Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Welcome to the Official BEA 2011 Librarian Blogger!


Before we introduce the Official BEA 2011Librarian Blogger, we want to thank the Official BEA 2010 Librarian Blogger, Theresa Webster. We appreciate all of Theresa’s work in helping BEA launch our Librarian Blog for the 2010 event.

Without further ado, we would like to welcome the Official BEA 2011 Librarian Blogger: Jill Dugas Hughes, executive director, Connecticut Library Consortium—a multi-type consortium helping to stretch the dollars for 850 member libraries in CT.

Jill brings a dynamic combination of library leadership and development expertise with the ultimate goal to encourage libraries and librarians alike to take risks and make the commitment to stay cutting edge.

“I believe in the value of collaboration and partnership. Libraries are forces for economic development, and are the ultimate equalizers. Information is knowledge, and knowledge is power,” Jill Dugas Hughes said.

Jill began her library career in NYS, where she earned an MLS from SUNY Buffalo and directed the Red Jacket Community Library, a combination public and K-12 school library. She also coordinated annual giving and community outreach programs for libraries. Jill has worked as a school librarian in Bridgeport, CT before spearheading what became Connecticut's first-ever library referendum campaign, resulting in a guaranteed 1 mill of the city budget allocated to the Bridgeport Public Library. Jill also has expertise in grant writing and oversight, marketing, web development, and project management, as well as experience in non-profits, academia, and library service to children.

Please give Jill a warm welcome to the BEA blogosphere. We look forward to her thoughts, insights, and to her creating some dynamic conversations with all our Librarian followers about the industry and BEA!

12 comments:

  1. Wow, you have a lot to manage in addition to being our "eyes" when at the BEA each spring! How have you found the BEA to be helpful to librarians, particularly considering the ever-shrinking budgets in our economy today?
    :>) Debra

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  2. Hi Debra, Thanks for your comment! I have found BEA to be an incredible arena to network! In a few days we can meet dozens of authors, network with hundreds of publishers, and have incredible conversations with colleagues. We can also use BEA as a forum to negotiate FABULOUS deals face to face! Negotiating is all about relationships, whether negotiating to bring an author to our local community, or discounts on purchases. What about you?

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  3. I don't think I'll be able to attend this upcoming conference but hoping for 2012 :>)

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  4. Does anyone have any idea which authors for teens/tweens will be present at the May 2010 BEA?

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  5. Hi JuliaSox,
    The 2010 list is posted here: http://searchitfindit.bookexpoamerica.com/?a=list&eventtype=authors
    BEA will be posting the list of guests in April for 2011! Hope this information helps. Do you have a wish list?
    Jill

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  6. Hi Litland.com-
    Sorry you will have to miss the 2011 BEA conference. Is there anything we can do to help you participate virtually?

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  7. Hi and thanks for asking. I am unfamiliar with what has been available in the past. However, I would assume if you had either simulcasts available during presentations or access on this website after the conference is over, you could probably accommodate a lot of people across the country who cannot attend without impacting conference attendance at all. Perhaps some presenters would permit their presentations to be uploaded to the website post-conference; perhaps some videos could be filmed or author talks uploaded to the site, or even synchronous (live) sessions online ("webinar") with one or more speakers.

    :) Debra

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  8. Thanks Debra for the suggestions! I will take them to BEA Headquarters and see what we can do---
    Keep checking this blog for new information about how to stay involved as it becomes available.
    Jill

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  9. A note of congratulations! A great job (and a pretty site—I'm very partial to your green).

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  10. Thanks Beth!
    Glad to see you on here. Anything in particular you would like to see covered on the BEA official librarian blog???
    Best,
    Jill

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  11. I came upon this blog while searching for the dates of the next BEA convention. It is great. Kudos to Jill.

    I would like to see comments regarding the possibility of BEA helping librarians attend their conventions. LIBER (International Book Fair in Spain) and the FIL in Guadalajara provide some assistance with flight and hotel expenses for librarians. Now that most of our public libraries have had their budgets dramatically reduced and liberarians are taking furlough days without pay in order to keep their jobs, attending conventions is very difficult. These conventions provide us with a wealth of information, especially BEA, as it alerts us to forthcoming books and trends in the publishing world.

    Any thoughts about this?

    Regards,

    Milly

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  12. Milly,
    What an interesting idea! This economy is a tough one for us all. Libraries have been particularly hard-hit. I wonder who might be up for funding scholarships??? Any thoughts?
    Best,
    Jill

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