ALA San Francisco was wonderful. I went to ALA with two personal goals: 1) find new ideas for my library space, and 2) meet the RefMe reps. EasyBib is changing the format of its subscription and as a result the annual fee is skyrocketing. RefMe looks like it will fill the need for a citation generator and meeting the reps in San Francisco would help to answer questions and see a demo.

Biggest take aways:

RefMe
We met the owners of the company and they are most willing to help our entire state with replacing EasyBib at a free and/or affordable rate depending on what each school needs. They are also setting up a webinar for anyone interested in our state to learn more about what RefMe has to offer. This information was sent out to our state listserv and the webinar will take place on August 18th at 9:00am.

Affiliate Assembly
Representing NH for AASL is an honor and attending the Affiliate Assembly meeting and hearing from other librarians from all over the country helps NH keep a pulse on what is happening nationwide.

• Knowledge Quest is looking for writers! http://knowledgequest.aasl.org/write/
• AASL needs you! Get involved with AASL, there are many areas to contribute http://www.ala.org/aasl/getinvolved
• AASL at ALA midwinter is in Boston this year! http://www.ala.org/aasl/conferences/midwinter
• 2015 list of best apps is out. http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/best-apps/2015
• Become a member of AASL http://www.ala.org/aasl/join
• New AASL President Leslie Preddy will be attending out NHSLMA conference in May!
• We also voted for the commendation recipients. You can see the 2014 list here: http://www.ala.org/aasl/about/affils/commend-current

Reading for Banned Books Week:

1. Supply a bookshelf full of banned/challenged books.
2. Allow people to choose a book and passage to read.
3. Reader introduces self and why they chose passage.
4. Record the reading and post to social media during banned books week.

I did this at ALA and they will be creating a YouTube channel during Banned Books Week but what a great idea to bring to your school and recreate on a local level?

Overall, traveling to San Francisco was an amazing experience and one that I would not have had if it weren't for the support of NHSLMA and the Ballard Leadership Grant. I look forward to presenting at AASL in November, I was chosen to present a poster session and to attend midwinter in Boston. Hope to see you there!