Whew!
After almost two weeks away from the library, I am almost feeling back up to speed. Other than a short trip to my best friend’s, the Perpetual Student, graduation from Fordham Law School, I was away for library business.
This year, I am honored to be the President of the New Hampshire Library Association and along with this great power comes great responsibility (I know, I’m a comics geek).
I travelled to Library Legislative Day in Washington D.C. with New Hampshire State Librarian, Michael York. THis annual event is an opportunity for librarians, trustees, and friends to lobby for libraries at the Senate and the House of Representatives. This event was prefaced with a day of briefings set up by the American Library Association who filled us in on what bills are in the works that may effect libraries. I enjoyed my time in D.C. although I must admit, I am not a city girl.
We had a chance to personally speak with Senator Sununu and I was surprised to discover I went to high school with his Senior Legislative Assistant — an amazingly small world!
I also spent three days in Concord, NH for the New Hampshire Library Association’s annual Spring Conference, Innovate in ’08: Library Basics and Beyond. One of my duties at the conference was to pick up our guest speaker, Marylaine Block at the Manchester Airport. After a crazy bit of road construction, I picked Marylaine up and we had a nice ride back to Concord getting to know each other. I was also responsible for making sure she had everything she needed, including taking her out for dinner (twice! Tia jaun’s and Hermanos — I am so glad Marylaine loves Mexican food as much as I do!), and introducing her before her two presentations.
Other fun things I got to do — announcing raffle winners, meeting with the vendors, and getting to meet librarians I had only ever emailed.