From Torino to Milan, for IFLA 2009…

Speaking at the IFLA pre-conference: Libraries as Space & Place

Following a fantastic pre-conference session in Torino, I’ve arrived in Milan for the main IFLA conference. It’s a few degrees cooler here so the Scottish skin is coping slightly better with the heat! 😉

I had a free day on Saturday to explore the city; and what a wonderful city it is!  Milan is so much more beautiful than I expected as I’d heard from others that it was quite an ugly, industrial city.  Nothing could be further from the truth! Since arriving I’ve had the opportunity to explore some beautiful green spaces, cathedrals and even participated in a salsa music festival in the park!

Today, however, I’m spending the full day at the conference venue.  The programme is jam packed full of sessions that are relevant to my research area.  Unfortunately, the three sessions I’m most excited about: Public Libraries and Metropolitan Libraries; Statistics and Evaluation; and Management & Marketing; are all on at the same time, so I’m dipping in and out of each one.

This afternoon there’s a keynote speech from Alistair Black, in the Libraries for Young Adults and Library Buildings & Equipment section…I think this might be a conference highlight for me! 🙂

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Libraries as Space and Place…

National University Library, Torino

This week I am in Torino, Italy for the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) pre-conference.   The theme for this meeting is Libraries as Space and Place and there are speakers from all over the world attending; check out the full programme here.    The pre-conference is split into three sub-themes:

Wednesday 19 August 2009
New libraries, new spaces with new challenges

Thursday 20 August 2009
Libraries as a Third Space

Friday 21 August 2009
Finding New Design Solutions

I’ll be speaking tomorrow about the public library as an impartial space in the 21st Century; discussing whether or not this is a realistic or romantic notion.

We’ve just completed a tour of the Royal Library of Torino, which is a fascinating place.  Not only does it house the majority of the Italian Royal Family collection, but the archives are home to some of Italy’s treasures, including original sketches by Leonardo Da Vinci, which we got to see!:)

I’m looking forward to this afternoon’s sessions, which features speakers from Italy, Australia,  Singapore, Birmingham and Canada:

• 14.30 Session 1: The Turin Library System and the City.
  Paolo Messina, Director, Turin City Library System, Italy
• 15.00 Session 2: Beyond co-location: designing and managing new model library spaces and services to reflect trends in convergence and integration.
  Sue Boaden, Director, Australia Street Company P/L, Sydney, Australia and Carina Clement, Cultural Programs and Audience Development Team Leader, Library Museum, Albury City Council, New South Wales, Australia.
• 15.30 Session 3: The UnLibrary – library within a library.
  Damien Wang, National Library of Singapore.
• 16.00 Session 4: The Library of Birmingham – Hub of the Knowledge Economy
  Brian Gambles, Assistant Director, Culture, Birmingham City Council and Francesco Veenstra, Partner Architect, Mecanoo, UK.
• 16.30 Session 5: In the Words of the Users: The role of the urban public library as place
  Francine May, Librarian, Mount Royal College, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

And now, for a spot of lunch before the real work begins! 🙂

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A summer of library conferences to look forward to…

It’s that time of year again; I’m gearing up for a summer of library conferences and I’m so, so excited!   

First up there’s the CILIPS conference (Branch Group Day) on 3rd June at Peebles Hydro, featuring sessions with Jay Jordan (OCLC), Richard Boulderstone (British Library), Brian Kelly (UKOLN) and David Potts (MLA)…plus lots more; check out the programme here.  

Then the next day I’m heading down to Warwick for the Society of Chief Librarians Conference, which I’m presenting at on the Friday.  I’ll be discussing “Social Value: identifying, measuring and sharing some of the less obvious ways that public libraries contribute to economic regeneration”.  

A few weeks later it’s off to Turin, Italy to attend the Pre-congress satellite for the IFLA World Library and Information Congress (2009) to present a co-authored paper on “Public libraries as impartial spaces in the 21st Century” .  The programme for this looks amazing; check it out here.  Then it’s a quick train journey through to Milan to attend the 75th IFLA General Conference and Assembly!

Phew!  Will be a busy few months but I know I’ll have a fantastic time! Drop me a line if you’re planning to attend any of these conferences and we can arrange to meet up in the hallways! 🙂

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