This year’s Minnesota Library Association Conference was full of great sessions, keynotes, and vendors. I crammed as much as I could into my schedule and even downloaded the slides and notes from sessions that I could not get to as they were doubled with another session I wanted to attend. My favorite sessions were the Essential Elements for Successful Change Management, Coaching Your Team To Greatness, and the session on using Canva. Most of the sessions had book recommendations for further study and exploration of the topic. I have already gotten one book that was recommended, The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier, and am currently reading it with the intention to apply some of the principles to my work environment. Another great session that I attended was the one on marketing for libraries. This session had some great demonstrations on using AI, like ChaptGPT or Google Bard, to help generate ideas and wording to create targeted marketing for library programs and services. The conference was also a great time to meet new people and connect with old friends spending time swapping stories and encouraging one another. Overall, I learned a lot and received many new resources and connections from attending MLA2023.
