MLA by Lacey Louwagie/Marshall Lyon County Library

Thanks to funds from a SAMMIE scholarship, I was able to attend the Minnesota Library Association conference in Duluth, Minnesota. I attended sessions on a wide range of subjects, but my favorites were "The History of Copyright in 45 Minutes," "Board @ Your Library? Hot Board Games for Cool Librarians" and "To Boldly Go: Fantastical Journeys through Science Fiction Reader Advisory." The History of Copyright was a good refresher, as I'm constantly hoping to stay "on top of" copyright law when I work with teens who do remixes and video editing using their own material as well as that produced by others. Unfortunately, I was reminded that copyright law restrictions make things look pretty bleak for remixers (which is a bummer when I'd really like to just tell teens to let loose with their creativity.)

"Board @ Your Library" was the session that gave me the most info that I can use specifically in my work as a Teen Services Librarian.Two enthusiastic teen services librarians reviewed the best games for engaging teens, from the more traditional to the truly quirky. They left time at the end for attendees to play some of the games. My favorite was "Gloom," a card game in which you "win" by making your character as miserable as possible. Perfect to have on hand for Halloween parties or for teens who walk out-of-sync with the mainstream.

"To Boldly Go" was the session I took "just for me." My work makes me very well-versed in both new and old teen book titles, so I often fall behind on the "adult" versions of my favorite genre: Science Fiction and Fantasy. This session introduced me to a few new reading ideas, but it also reassured me that I'm still pretty well-versed when it comes to speculative fiction for adults.

Of course, one of the main benefits of attending an event like this is meeting other librarians. Once, I ended up seated at a table, completely by chance, full of teen services librarians OR adult services librarians who were being asked to start serving teens. Not only that, but we all came from libraries that served populations of about the same size. So there was some great energy and opportunity to exchange ideas there -- I hope those who were just starting out have discovered how much fun teen services can be by now. :)  Lacey Louwagie/Marshall Lyon County Library