NELA Conference is October 17-19, 2010

Learn how to work “Outside the Box” to meet today’s challenges for your library. The 2010 New England Library Association Annual Conference will be held October 17 – 19 at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough, Massachusetts. Join your colleagues from across the region for this exciting educational and networking event. You can save $30 (if you are a NELA member) by registering before October 9th.

The Sunday banquet program “The Joy of Censorship” is in reality an illuminating, satiric and at times disturbing examination of our most hotly debated First Amendment issues. Joe Raiolo, Senior Editor of MAD Magazine, sheds light on the endless arguments over banned books, movie ratings, the FCC, the Patriot Act, Internet filters, the true meaning of obscenity, and more. He also reviews some of MAD’s most controversial, thought-provoking and outrageous covers and articles.

Award-winning author Janet Taylor Lisle is the speaker for the Monday New England Roundtable of Teen and Children’s Librarian’s luncheon. Her books for children and teens address a wide variety of topics, from historical fiction to fantasy adventures. Among her best-known titles are Black Duck, Forest, Afternoon of the Elves and the recent Highway Cats.

At the Tuesday Author Luncheon Marilyn Johnson, author of This Book is Overdue and The Dead Beat, paints an admiring picture of the role of libraries and their staffs in an age of information overload. The USA Today review called This Book is Overdue “a humorous, unabashed love letter to the men and women who used to toil quietly in stacks but now circulate in cyberspace."

Here is a sample of the programs planned for the 2010 conference:

• Cheryl Bryan, author of Managing Facilities for Results will talk about Spaces for New Services at 3:30 on Sunday, 10/17. Ms. Bryan will also moderate a panel on Mentoring Magic at 8:30 on Monday, 10/18.
• Irene Herold, Dean of Mason Library at Keene State College and Mary Ann List, Director of Portsmouth Public Library will present Developing Relationships: Friendraising to Fundraising on Sunday 10/17 at 4pm.
• On Monday, 10/18 at 4pm there will be a program on Self Service in Libraries with Charles Matthews, Librarian, Nashua Public Library and Carol Verny & Catherine Page of the Haverhill (MA) Public Library.
• On Tuesday, 10/19 at 8:30 Claudia Mayer (Manchester City Library) and Sandy Whipple (Goffstown Public Library) will present More Than Home Delivery: Outreach Outside the Box.
• Steve Butzel, Assistant Director, Portsmouth Public Library, will present Online Newstand, a program about how his library uses its website to direct patrons to a wealth of licensed online content on Tuesday, 10/19 at 4pm