(tangential) thoughts from TLA (part 1):

This years TLA Conference really set my mind a whirl in the best possible way.  I went to a wide variety of panels and round table sessions, and there was something in each that got me thinking about my research or my projects or my job search.  I could write several entries on it all, with a single entry devoted to the bizarre bazaar of vendors and tchotchkes-pushers catering to the thousands of librarians wandering the ballrooms. But here are some highlights that offered me insight into this project, albeit tangentially:


The Opening General Session:
TLA opened with a bang. While waiting for the President's address, a group of librarians broke out into a flash mob and started dancing a choreographed number to the Black Eyed Peas. Seriously, this video is adorable:

I loved this for a couple of reasons. First, it was pretty rad. Librarians get a bum wrap for being as uptight as the stereotypical spinster hair-bun, and that is most certainly not the case. It was also pretty great to see a certain iSchool faculty member letting loose and dancing her heart out. But what I loved the most was the fact that you could see just how much these people love their jobs. I have never met a group of people more passionate about their profession.
The keynote speaker was the lovely Jamie Lee Curtis, as charming and approachable as you would expect her to be after seeing all those yogurt commercials.  Ms. Curtis is an accomplished children's book writer, as well as being an actress, spokesperson, etc.  She's also very passionate about the immense value of libraries and librarians to children, and spoke of that enthusiastically, sincerely and with great humor.

By the time I left the opening session I was psyched.  Grad school, while challenging and stimulating, can make you lose perspective on just why you were excited about going into librarianship. But being around all these wonderful, bright and excited librarians definitely put the spark back in my romance with libraries.