Registration Form Dear GLA Members, Please mark your calendars and plan to attend the Georgia Library Association's Annual Mid-Winter Planning Meeting on Friday, January 27, 2012 at the Downs Continuing Education Center at Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia. This 2012 kick-off meeting is an important event for all GLA members, especially those interested in influencing COMO 2012. The Southeastern Library Association (SELA) will be joining us for COMO in Macon, October 3-5, so if you're daydreaming of a stellar program that you could organize, now is the ideal time! Let's make sure Georgia stands out – in a good way – across libraries in our region and nationally! Before and during the Mid-Winter Planning Meeting, you will have the opportunity to commit to Committees, direct your Divisions and show interest in Interest Groups. January 27 is the perfect opportunity to connect with colleagues and friends from all over Georgia as we launch the year. Our keynote speaker will be Jay Turner, Director of Continuing Education for the Georgia Public Library Service. He's planning to speak about "Developing Future-Forward Skills: Benefits and Best Practices of Library Continuing Education." This talk will focus on CE while weaving in bits about branding and storytelling to benefit all types of libraries. Jay is an ALA Learning contributing author and was selected as an ALA Emerging Leader in 2008. Since then, he has gone on to chair PLA's Communities of Practice Task Force. Jay tweets @lawlesslbrarian, so we should hear some practical take home ideas on how to spice up staff and personal development. The meeting will be held from 9:00am to 2:15pm. There is a registration fee of $35, which will include a continental breakfast and a hot lunch buffet. Registration forms must be received by Friday, January 20, 2012 to confirm your lunch reservation. The breakfast and registration period runs until 9:45am when the business meeting gets under way. Members of the GLA Board will meet from 2:30pm to 3:30pm after the planning meeting concludes. Chairs of committees, division and IG leaders are encouraged to stay for the Board meeting to give brief updates on the day's sessions. Whether or not you are able to attend, please return your Committee Preference form by January 12 to tell me how you would like to serve GLA. Although you may miss out on a day of social networking the traditional way, know that your involvement is still much needed and wanted. Committees will meet electronically, and if the need arises will meet again in person to complete tasks, so don't feel like you'll miss out on everything. However, I can't…no, I won't do this WITHOUT YOU! I look forward to collaborating with you this year. Share your ideas for an even greater GLA! Liz Bagley 2012 GLA President |