I had a wonderful first time at MLA! I have not been to a library event like this, it was a great experience not only for the workshops, but for the networking experience as well.Some of my favorite workshops that I attended included: Teen Takeover: how to deal when teens take over the library, presented by Ashley Dress. Through this session I was able to learn some methods to help when dealing with stubborn teens, and to help build rapport. One Idea presented was how to get parent contact information without demanding it from teens through a prize drawing. I thought this maybe something we could implement at our library in the future. I also liked her way of familiarizing herself and staff with the teens, through the way of purchasing a school yearbook. This is something we could do at our library as well. Not only would the book allow us to identify troublemakers, but by learning teens’ names we may be able to establish better connections with them.Another favorite workshop that I attended was called Beginner’s Guide to Project Management, presented by Jeannie Dilger. This session focused on some basic project management principles including: how to organize a project, how to designate work, what tools to use, and how to work within deadlines. Some of this was review for me, but there was much that I felt I could use to help myself stay better organized when it comes to projects. I actually recently utilized the project timeline tips that Jeannie taught us, to help myself manage our upcoming Flash Fiction contest.I was also able to attend two author panels, as well as middle grade and picture book, book talks. I learned about so many new popular and up and coming authors. It was also very eye opening to be able to listen to the authors, and to learn about a writer’s perspective of their own work. The other sessions I attended included: Diversity in Materials Selection and Programming, Making Flyers is not Marketing: Learn the Secrets of Successful Marketing, and Community Specialists. Each session was very insightful, and allowed me to hear from a variety of people with different educations, cultures and backgrounds.In the end what I enjoyed the most was speaking with other librarians and professionals. I was able to have several great conversations with others and picked up many new ideas and information along the way.Thank you Prairielands for giving me this opportunity. I hope to attend MLA again in the near future to learn even more!
