Conference Diary

The first national meeting of the Public Library Association, a division of ALA, was held at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland, from March 23-26, 1983. The theme, "Serving People: The Public Library Today and Tornorrow," featured keynote addresses by Maryland Senator Paul Sarbanes and noted author Isaac Asimov. The conference began with theme tours of Maryland libraries specializing in such programs as service to the disabled, literacy services, merchandising, and automated circulation. Conference programs included sessions on intellectual freedom strategy, cablelvideo, the impact of demography and technology, interlibrary loan, and other topics of special interest to public librarians. The following paper is a compilation of the notes and impressions of six professionals who attended the conference.