I always try to read at least a few library student blogs, because I think having a new set of eyes on some of the things we’ve been doing for years is often useful. Graham Lavender just went to an IFLA conference and I found that his experiences mirror my own feelings about my first national ALA conference. Librarians: friendly, love to dance. Really.
I had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting of the Conference of Directors of National Libraries, where the head librarians from over 50 countries sat around a table and each had a tiny little flag at their seat, which is exactly what I imagine the UN must be like. Afterwards, some of them stayed behind to have a glass of wine with the students (there were seven of us, one from each library school in Canada), and it was all very casual and friendly.
