As the dogwood and azaleas bloomed in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Public Library Association’s Eighth National Conference March 28–April 1 blossomed into a record-breaking event for PLA with total conference attendance at 7,528, including 1,523 exhibitor representatives at 610 exhibit booths and tables.
Michael Gelb, author of the best-selling How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, described the great Renaissance painter, architect, and sculptor to attendees at the opening session. Identifying seven critical principles that da Vinci thought led to success, Gelb compared the seventh, the “interconnectedness of all things,” with ALA President Sarah A. Long’s theme of “Libraries build communities.”
The hottest topic at the conference was e-books and the need for libraries to respond to the growing consumer demand for them. “There’s no escaping it,” said Linda Mielke, director of Carroll County (Md.) Public Library and the organizer of a panel of librarians and industry professionals. “We’re in for a whopper of a change. It’s as inevitable as page two follows page one.”
A full report on the conference will appear in the May issue of American Libraries.
Posted April 10, 2000.