Curious about the Poster Session for SJSU at the ALA Conference 2020?
Want to see what networking can do for you?
See what one of last year’s presenters had to say!
I co-presented a poster at the SJSU poster session at the ALA Annual Conference in 2019.
Our poster was themed around the growing rates of food insecurity and the need to establish partnerships between public libraries and organizations that provide free food. The poster was focused on streamlining the steps necessary to establish partnership in order to ease the burden on public library staff. Food insecurity is a passion project of mine and because of this I attended the Food for Thought program session, which discussed different ways that libraries are helping food insecure patrons.
After the session, I introduced myself to one of the presentation speakers who, coincidentally, turned out to be a Board member for the Public Library Association. I pitched her my idea about centralizing the many different ways that libraries are developing food programs by developing a handbook to establish partnerships and she loved the idea.
Although she could not attend the poster session that evening, I diligently followed up with her until I scheduled a phone interview during which I was able to provide her with more information about the project. The Board member put me in touch with a woman at PLA publishing who is very much interested in the idea. It’s been almost a year since I networked my way into the PLA publishing circle and, after months of regularly following up, our application has been accepted and we are currently working on submitting the handbook for publication.
I am so thankful that my participation lead to a conversation about how libraries can do more to reach food insecure patrons. I was able to make hugely important contacts and am thrilled to be working towards my first professional publication that has the potential to positively impact patrons across the country.
-Sharaya Olmeda, SJSU iSchool grad 2019
Come see what doors will open if you show up and present your poster! The iSchool will be hosting a free reception at the ALA conference on June 27th, 2020 in Chicago, IL. Sign up by April 30th, 2020 to present your poster, and enjoy complimentary food and beverages!
The iSchool will print your poster for free and you do not have to be registered for the ALA Conference in order to attend or present at the reception.
Sign up to present your research here: http://bit.ly/ALA2020PosterSession
