I presented my quarterly State Librarian webcast on Tuesday, June 13th. In my webcasts I include much interesting and timely information so I encourage you to either log-on and ask me your questions when I am speaking “live” or to visit my archived webcasts on the Infopeople website at your convenience. My fall webcast is scheduled for Wednesday, September 20th – mark your calendar!

I attended the American Library Association Conference in New Orleans at the end of June. I am proud that the American Library Association chose to have the conference in New Orleans, a planning decision that enabled conference attendees to contribute to the local economy. While in New Orleans, the entire ALA group saw that New Orleans and its surrounding neighbors are still in dire need of assistance. If you are interested in assisting the good people and libraries of this region, I encourage you to continue offering them your time, expertise, materials or other resources so that the community can improve the minimal services currently available.

At the end of the New Orleans ALA conference, I assumed the office of President of the Public Library Association (PLA). My term will last until June 2007, when another Californian assumes that post: congratulations to Jan Sanders, Pasadena Public Library Director, for being elected vice-president of PLA! Most PLA members receive Public Libraries, PLA’s quarterly that includes my “From the President” column. Please check it out – I always use examples from California libraries in my essays! My July/August column topic was “Developing Partnerships for Free Choice Learning,” and the September/October topic is “A Call to Action,” a discussion of adult literacy, and there’s more to come over the next year.

In early July, I traveled to Washington, DC, to participate in an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) panel that reviewed applications for the 2006 Partnership for a Nation of Learners’ grant proposals. This program is a joint offering between IMLS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that provides funding for local projects between a library and/or a museum and a public broadcasting station. In DC, it was exciting for me to learn more about these potential projects and to understand how to present effective IMLS proposals.

I came back to California from DC just in time for the opening of the Mission Bay Branch Library opening in San Francisco. Please read more about the Mission Bay opening in this issue.

In late July, I attended an Executive Leadership Institute sponsored by the Chief Officers of the State Library Agencies (COSLA), “Sustaining State Library Agencies in the 21st Century.” The institute was held in Madison, Wisconsin, a lovely college town famous for its cheese and beer! At the COSLA Institute, I not only learned from the experiences of some long-tenured state librarians, I was also able to work with colleagues from around the nation on case studies based on real-life issues.

On August 15th I attended the initial planning meeting on CLSA system consolidation at the San Jose Public Library where individuals representing all the CLSA systems discussed models for consolidation. Everyone participated in a “fishbowl” exercise watching several Bay Area CLSA systems deliberating about possible system consolidations. The “fishbowl” observers, invited to make comments at the end of the exercise, had lots of reactions. I think its great that the meeting gave the participators license to “think out of the box” on all kinds of cooperative services and resources.

On Friday, August 18, I was lucky to attend the dedication and ribbon cutting for the gorgeous Victoria Gardens Cultural Center in Rancho Cucamonga. This fabulous complex includes a library, a theater and an event space; and is adjacent to a beautiful, new shopping center. The Cultural Center is truly a community destination and I was very glad that the California State Library, through Proposition 14 funding, could provide support for this exciting project. Look for photos of the Victoria Gardens opening in this issue of CSL Connection.

Finally, I want to extend a personal invitation for everyone to visit Sacramento in November for the California Library Association (CLA) Annual Conference. It is a great time of year in the Capitol City and the variety and breadth of restaurant choices has expanded greatly since the CLA conference was last in our fair town. I encourage all of you to attend the State Library Reception on Sunday, November 12 from 6-7:30pm. Through the generous support of the California State Library Foundation and Infopeople, please join us for a peek at one of the state’s real treasures, the Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building on the lovely Capitol Mall. Read more about the CSL reception in this issue.