ALA MW Denver 2018 – Conference Highlights!

I use to live in Colorado, worked at CU Boulder for 3 years running the Map Library;  then for 5 years I worked as a consultant mainly in the western part of Colorado.  So it’s a going home feeling to be back there,  and I saw many people I use to work with or support in Colorado which was so lovely!!   Though the cold and snow reminded me of why I left   We did rent a cool AirBnB close to the Convention Center and cool downtown Denver views.  And we had one blue sky day to walk the canal and see the outside art in Denver.

Mainly my trip to Denver in February was for two committees. First, the Sustainability Round Table.  The Business Meeting included several new people, and several from other groups wanted to collaborate such as the AALL and IRRT’s sustainability group We learned about :

FREE student memberships to SustainRT!

the upcoming resolution from our governance team to keep ALAs investments socially (and fossil free) responsible,

a white paper due in June, including a survey and online forums (coming soon) from an ALA Sustainability Task Force including key sustainrt members looking at the triple bottom line and other guiding principles of sustainability

Saturday evening in the snow and cold only a few of us made it to the SustainRT Social Event at Mercury Cafe, http://mercurycafe.com/ –  What a cool place! solar energy on the roof, grilled tofu with amazing sauces,  and a locally-sourced cocktails!

Sunday I facilitated a discussion: Crisis and Community (notes are in ALA Connect) where we discussed how Libraries and librarians can (and do) play a pivotal role in helping vulnerable communities build the physical, social, economic, and emotional resources and skills necessary to endure and thrive in the face of catastrophic climate, social, and economic disruptions.  We defined sustainability in connection to Crisis & Community; we brainstormed examples of what libraries are doing  in this area (such as the New England spring training for librarians); What support could ALA provide for libraries that have or are experiencing climate change crisis (such as more training like this NE one; and ways to collect and share these stories more widely); and What would it be perfect…idealistically? (such as  creating Climate Avengers, like Librarians Without Borders for ALA and taking it on a road show like the schol com for ACRL does)

Monday we had a lively panel for our News You Can Use: Sustainability Strategies for Libraries and Communities (Symposium on the Future of Libraries)  This session assembled practitioners doing sustainability work in a range of settings, including the implementation of a regional certification program, an institutional transition to renewable energy sources, a university system-wide sustainable OER initiative, and a classroom approach to teaching information literacy from a civic engagement perspective.  Check out the NYLA Roadmap to sustainability for librarians!

I also attended my ACRL committee New Roles and Changing Landscapes business meeting and lunch with the committee. This is a ACRL strategic plan goal committee to oversee and implement this by working with the ACRL Board and other ACRL units in creating a comprehensive effort including coalition building, professional development, publications, research, advocacy, diversity, and consultation services and in developing the ACRL New Roles and Changing Landscapes Initiative; and monitor and assess the effectiveness of this initiative. I’m fairly new on this group and still finding my place but I am excited about the one collaborative effort to help create this new  Symposium for Strategic Leadership in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion happening in May.

I also visited CU Denver’s Auraria library and saw some cool spaces, services and furniture. check out my slides of the photos of took of the space here