days of forced furloughs. Most in attendance were optimistic however that after this season of economic constraints is over,there libraries would be somewhat smaller but stronger.I am most appreciative of what we have here at WFU.A conversational theme arose around an observation thatappears to betrendy as it is somewhat true for us as well.Most of the libraries represented were electing to not fill the vacated support staff positions as such, but were creating instead new Librarian positions.

Leaving this discussion I headed over to have lunch with EBSCO only to hear there story of budget cuts as well.It seems that as libraries feel the economic pinch, it simply gets passed along to others within the assembly line. EBSCO’s plan of action included cuts in their marketing and advertising,eliminating all direct mailings and sadly a reduction in sponsorships.These efforts have savedthem about 20% across the board.They are also committed to seeking creative ways of addressing the budget constraints faced by libraries.This was a so called free lunch and of course you had to hear about new projects on the horizon.I’ll just list a few and if any spark your interest, consider contacting them for more information.

Art & Architecture complete

Historical Abstracts

Political Science Complete

Public Affairs Index

Historical Digital Archives

American Theological Library Association Historical Monographs & Serial Collections

Coming in Dec 2009 – EBSCO Discovery Service.

Following yet another BCALA Conference planning session, I taxied over to the Hilton where ALA President-Elect Camila Alire hosted a retirement party for ALA’s outgoing Director of the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services, Satia Orange.Satia has worked closely with BCALA since her arrival at ALA almost 20 years ago.Few may remember her days here in Forsyth County as the Head of Children Services at the Forsyth County Public Library (FCPL).Joining me at the celebration were a couple of other former FCPL librarians, Cal Shepherd of Lyrasis and Jackie Beach now in New Bern, NC.

More later.. that’s it for today.