Change

Let's see if I can make this one stick.

I read a lot, both online and off. Today I had several thoughts.

The fire at Slave Lake has caused a great deal of destruction and my heart hurts for those who have lost their homes and/or businesses. It could have been so much worse. This devastating event needs to be looked at as an opportunity for change if the people of Slave Lake are to recover.

One of the things the community lost was it's beautiful, new library. Punch Jackson wrote an excellent tweet "During #SlaveLake rebuild a "temporary" library may be required for community info, access to computers(and), leisure reading". At first I was "leisure reading"? But it makes sense. So many people have lost their homes, they have nothing. Others will need a place to escape the stress. A temporary library could help rebuild the community's spirit.

On Twitter I have also been following the #falmac11 symposium and #inplay11 conference tweets. While one was for library staff and the other for teachers as I read my twitter feed some of the posts could have come from either event. I hope there were educators at #falmac11 and library staff at #inplay11. The ideas shared have value to both fields. The feeling that things need to change, in both areas, has risen to a feverpitch. Yet it's like we have reached the edge of a cliff that we know we have to go over, but haven't quite gathered up enough courage to jump. If we don't make a move soon, it won't matter. The push from behind will drive us over.