WAPL Spring Conference Highlights

What cool gadgets would be great for your library? How do you turn your annual report into gold? What will WLA restructuring mean for you? What changes are coming to WISCAT? Are e-books good for libraries? The answers to these and many other questions will be revealed at the WAPL spring conference “Anchoring the Past, Setting Sail for the Future,” April 27-30, 2010 at the Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan. Go to http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/wapl/conferences/2010/index.htm and you’ll find the conference schedule at-a-glance, plus the full program listing. The deadline for conference registration is April 9. To make room reservations at the conference center go to www.blueharborresort.com or phone 866-701-2583 and use code 7A9582. The room registration deadline is April 6.

Highlights of the conference include presentations by several great speakers. Keith Michael Fiels, Executive Director, American Library Association, will present the keynote address. His library “State of the Nation” will address how national developments are affecting libraries of all types, including the current financial crisis and its impact on library funding, prospects for recovery, federal legislative opportunities, challenges for libraries and more. “How the Media Shape the News” will be addressed by Milwaukee journalist Joel McNally during Thursday’s luncheon and Friday’s luncheon will feature writer and historian John Gurda who will speak about “Saving Our Common Wealth.”

On Thursday evening you are welcome to a dessert reception at Mead Public Library. Shuttle bus service will begin at 8 p.m. at the Blue Harbor Resort taking WAPL attendees to and from the Library. Entertainment at the reception will be professional guitarist Rick Gustafson, retired Deputy Director of the Mead Public Library. The reception is sponsored by the Friends of Mead Public Library and the Mead Public Library Foundation.