Notes from a first ALA
First impressions from four days on the floor of the ALA conference in Chicago.
While still fresh in my mind I'd like to put forward some impressions from a first time visitor of the ALA Conference in Chicago.
In the past I've been to the SLA (RIP) conferences in both Toronto and San Diego, but this was another animal altogether, and the first day it left me feeling like a slightly overwhelmed introvert country gal.
Yes, Ossus is a startup determined to bring the enthusiasm over the fact that we are there in the first place, hoping to show off a product that we truly believe in and are very proud of, in addition to really getting to the future problems we could possibly solve for librarians and library workers. No, we did not have the most sizzling merch nor the expensive booth decor, but we had fun and I think it showed. The word spread and people tracked us down to find out more, which was both encouraging and just plain nice.
From all over
But all that aside, I've had so many great discussions with librarians from all over. When I say "all over", I mean ALL OVER! From Ghana in Africa and from literally down the street. From teacher librarians with warm hugs to hard core cataloguers from deep down "the vaults". And from book enthusiasts with other professions to managing directors of "frou frou" institutions. Maybe the main corporate takeaways from our first ALA are not so easy to pinpoint, but all long-lasting relationships must start with a simple "Hey, how are you doing today? Have you got a minute?"
A recurring theme was not only the perceived threat but an actual first hand experienced threat to democracy, and the testament to the decommissioning of support structures such as funding and legislation. We met real fear and anger but also a decisiveness and determination, a clenched fist in pocket if you will. The image of coal mine canaries from the documentary The Librarians came to mind several times in the four days we spent in the big hall of the McCormick Center.
Never been this close to the frontline of democracy and the true impact of what we do.
It's part of why we're doing this. If we can give librarians back even a little time and headspace from the day-to-day, that's time they get to spend on the things that actually matter right now.
Less skepticism than we expected
My second reflection was that even though we were anticipating more AI skepticism, we instead found mainly curiosity and forward leaning readiness! We still believe AI will be central to the future of libraries, but we understand it's a challenge that needs to be navigated carefully. That means we pledge to listen carefully to the concerns we heard this week, not just the hype; to never train our systems on personal data, treating it instead with the integrity and safety it deserves; and to be open about how our tools actually work, so librarians are never left in the dark about what's happening behind the scenes.
Ok, so I did also have a young visitor with a T-shirt captioned "Don't Talk to Me About AI. I Will Kill Myself". I raised my hands, backed away and she laughed, we shared a moment and then she was gone in the crowd.
My best meeting, all potential leads aside, was with three graduating LIS students, excited for their futures as public librarians bringing hope and humour! I asked them to come back on the final day and share their greatest finds with me and lo and behold, they did!! Good luck to you: "go girls, seek happy nights to happy days"!
- Best booth except ours: Books Unbanned
- ALA 2027 I will: sneak away more and attend some seminars
- Reading right now (yes, I read books): Radical School Librarianship (ed. Judi Morelli) and The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer
Librarian
A librarian who wrote her dissertation on integrated library systems, and now helps build one. She is making sure the shift to AI is threaded with care, so it works for librarians and the communities they serve, not in place of them.