This past weekend’s Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL) Annual Conference in Sacramento was a huge success. The feedback from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive.
The Sacramento conference was ARSL’s largest– 250+ participants from 32 states and Canada, including 2 State Librarians, and Mary Ghikas from ALA attended. The majority of participants were directors and staff of small public libraries, but representatives from many state libraries, regional systems and consortiums were also on board. Attendees will share what they learned with their libraries, and start implementing new strategies right away, which is a major conference goal.
Conference Chair and incoming ARSL President, Patty Hector, Assistant System Director, North Bay, North State and Mountain Valley Library Cooperative Systems, said: "There were rave reviews from those in attendance. They loved the keynote speakers, who included Susan Hildreth, George Needham and Joan Frye Williams, the break-out sessions, and the lovely reception held at the California State Library." Hector encourages everyone to calendar next year's ARSL Conference in Gatlinburg Tennessee -- September 11 – 13, 2009 -- and to start planning now!
Handouts from most workshop programs are available on the ARSL website - www.webjunction.org/arsl - and several programs were video-taped and will be archived soon so that others may view them. Watch the website for those additions.