Baltimore - You Rock

The most anticipated destination on our itinerary was even better than expected. After a quick trip on the train we arrived in Baltimore about 9.30 in the morning to be greeted by three friends of Chris's (are esteemed tour leader) and we divided into groups for a cultural tour of Baltimore. First off was the Amercian Visionary Art Museum. Absolute;ey stunning and one of the best shops I have ver seen, full of quirky, interesting items. We then took a ride around town (unfortunately the airconditioning in the car broke down and it was damn hot!) and ended up at the waterfront where Homicide: Life on the street was filmed and the Waterefront Bar which was a feature of the series is across the road...this was an added bonus as I didn't know we were going to see these!! We then went on a tour of the burbs and past houses that feature in Ann Tyler novels. After this our host took us to her place and we stopped outside John Waters' house to take a photo(I haven't been stalking at all!) At Kenna's place we met Bill Zorzi, a writer for the Wire, and had a chat about that show and Homicide for about an hour and a half. For dinner everyone met up at a restaurant and partook of a B altimore tradition, eating crabs...I had salad! All in all a most satisfying day

Segways - the latest form of transportation

Now you may think this is a joke but I can assure its not. Segways are a used a lot over here. Not only by the police but also for tourists, you can do Segway tours of Washington DC, Columbus and other towns...its the funniest ting I have seen and I couldn't believe it in Chicago when we were doing a walking tour near Frank Lloyd Wright House and a couple of police passed us in the street on their Segways..Americans are the funniest people!

Goodbye Columbus

Today we depart for Washington after a sensational visit to Columbus Ohio.
Yesterday we visited OCLC headquarters. The most exciting part was the visit to their library where all editions of DDC (Dewey Decimal Classification) are held along with the first edition, and a first edition annotated with Melville Dewey's notes! The collective sigh from 12 librarians was very funny and the staff at OCLC commented that they had never had that reaction to Dewey before! OCL is also the home of worldcat and we were allowed into the server room to see all the computers at work (I have photos Phill).
We also visited Ohio State University Library which has recently been reopened after a 3 year renovation project and was a fantastic library.
Last night we dined with Pat and some staff from Columbus Public Library at a lovely restaurant in german Village called Barcelona. I have had so much good food on this tour that my watch is even too tight!!
Here at last are some photos on Picassa

Columbus Ohio - Sensational!

Columbus is a town of 800,000 people that feels like a country town. The landscape is flat as the eye can see and they have been hit quite badly with the economic downturn, (9.5% unemployment). But the central library is wonderful and this year won US library of the year, a well deserved accolade. The central library is welcoming and they have really interesting displays. They are the first library we have been to where they take a retail approach to display with face out books and display pedestals all over the library. I've certainly got some interesting ideas from them for our displays at home and also floating the entire collection. The manager and staff were very welcoming and provided us with a full day of branch visits and presentations from the staff. The things that have come up time and time again are, early literacy, assisting with job search, art work in the library, and budget cuts, and the importance of the library in community building and developing programs where there is a perceived need (eg.job help centres). The staff at Columbus were very proud of their award and people we spoke to in the shops and the street all knew about it and were also very proud.
all in all a very satisfying visit.
Not much to do in Columbus however, its pretty quiet!!!

Another day another city

After spending a fantastic final night in Chicago at Millennium Park listening to the symphony orchestra we left early this morning for a quick plane trip to Columbus. Columbus was very quiet by comparison but we've ended up having a gorgeous afternoon. A few of us needed to get washing done so we grabbed a cab and headed to the german village (an historic part of Columbus which has been restored over the past 30 years) to find a laundromat, as luck would have it we started to talking to a very nice man walking his poodle who invited us to have a look at his house. Of course we went without hesitation, not even thinking about he possibility that he was a serial killer but we left Tania behind with the laundry and she knew what he looked like!! Any way, the house was fantastic. 1860s restored but modern inside and Mark and his wife Amy (and their poodle Joe) had some amazing art. I then sat in a gorgeous bar and drank pomegranate martinis while the washing dried.
One of the big themes emerging is the emphasis on public art, all building works must include 1-2% for public art and in all the libraries there are some fabulous works. Something we need to think seriously about at Bayside.
Big day planned for tomorrow with a seminar in the morning and then a visits to the US library of the year and a couple of branches.

Chicago Chicago

What a fabulous town Chicago is. I really like it here, fabulous buildings and a great buzz.
The central library is only 20 years old but looks like it was built in the late 19th century, once again the central library is just as important for its architecture as it is for being a library. And also once again they are facing severe budget cutbacks. They have a fabulous teen section called you media which is really amazing, a great space for teens to hang out, play music, read and have fun, its als0 the only place in the library where you can eat and drink. We also had a great meeting with the Urban Library Council and talked about public libraries across the US as well as at home.
As for other cultural pursuits we have been to the art museum and seen some gorgeous Monet's, had dinner and stayed on for the music at Buddy Guy's Legends home of the Blues, toured Frank Loyd Wright's house and have been on an architectural cruise looking at the cit buildings.
We are off to Columbus in the morning to visit the library voted the best in the US 2010.

Seattle & Chicago

Day 5

Today we spent the morning touring the Seattle public library. The central library for the Seattle public library system which has 26 Branches. An amazing 11 story building in the heart of Seattle. They have 26 branch libraries and serve a population of 600,000. They are also doing a lot of work with early literacy programs and job hunting...seems to be a theme so far. Its really about the library being the place for connection and for people who have become unemployed because of the GFC they are providing all sorts of services (BTW, we have come out of it fairly unscathed compared to what we are hearing here)

We loved the city of Seattle and didn't have anywhere near enough time to explore before we were off to Chicago. Much cooler than expected and it rains a bit!



Day 6

After 1/2 a day travelling we arrived in Chicago about 3pm and it was HOT. Checked into the extremely opulent Palmer Hilton. We went to the Art institute were they have a fabulous collection of impressionist art, amongst a whole lot of other stuff, and some gorgeous Monet's. Today we visit Chicago Library. its 92 (33) today and humid.

Catching fish

Today we left LA and headed up to Seattle. We had a tour of Bainbridge Island (think of the book Snow falling on Cedars) which was really interesting. But prior to that we went to the famous Pike Fish Markets famous for the Fish throwing motivational program, I got to be centre of attention as usual and catch a very large fish thrown at me by one of the guys who works there.
So far we have done some interesting stuff and seen some good libraries. Tomorrow we head for the Seattle Public library in the morning and then to the Gates Foundation in the afternoon where i have to do a presentation,

Still, nothing beats having had dinner with Michelle Obama!!!!

Dinner with Michelle

Day 2
Sunday - A cultural tour of LA
Today we went to the The Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels, the Disney Centre, home of the LA Philharmonic, an amazing Frank Gehry building, and then to the Getty Museum, another wonderful building with an eclectic range of exhibitions...all free for the people of LA. We also stopped at the Mexican market and ate enchiladas for lunch. All of these buildings reflected a different architectural style but each of them stunning in their own way.
Sunday evening - Dinner with Michelle
However, the highlight of the day was the dinner at Lucques on Melrose Avenue. We arrived at 8.30 to find we had to wait in a queue to get into the restaurant, (something I really hate) but then I realised that customers were all having a full body scan and handbags searched by some very attractive young men in suits (something I don't hate). Turns out Michelle Obama and her daughters were there for dinner as well. We sat on a table just across from them, the place was full of security but no one seemed to mind.
Day 3
Today we got down to the serious business of looking at libraries and visited the Central library in downtown LA as well as two of the LA branch libraries. The LA library system looks after 11m people with 72 branches, all of which are either new or have been refurbished in the past 15 years. The central library covers a city block and is 5 floors, a fantastic building built 17 years ago following a fire gutted the existing library. The other two libraries we visited were Silver Lake, the newest branch, which is an environmentally sustainable design and the chinatown branch. Was blown away by the main library but underwhelmed by the branches. There was nothing I would take from them to bring home that we aren't already doing, however, they are going through some tough financial times (as is all of LA) and will have to lay off 100 or so staff this week and then reduce opening hours!
Some of us then popped into the Beverly Hills library which is not part of the LA library system but still a free public library for the residents of Beverly Hills.
Off to Seattle very early in the morning so here's hoping there will be something fabulous there.

Travel sickness and jetlag!

Day 1.



Arrived in LA 3 hours before I left home (who says there is no such thing as time travel?) feeling slightly the worse for wear after a 14 plane trip, on which I threw up a couple of times in the middle of the night/day from travel sickness.



Went straight to Rodeo Drive aft err dropping the bags at the hotel and went to Tiffany's and bought some jewelery, was also very tempted to purchase a Picasso or a Chagall lithograph for only $4,000 from the art gallery, (perhaps we could get a couple for the new Bayside arts and culture centre with the acquisition budget we might get).

Rodeo Drive not being quite enough we then proceeded to the Westfield Century City shopping centre for a bit of a wander around and a perusal of the sale items at Macy's.



Jet lag not too bad thank goodness, I put it down to the Melatonin tablets I bought at the health food shop!!

One day to go...

I'm getting pretty excited now and I've just received the final itinerary. It looks fantastic!

Not long to go.....

Only 6 more sleeps and I'll be on my way to LA.

Big excitement this week with the news that our library contact in Baltimore is trying to get a meeting with John Waters, at the very lest she can get me an autographed photo and we'll drive by his house (she lives in the same street) plus one of the writers for The Wire lives around the corner from her and he's happy to have a chat!!

I know, I know, it kinda sounds a little bit like stalking but its all done with the best of intentions!!!