Visiting countries other than one’s own provides new perspectives on how to do things one is accustomed to seeing done in a particular way. Having attended conferences in other countries the past few months, I have gained new perspectives on practices at library conferences. I have wondered which would enhance the conference experience for ALA members at ALA’s Annual Conference.

• In May in Chihuahua the annual conference of Asociacion Mexicana de Bibliotecarios (AMBAC) opened with a series of speeches from local government officials and a uniformed color guard which presented Mexico’s flag. The assembly then sang the national anthem.

• In June in Ukraine the Crimea 2008 conference in Sudak also opened with a series of speeches by local government officials and other dignitaries. The conference flag and Was raised as part of the opening ceremony. A spirited closing ceremony included performances by a military band a girls’ marching drum corps.

• In July at the 2008 Sino-US Forum for Library Practice, co-sponsored by the Chinese American Librarians Association, in Kunming, China, participants sat at long tables. Each place was set with a notebook, pen, and a covered tea cup. Before the first session of the day started, hotel staff filled the cups, one by one, with hot water. During the session they replenished the hot water.

• In August at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Quebec City, the closing session included a video about libraries and other cultural institutions in Milan, site of the 2009 conference. It also included a short musical performance by two young musicians who are students at the Verdi music school in Milan.

Which of these practices would enhance the participants experience at ALA’s Annual Conference? I am partial to the tea service at the Kunming conference; however scaling that from a conference for about 200 to a conference for more than 20,000 would be a huge challenge.

Which of these would ALA members welcome? Post a comment sharing your ideas!

ALA and Women’s Day magazine want to hear your ideas for a topic that gives Women’s Day readers an opportunity to tell the world how important their library is to them.

The Campaign for America’s Libraries, ALA’s public awareness campaign about the value of libraries and librarians, has partnered with Woman’s Day magazine since 2002. Each year, Woman’s Day readers are invited to respond to a question about libraries, and up to four readers’ contributions are published in a spring issue of the magazine.

We would like to solicit your ideas for future topics to be featured in Woman’s Day.

Past editorial topics were:

* How the library improved my health (2008 - article to be published in the March 2009 issue)

* Starting my small business with help from the library (2007)

* How the library changed my life (2006)

* Researching my family tree at the library (2005)

* Why I would want to be a librarian for a day (2004)

* The book that changed my life (2003)

* The relationship between writers and the library (2002)

If you would like to submit an idea, please send an e-mail to Megan McFarlane by Friday, August 29. Please feel free to forward on this message.