Sunday, April 1, 2007

This is usually a fun day for my brother Danny to play an awesome trick on me this day. But alas, we don't live in the same area anymore so he can't get to me! Ha! Ha! But I'm sure he's going to try and get me by cell phone or e-mail.......We shall see.....we shall see.

I literally got back from Ft. Wayne, IN this afternoon and now settled into my Sunday evening shift as the "Mobile Librarian". I was invited as the keynote speaker along with Charlotte Pfeifer from Indiana University South Bend. This was a very engaging and informative experience. I met Black Librarians from the Northwestern and Southern part of the state. Our host for the Spring Meeting was Ms. Connie Scott, Library Director of Indiana Tech. This college's library speaks well of 21st Century Librarianship. The facilities are very modern and wireless. The furniture is top-knotch and the staff are ready and willing to assist patrons in their information needs. I arrived in Ft. Wayne a day early to take a tour of campus library and the Allen County Public Library system. It is a real blessing to see librarianship at its best in communities that are struggling with literacy issues, and that the community is supportive of such initiatives.

The IBLN gave me a gift bag of goodies for agreeing to being the keynote speaker. I was absolutely surprised and humbled. I love writing instuments of all kinds, I got a fabulous book, a T-shirt from the Black Caucus/Librarians of Color event, and a beautiful book cover. I love being a librarian and being able to share a message as to why I am in this profession and what motivates me to continue on. I had really good questions and judging from the audience's response, my answers presented innovative ideas for future staff development. IBLN will plan to meet in September and possibly present a program at the annual Indiana Library Federation conference.

Following the conference, I got a chance to talk about librarianship with extended family members and their friends in Fort Wayne. I think I may have gotten a few family members interested in librarianship too! I love the chance to do PR about this profession because librarians are awesome and dynamic people! We come from all walks of life and our underlying motive is to be of service to the masses; whether its in academia, the public library, librarians know a little bit of everything! I used to be a Girl Scout, and so I am sharing this image....getting a badge was worth everything!