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2009 PLA Spring Symposium April 2-4, 2009 Nashville, Tennessee Mark Your Calendar. Registration Opens September 2, 2008! Join PLA at this unique event in Nashville, Tennessee. The Spring Symposium combines PLA’s highly-regarded educational programming with the opportunity to meet and mingle with your colleagues in a more intimate setting than the PLA National Conference. The Spring Symposium offers attendees the opportunity to attend one of seven day-and-a-half-long workshops. This allows for in-depth exploration on a topic relevant to public libraries, librarians, and staff members. Check this page regularly for updated information about programming and to register. Click here for handouts from the 2007 Spring Symposium.

Event Information & Registration Rates
Hotel Information
Special Events and Library Tours
Workshop Descriptions
Bonus Workshop

Event Information & Registration Rates

The 2009 Spring Symposium will be held Thursday, April 2 through Saturday, April 4 at the Nashville Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The Symposium features seven, day-and-a-half-long workshops, which will be held concurrently on April 3 and 4.

Early Bird Discounted Registration
PLA members/Tennessee Library Association members $250 (closes October 31)

Advance Registration

PLA/TLA members (after October 31) $275

ALA members $350

Non-members $425

Hotel Information

The Renaissance Nashville Hotel is directly connected to the Nashville Convention Center.

Renaissance Nashville Hotel
611 Commerce Street
Nashville, TN 37203
615-255-8400

In addition to being connected to the Nashville Convention Center and positioned in the business district, this recently renovated hotel in downtown Nashville is within walking distance of the Sommet Center, LP Field, B.B. King's Blues Club, Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, and Historic Second Avenue District. Please visit the hotel's Web site for more information about amenities.

Hotel Rates for Attendees: $199 single/double/triple/quad
15.25% tax plus a $2/night occupancy tax

Housing for PLA 2009 will open with registration on September 2, 2008. All reservations will require a credit card guarantee and one night’s deposit.  Deposits will be refunded for rooms canceled more than 72 hours prior to arrival. All housing requests for the 2009 Spring Symposium must be made by February 25, 2009.

Special Events and Library Tours

Opening General Session
Thursday, April 2, 7-9pm
Speaker TBD
Begin your 2009 Spring Symposium experience at the Opening General Session on Thursday, April 2 from 7-9pm. Following the keynote speaker, enjoy refreshments and mingle with colleagues at the dessert receptions. Information regarding the Opening General Session keynote speaker will be posted as it becomes available. This event is free for all attendees!

Author Luncheon
Friday, April 4, noon-1:30pm
$45 per person
Author TBD
Join us on Friday from noon-1:30pm this ever popular luncheon event. Information regarding the guest author for this event will be posted as it becomes available.

Library Tour 1
Thursday, April 2, 9am-1pm
Tour departs from the Renaissance Nashville Hotel at 9am.
$25 per person

Green Hills Branch
The first Green Hills Branch Library opened to the public in April 1969. The new branch, opened in 2000, is approximately four times larger at 25,000 square feet and houses approximately 110,000 volumes. The new building features a walking trail, a reading patio, and an interior skylight.

Madison Branch
The first Madison Branch Library opened on March 14, 1977 and served the community for more than 20 years. The new Madison Library opened on August 5, 2007 and was designed by Gobbell Hays Partners, Inc. The new branch reflects the library's investment in children with its theme, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Edmonson Pike Branch
Conceived as an "open and inviting civic space" by architects Tuck-Hinton, the Edmondson Pike branch, which opened in December 2000, was built to serve a growing community. It features an open, linear design accented by large windows and a trapezoid-shaped public meeting room. It won the Southern Area Business Council Architecture Award in 2002.

Library Tour 2
Saturday, April 4, 1–5pm
Tour departs from the Renaissance Nashville Hotel at 1pm.
$25 per person

East Branch
The fourth of the original Carnegie libraries in Nashville, the East branch was praised as an "architectural gem" when it opened on May 8, 1919. Having survived floods and tornadoes, the library was beautifully restored in 2000. The building features a limestone exterior, a marble foyer, large chandeliers, oak tables and chairs, and many other special features. East Branch is a Metro Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of only two surviving Carnegie public library buildings in Nashville.

Edgehill Branch
Edgehill was conceived as a neighborhood branch and designed to convey an intimate human scale rather than a grand monument when it opened in 1967. The 2001 renovation added technology and enhanced the original concept. The library is dedicated to Councilman Mansfield Douglas III, who served the Edgehill community for 36 years.

Thompson Lane Branch
Thompson Lane Branch has been serving the community since 1965. This library features an enclosed garden and was designed to complement nearby Coleman Park. It was completely renovated and restored in 2000.

Tours of the Nashville Public Library (Main Branch) -- Free!
Thursday, April 2, 1-3pm
Saturday, April 4, 1-3pm
No transportation will be provided. The library is within walking distance of the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.

Main Carnegie Library opened in 1904. In 1965, the New Main Public Library opened and was designated the Public Library of Nashville & Davidson County with its formal dedication in January 1966. This library was designated as Ben West Library in 1977. On June 9, 2001 the new 300,000 square foot Nashville Public Library building, designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, opened to the public.

Workshop Descriptions

All workshops will be held concurrently on Friday, April 3 from 8:30am-5:30pm and Saturday, April 4 from 8:30am-noon, with the exception of Workshop 6: Current Issues, a CPLA/PLA Workshop, which will conclude at 3:30pm on Saturday in order to meet CPLA requirements.

Workshop 1
Everyday Library Ethics: How the Right Thing is the Better Thing for Your Library and Community
Presenter: Pat Wagner, Management Consultant, Denver, Colorado
Library ethics is how you make and execute decisions, and treat people – every day. Learn how ethics impacts customer service and succession planning as well as finances, community outreach and your credibility with political and economic decision-makers. Fair-minded choices can build trust, respect and support for your library.

Workshop 2
Service Responses: Selecting and Implementing the Right Mix for Your Library
Presenters: Sandra Nelson, Consultant, Nashville, Tennessee; June Garcia, Consultant, Denver, Colorado
Can your library provide all of the services your resident want? Of course not! Learn how to use the PLA Service Responses in Strategic Planning for Results to identify activities, build responsive collections, and create dynamic spaces that will enable you to provide the quality services your customers need.

Workshop 3
Silk Purses and Sow’s Ears? Assessing the Quality of Public Library Statistics and Making the Most of Them
Presenters: Keith Lance, Library Educator/Consultant, Denver, Colorado; Joe Matthews, Coordinator, Executive MLIS Program, San Jose State University-SLIS, California; Larry Nash White, MLS Program Director, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina
Public library staff and managers consistently complain that library statistics are flawed. We spend a lot of time and effort collecting and reporting all sorts of numbers to all sorts of places.  Why do we count what? Where does it go? Is any of it really valuable in decision making? Learn about the metrics being used and how you can use them correctly from the experts

Workshop 4
Today’s Library: From the Inside Out
Presenters: Kim Bolan, Librarian/Consultant/Author, Indianapolis, Indiana; Tim Carl, Design Architect, Hammel, Green, and Abrahamson, Inc.; Marc Ciccarelli, Architect, Studio Techne, Cleveland, Ohio; Jane Dedering, Library Planner & Interior Designer, Hammel, Green, and Abrahamson, Inc.; Catherine Hakala-Ausperk, Deputy Director, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library, Ohio
Librarians often ask themselves, “How can I keep up with the exciting changes going on in the library without money for a new building or a total makeover?” This session will tell you how!  The panel will provide practical, how-to examples, ideas, and strategies that have transformed libraries across the country into vibrant centers of their communities. Attendees will learn planning and design lessons from a national consultant; “green” building tips from a successful architect; and “21st Century Customer” service practices that work!

Workshop 5
Libraries Connect in the 21st Century
Presenters: Andrea Mercado, Reference and Techie Librarian, Reading Public Library, Massachusetts; Leonard Souza, President, Acidblue, Ltd./Interactive Creative Director, Vision Airlines, Las Vegas, Nevada
This workshop will cover technology issues.

Workshop 6
Current Issues: A PLA/CPLA Workshop
Please Note: Completion of this course can be used as credit toward the Certified Public Library Administrator (CPLA) program, but you do not need to be enrolled in the CPLA certification program to attend the Current Issues Workshop.
Presenters: James McPeak, Library Practitioner/Instructor, Kent State University-SLIS, and Motivational Speaker, Ohio; George Needham, Vice President, Member and Community Services, OCLC, Columbus, Ohio
This workshop will provide working librarians with the skills and knowledge needed to develop plans for based on a close integration of the library with the community -- to move from “That Library AND the Environment” to “The Library IN the Environment.”  The course includes a variety of group exercises based on a case study about a medium-sized county library with multiple branches. Participants will apply what they have learned to their own institutions, identifying, describing, and addressing issues within their communities. Finally, the workshop will provide guidance on turning the message to build an environment-based vision for library service.

Bonus Workshop

Special Opportunity for PLA Members!

Turning the Page: Building Your Library Community
Developed by PLA with funding from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Turning the Page is an advocacy training program designed to equip librarians and library supporters with the skills, confidence, and resources they need to create community partnerships, build alliances with local and regional decision makers, and ultimately increase funding for their libraries. This training is primarily offered only library systems participating in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Opportunity Online hardware grants program, but is being offered free of charge to 200 PLA members at the 2009 Spring Symposium.

Turning the Page includes:

• Guest speakers who will inspire and motivate you to get excited about telling your library’s story.
• Six breakout sessions taught by subject matter experts and tailored specifically to your role in developing an advocacy plan at your library. 
• Access to multiple resources, including a free copy of the best-selling PLA publication, Libraries Prosper with Passion, Purpose, and Persuasion: A PLA Toolkit.
• Lunch on Friday with special lunchtime speakers to enlighten you about how funding decisions are made.
• Opportunities to network with your peers and learn what other libraries are doing to advocate for their library during and after the workshop.

The first 200 PLA members who register for the Turning the Page workshop will not be required to pay the Spring Symposium registration fee; however they will be required to hold their registration with a credit card. Hotel room charges will be the responsibility of the participant. Registration for Turning the Page is open only to PLA members and is first-come, first-served.

Visit www.sustaininglibraries.org for more information about Turning the Page. 
 

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