The Bridge Between Where We Are and Where We Could Be: The Urban Librarian’s Conference

On April 11, I had the opportunity to participate in the second annual Urban Librarians’ Conference, Next Stop Libraries, in Brooklyn, New York. This trip was thanks to a generous donation from an anonymous donor supported by the organizing body, Urban Librarians Unite. While my experience is not in urban librarianship, I attended for three reasons: I believe there are many issues that librarianship faces regardless of the community served, and it is interesting to see different perspectives on how libraries best face these challenges. I could see a future in an urban library, but I have not had an opportunity to come to appreciate the unique challenges that come in this arena. Finally, I have been impressed by presentations by ULU in the past and had heard great things about last year’s conference.