Conference Committee intern and Rutgers MI student Kristen Crepezzi fills us in on 8 compelling reasons why library school students should be at the #NJLA18 Annual Conference in Atlantic City from May 30 - June 1, 2018:

1. Networking. Networking. Networking. Do I really need to talk to you any more about the crushing anxiety we all feel re: the job market? Knowing more people has to be better than knowing less. “The NJ library community is small and it is a good chance to make an impression,” says Cindy Ambos, Tween Librarian at South Brunswick Public Library. Conference offers many opportunities for casual networking outside of sessions, including social events like various fun lunch options, ice cream & coffee breaks, Board Game Fun, a Drum Circle, and the Pool Party.

2. Getting a broad view of librarianship across the state. Whether you’ve just started your degree or have been working in libraries for years, attending NJLA offers MLIS students the opportunity to see the field from different perspectives and offers a glimpse into the library lives of others.

3. We need to meet each other. For real. For the percentage of us in online MLIS programs (or just attending some classes online), putting faces to the names in our cohorts can be powerful, important, and cognitively inconsistent. Shake up your idea of who plays your classmates in real life by actually meeting them IRL.

4. Expand your vision of librarianship. “The ability to interact with vendors, authors, publishers, educators, non-profits and library designers helps to emphasize the aspects of librarianship we don’t always focus on in the classroom,” suggests Dana Vocht, Teen Librarian at Scotch Plains Public Library. Free vendor swag (we <3 pens!) and great contests for high-ticket items (with better odds than on the casino floor) will keep you exploring.

5. Get exposed to what’s new in library land. NJLA is a great place to be to see and hear about what’s happening now in libraries as well as the innovation that is just around the corner. Conference is a great place to see what direction things are oving in.

6. Have you seen the Conference sessions? Some highlights to look forward to: Wednesday pre-conference sessions like Library Instruction Palooza will be packed with presentations, roundtables and discussions focused on sharing and building various information literacy instruction skills; Public Libraries and Schools: What Does a Mutually Beneficial Partnership and Collaboration Mean? highlights the importance of partnership and communication between public librarians and school media specialists; and the Technology Innovation Forum will showcase innovative technologies from academic librarians around NJ, including presentations from the 2018 Technology Innovation Award winners. Sessions are a great way to bridge classroom learning with practice, and the Conference schedule has something for everyone.

7. Conference room rates are good through Memorial Day Weekend. And we all need a vacation. Literally.

8. Your voice matters. This year’s conference theme is Speak Freely, and as the new and emerging voices of librarianship it is important for our voices to be part of the conversations shaping the present and future of the field. Join us at conference and add your voice.

Kristen Crepezzi is a current student in the Rutgers MI program and Teen Librarian at the South Brunswick Public Library. She currently serves as intern for the NJLA Conference Committee through the NJLA Committee Intern Program. Last year at NJLA she won a chair playing vendor Bingo, proving that dreams really do come true.