Monday, March 31, 2008

Register now for the 2008 WAPL Conference!

Point and Click your way to the 2008 WAPL Conference registration form! Registration is open and detailed conference information, including full program descriptions, is available at http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/wapl/conferences/2008/index.htm.

The conference is being held at the *new* Holiday Inn and Convention Center in Stevens Point from April 30-May 2. The facility opened in December 2005 and offers many appealing amenities for conference attendees, including ample parking, spacious meeting rooms in close proximity to one another, and microwaves and refrigerators in every guest room.

David Ward, the President and founder of NorthStar Economics, is the keynote speaker. He will be discussing the results of the Wisconsin Public Library Economic Impact Study and the general climate of Wisconsin's economy.

Humorist Jay Rath, a Madison journalist, will be speaking at the luncheon on Thursday on the topics of creativity and the writer's backstage life. He's acted with Chevy Chase, written for MTV, drawn for Disney and has served on the staff at The Onion. Rath has worked nationally in multiple media and is the author of "The W-Files: True Reports of Unexplained Phenomena in Wisconsin," plus two similar books.

At the Friday luncheon Dick Bennett, former UW-Green Bay and Wisconsin men's basketball head coach, will be speaking about "The Rule Rather Than the Exception," a presentation on the athletic arena and how it consistently imitates life. Clintonville native Bennett has coached highly successful teams at UW-Stevens Point, UW-GB, Wisconsin, and most recently Washington State. He led the Badgers to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Final Four berth in 2000.

Breakout sessions will cover Intellectual Freedom for Children and Teens, the Experience of the Local Immigrant, WorkNet, Speed Training, and Strategic Planning, among other topics. Returning favorites include Notable Genre Books and a book discussion featuring Gary Warren Niebuhr, both sponsored by READ, (this year's discussion title is "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini), and Have You Heard About..., sponsored by MATS.

Hope to see you there!

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