Chris Jowaisas's blog

We wanted to thank all of the TLA members and exhibitors who participated in the H-E-B Read 3 Literacy program book drive at the 2012 Annual Conference.

Tomorrow morning there will be a repeat of the following session, "QR Codes: Smart Applicability for Your Library" from 9:00 am - 10:20 am in the Houston Public Library Mobile Lab on Discovery Green (across the street from the convention center).

Congratulations to the award winners announced earlier today at the General Session I of the 2012 Annual Conference of the Texas Library Association.  

TLA Wide Awards

The Media and Related Technologies Round Table has added a business meeting to the TLA 2012 Annual Conference schedule.  It will be held from 3-3:50 pm

at Room 320 C, Level 3 in teh George R Brown Convention Center.  Please contact Angela Skaggs or Cynthia Pfledderer if you ahve aquestions or suggestions for the agenda for the meeting. 

Want to avoid the morning bus rush? Enjoy breakfast at the center and visit the full-service coffee bar in the hall.

Lobby Café & Coffee Bar (Tues. 7am-8:30pm; Wed 7am-5pm; Thu 7am-4pm; Fri 7am-noon)

• Grill and Pizza: $8 slice pizza/drink, chicken tenders, Burgers, Nachos, Hot Dogs, Drinks
• Full Service Coffee Bar: Cappuccino, espresso, tea, hot & cold, specialty coffee drinks, pastries, drinks, Breakfast Sandwich in the morning

Hall Café (Wed – 10:15am-5pm; Thu – 9am-5pm; Fri – 9am-noon)

Here is the thirteenth set of "session spotlights" (see the end of this blog post for background): 

This set of spotlights comes from the  Black Caucus Round Table (BCRT) with comments from DL Grant (thanks DL!).  The link is to the full description on the mobile optimized website.  You can always search for the sessions and add them to your schedule in the mobile app by clicking on the star icon in the upper right hand corner of the app.

Here is the twelfth set of "session spotlights" (see the end of this blog post for background): 

This set of spotlights comes from the  Acquisiitions and Collection Development Round Table (ACDRT) with comments from Mary Jo Veneits (thanks Mary Jo!).  The link is to the full description on the mobile optimized website.  You can always search for the sessions and add them to your schedule in the mobile app by clicking on the star icon in the upper right hand corner of the app.

There will be free wi-fi at the 2012 Annual Conference!

On the second level of the convention center, free wi-fi is limited to public areas.  On the third level, the wi-fi will be extended to cover both public areas and meeting rooms.  

For the first time ever, TLA will host a conference-long Geocache Challenge. Find hidden treasures as you learn about the craze that libraries and other organizations are using to attract and teach people of all ages! Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to find hidden containers, called geocaches, and then share your experiences online. Anyone with a GPS can play. There are 1,612,911 active geocaches and over 5 million geocachers worldwide.

Here is the eleventh set of "session spotlights" (see the end of this blog post for background):