#alamw12: Member POV - Buffy Hamilton’s Day 2 Reflections

Visualization from
Empowering Voices
Day 1

Buffy J. Hamilton,
School Librarian,
Creekview High School,
Canton, GA

Print

The highlight of ALA Midwinter 2012 Day 2 for me was the first session of “Empowering Voices, Transforming Libraries” with Dr. David Lankes (http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/index.php), professor and Dean’s Scholar for the New Librarianship at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, the director of the library science program for the school, and director of the Information Institute of Syracuse. 

Dr. Lankes is also author of The New Atlas of Librarianship, which is in my opinion, a “must read” for any librarian (http://www.newlibrarianship.org/wordpress/) .  Dr. Lankes, whose work on participatory and new librarianship has profoundly influenced my practice as a school librarian, kicked off the session with his talk, “Expect More: Our Most Important Conversation” (http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/blog/?p=1362). In order to meet the grand challenge of helping our communities, we must be willing to get messy and make meeting their needs our priority. We also must be bold and courageous in being willing to challenge our assumptions and to take meaningful action to meet the needs of those we serve. 

For approximately an hour or so, participants rotated in small groups from one table to another to crowdsource ideas as we participated in conversations centered around exploring the inspirational goals of our communities. In three rounds, we discussed these three guiding questions:

• Round 1: Pretend that you’ve each just taken a tour of your community. What did you see and hear on the tour?
• Round 2: What would your community aspire to be, and what would change from what you saw and heard?
• Round 3: In this picture of your envisioned community, what is different about the library?

We then came together as a large group to share our responses and ideas that came out of this “group think.” I enjoyed hearing the perspectives of librarians from a diverse range of communities and contemplating how their ideas related to my own practice. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Stacy Weitzner (http://boldmusecreative.com/) create a wall with a graphic narrative of the group conversation for the afternoon. Take time to listen to my interview in which Stacy shares her process of capturing a conversation for learning:

Other highlights of Day 2 for me included social time with friends and colleagues. “The Owner’s Box” sports bar and restaurant at the Omni Hotel was a popular gathering spot for people to catch up and relax, as was the official ALA Midwinter After Hours Social at LaGrange. Whether it was getting to have a one-on-one conversation with a friend or talking to friends at larger gatherings, the social and networking aspects at Midwinter were particularly insightful and inspiring for me as I had the chance to catch up with friends I only see a few times a year and to share ideas and discuss issues and challenges in our profession. Spending time with people who are so talented and innovative is genuinely invigorating for me personally and professionally and one of the most valuable aspects of the library conference experience for me. While I know we are often mentally and physically drained from a day of committee meetings and learning experiences, I encourage anyone who attends Midwinter to make time to attend at least one of the social gatherings sponsored by the different divisions of ALA; it’s great to “cross-pollinate” ideas with people who may or may not work in the same library setting as you and a fun way to connect with old friends as well as make new connections with colleagues.