CLA 2024 Recap
Hi, it’s your blogging coordinator, Sabrina! Did you miss CLA 2024, the California Library Association conference in Pasadena? If so, check out this post for highlights!
The California Library Association annual conference was held this past weekend on October 17-19, in Pasadena, California. I was fortunate to receive grant funds from the iSchool to attend the conference on Friday.
CLA entrance
iSchool booth
The floor was packed with exhibits, panels, and speakers. Matt Gutman opened the conference, and Mychal Threets closed the conference as a speaker.
Cat (ALASC Events Coordinator and AANHPI vice chair) with Mychal Threets
A few SJSU students had poster sessions, both virtual and in person, and here are a few images of their posters…
Cat and Shannon of ALASC with their poster, “Organizational Preservation: From The Perspective of an ALA Student Chapter”.
Shannon Broden with her poster, “Instructional Design in Virtual Worlds”. Check out this link here to the full video to the Second Life presentation that the poster covers!
The exhibitors were a few local library branches and California library organizations, including Pasadena library who hosted the convention. LA county had a booth and bookmobile, the LA Public Library also had a booth, and California State Library had a booth. Attendees were able to customize a tote and participate in a scavenger hunt. Many booths also had free swag!
LA County Library Bookmobile
Some of the panels included, “Building Confidence: Tips and Tricks for Presenting at Conferences and Beyond”, “Lights, Camera, Action! Supporting Content Creation @ Your Library”, and “Seeking Immortality: Preserving the Language and Cultural Heritage of the Northern Cheyenne in Virtual Reality”.
The iSchool reception was held at the Westin hotel, which was a short walk from the convention center, in which current students, prospective students, faculty, friends, and alumni were able to meet and network with each other.
ALASC 2025 executive Committee from left to right (Sabrina Bobadilla – Blog Coordinator, Cat Tang – Events Coordinator, Jade Dean – Chair, Eddie Lagos – Membership Coordinator)
Also, ALASC’s own Shannon Broden is the winner of the CLA 2024 Technology New Leader award! Help us in congratulating Shannon! CLA writes, “In virtual worlds as Kreatya Shannon, Shannon Broden is a member of VCARA – a virtual worlds and VR common interest group founded in Second Life in 2009 by the School of Information at San Jose State University – celebrating 15 years this year. She also serves as Directory Lead for the board of the Community Virtual Library, which maintains listings of educational communities in the Metaverse, as well as contact information for those willing to mentor others in the virtual space.”
Congratulations to Shannon!
Shannon with current CLA president Shawn Thrash, taken by Kevin Paul Shaw Broden.
A few other SJSU students, faculty, and alumni were honored at CLA, including:
Beth Wren-Estes – Faculty, CLA Hall of Fame
Dolly Lopez – SJSU Alum, CLA Technology Professional Award
Autumn Thompson – SJSU student, Youth Services Award
Caroline Chow and Karina Dominquez – SJSU student, Yelland Scholarship
Mirna Gutierrez-Salcedo – SJSU Student, Begun Scholarship
Katie Burns and Danielle Murr-Pinsker – SJSU Student, Karatsu Scholarship
Congrats to everyone who won!
While conferences can be costly and stressful, the iSchool encourages students to visit if they have the opportunity. Visit this link here to apply for a grant to an upcoming conference, and also consider presenting virtually!
We hope you enjoyed this CLA recap, and look forward to possibly meeting you at future conferences!