Having the chance to attend this year’s MLA Conference was truly beneficial and I am very grateful for the opportunity. The full cost of the conference plus travel expenses make it cost prohibitive without the scholarship that I received from Prairielands and that is very much appreciated.
The sessions that I attended on the first day included Library Advocacy where an impressive panel discussed various aspects, Powered by Google, where the TdS IT personnel shared their experience with moving their library system to Google Suite, Writers Across Minnesota, where we learned about the Center for the Book and MN Book Awards, Pockets of Joy with the unforgettable Roxanne Battle. Friday it was learning to collaborate on a community open mic and art program, the development of Rochester Public Library’s seed library, and becoming an intellectual freedom fighter for the library.
Both key note speakers were excellent with Dr. Michele A.L. Villagran speaking on workplace conflict and Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon discussing the state’s voting. It was truly amazing hearing both of these individuals speak.
The value of attending the MLA conference is beyond measure as so much is shared and gathered by being amongst your peers. I appreciated having the chance this year to be one of those 482 attendees at the 2019 MLA conference and thank Prairielands for helping to make it happen. I plan to implement several of the ideas in the coming months and continue to feel the spark of inspiration that I got from the two day event.