2010 Annual Conference — Libraries: Essential; Library Staff – Priceless!

April 21 - 23, 2010 - Clarion Resort, Ocean City, Maryland

Andrea Shore, MLA Conference Director

There's a treasure waiting for you this April 21 – 23rd -- the 2010 MLA Annual Conference at the oceanfront Clarion Resort Hotel and Conference Center in beautiful Ocean City, MD.

The focus this year is VALUE. Across Maryland, libraries and library staff continue to provide an outstanding value, especially in these uncertain economic times. Our goal is to provide an outstanding, more-bang-for-the-buck, conference offering up a wealth of fresh ideas, useful information, practical tools, and fun! And because we know the value of humor (so good for you and your health!), we’ll provide plenty of that too at no extra cost.

Conference highlights include three exciting keynote speakers: Alan Zweibel, award-winning author and writer of Saturday Night Live and Curb Your Enthusiasm fame; Rafael Alvarez, journalist, author, and writer for the hit HBO crime drama, The Wire; and Sebastien Gendry, author and charismatic teacher of the dynamic international Laughter Yoga movement.

Join experts from the National Children’s Museum to learn how to create quality family literacy programs on a budget, talk with panels of experts to develop vital community partnerships, pick up professional tips to package and market your skills in a tough job market, explore social networking and teen programming with teen specialists, and much more!

So mark your calendars and prepare to make the most of your Maryland Library Association Conference 2010!

View full article in The CRAB.

MLA Happy Hour/Jam Session

Kick off the conference with the Wednesday Nite MLA Happy Hour and Jam Session! Meet old friends and make new ones at the Clarion Restaurant and Lounge from 7:30 PM until ? Enjoy the MLA signature drink special and $1 beer, bring your instrument for an impromptu jam session, or just hang out and chill. Bonus points awarded for creating the best MLA Theme Song! See you there!

4th Annual Pub Quiz

Librarians, trivia freaks? YES! We love knowing something about everything! Now you can be rewarded for storing years of random knowledge at the 4th Annual conference Pub Quiz!

Join quizmaster extraordinaire, Michael Gannon (PGCMLS), and your fellow librarians as they match wits, share laughs, and vie for fun prizes and bragging rights.

And just to keep things interesting, we've added fabulous door prizes and a bit of Live-Action Auction featuring amazing items and fantastic bidding wars. It's a veritable Roman coliseum cage match of events! As always cash bar available, pub atmosphere and bar snacks free of charge.

Not-So-Silent Auction – Better than Ever!

This year's Silent Auction will be a bit noisier than usual...Revved up and revamped, with plenty of fantastic booty fit for every budget, it's a Do Not Miss event! Join the excitement and bring your piggy bank to bid on everything from cool electronic gadgets, assorted fine wines, wonderful bed and breakfast getaways, sports ephemera, yummy edibles, and more!

Highlights of the auction include an amazing collection of Baskets of Bounty, featuring the "best of" flavors from each region or organization, and a special behind-the-scenes visit to NYPL with Paul Holdengraber, which includes a one night stay at The Library, one of the hottest boutique hotels in NYC!

And don’t miss the Live-Action Auction, a special mini-event sharing the spotlight with the 4th Annual Pub Quiz Thursday evening. Don’t miss out!