MLA’s 2013 Annual Conference is packed with informative, entertaining and timely programs – something for every interest.  With topics including advocacy, reference services, collection development, public instruction, social media, government information, eBooks and eReaders, dealing with an ILS migration and so much more, this conference is sure to engage any staff member.  And did I mention authors?  We’ve got more authors than you can shake a stick at!  We’ve got authors coming out of our ears!  

 

Wednesday, April 24

• Always a crowd-pleaser, the Mass. Center for the Book returns with Speed Dating with the Mass. Book Must-Read Authors.
  
  
• MLA’s Paralibrarian Section offers a track of programs including the debut of the new Paralibrarian Certification Program, and the highly anticipated Book Cart Drill Team Competition.
  
  
• The Western Massachusetts Library Advocates present the first of two important and timely programs at the conference, Afraid to Advocate?  Get Over It!
  
  
• A panel of experts discusses a challenging library service issue in They Don’t Outgrow It: Lifespan Services to Patrons with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Thursday, April 25

• You want more authors?  You won’t get a stronger panel than this one!  Christopher Castellanni, Laura Harrington, and Claire Messud show how Local Authors Strut Their Stuff!
  
  
• National favorite Skip Dye, VP Library and Academic Marketing and Digital Sales from Random House will lead a panel discussion called Print and Digital Publishing: How are Publishers, Editors and Authors Adapting.
  
  
• Library trend or library fad?  Maxine Bleiweis, director of the Westport Public Library in CT will offer thoughts about her libraries Maker Space!
  
  
• MLA’s Youth Service Section opens strong with an appearance by author Peter H. Reynolds before tackling such topics as The Common Core and Non Fiction, The Accidental Teen Librarian, and Serving Underserved Youth.
  
  
• MLA’s Technical Services Section addresses such timely subjects as RDA Today, Collection Analysis, and Technical Services and Special Collections.

• Special Offsite Event  Take Action: The State House Tour for Librarians
  Here’s your chance to know the ins and outs of getting to and around the State House before the next Library Legislative Day. The coach shuttle departs from the MLA Conference Registration Desk at 10:30 a.m. We will return to the MLA Conference Registration Desk by coach shuttle at 1:00 p.m. See the conference schedule for full details.

Friday, April 26

• Oh, did you want more authors?  Do you love mysteries?  Join Linda Barnes, William Landay, and Katherine Hall Page, for a lively panel titled Whodunnit?  Who are the Fantastic Mystery Authors Visiting MLA?
  
  
• The changing nature of the publishing industry and its relationship with libraries is a popular topic, and closing day of the conference features two provocative programs on the subject.  First, the Western Massachusetts Library Advocates will present a panel that includes an author, a book artist, a publisher and a bookstore owner titled The State of the Book in the Digital Age.  Then college professor Tim Laquintano from Lafayette College in PA will present Beyond the Flood Metaphor: Understanding Digital Authorship and the Rapid Growth of Self-Publishing.
  
  
• Reference lives on despite pronouncements of its death.  Challenge your ideas about reference at On Life Support, but Not Dead Yet! Revitalizing Reference for the 21^st Century.
  
  
• MLA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee last year’s popular speaker, Dr. Arlene Bielefeld back to the conference to present Privacy – Is There Still Such a Thing?