I should have sent this to you sooner. I went to a conference in Grand Rapids last month. I had hoped Jeff could come, but he couldn't get time off from work. Grand Rapids is so much more cosmopolitan than Dearborn; it made me homesick for New York. It's hard to believe I moved back to Dearborn 15 years ago. It's hard to believe that 15 years isn't a larger percentage of my life.
The conference was a general disappointment, but I'm not sure why. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but it could be that the sessions were too entry level for me. I think that was a problem combined with the fact that I really do want to focus on library work and the conference was geared more towards technology for classroom teachers. Sometimes I feel like librarians are the lone voices in the wilderness trying to stop administrators from shooting themselves in the collective feet. Some of them are so simpleminded and some of them seem to be so scared. I often think of "The Emperor's New Clothes" when I'm in meetings. One person will present a program that's framed in such a way that it is sure to solve every problem and it will have a glaring defect. Instead of asking a question or pointing out the potential pitfall, the administrators will look around the room, gauging the reactions of others and adjust theirs accordingly. I have to admit that I don't speak up much, either. But I'm not one of them. Yet.
I love you and I miss you. I wish you were here for a hug.
Connie
