This year, the keynote speaker Steven Gillis, director of the Orange Beach Public Library, shared his passion and commitment for library work while skewering some of the library world's most closely held stereotypes. From the frequent condescension toward paraprofessionals to the potential harm done by ironclad policies, libraries around the country are reassessing how they do things and it's working for the better in many communities. For instance, the Pinson Library, following Gillis' fine free approach at Orange Beach, recently ceased charging overdue fines to their patrons. It's exciting to see new approaches and ideas at work!
Regular RART member Samuel R. and I presented a session on erotic fiction in libraries. You may access the Google Slides presentation here. If you have any questions feel free to ask them, either in the comments here or contact me directly at hwesley [at] bham [dot] lib [dot] al [dot] us.
