Tombrarian’s Handy Guide to PLA

Although I will not be attending Public Library Association’s Annual Conference, I am excited that it is being held in my reclaimed hometown. After a four year absence, I have returned and have fallen in love with Philadelphia all over again.

The PLA site has a great list of restaurant recommendations, which includes plenty of places to keep people well-fed during the conference, but I am so enthusiastic about the restaurant scene in Philly that I can’t help but supplement the list with some of my local favorites (listed in distance from the Convention Center).

One note about the PLA list: a couple of the restaurants have since closed, including Ted’s Montana Grill and Le Bec Fin. Horizons also is closed and the owners have opened Vedge, which I haven’t been to, but it is a vegan restaurant getting rave reviews.

In Reading Terminal Market (.1 mi):

Within a mile:

Within 1 to 2 miles:

I hope this helps and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask either in the comments or via email.

2012 Notables List

Last weekend, I met with the Notable Videos for Adults Committee at the American Library Association’s Midwinter Conference in Dallas. Unlike last year when I was still viewing movies while at the conference, I finished my screenings about a week early, which was quite a feat considering we had 62 nominations, the most of any of the four years I’ve served on the committee.

As usual, I’m pretty happy with the list. There are always one or two films that don’t make the cut that I wish had, but that’s the nature of such lists.

So, in alphabetical order, the list:

Notable Videos Update

I am in the midst of my 4th and final year on the Notable Videos for Adults Committee. I had hoped to post brief reviews and notes about some of the films as I have done in previous years, but moving across the country (again) and starting a new job (again) has been a major distraction. I have been able to keep on top of watching films but not posting about them. I still have a couple of months before the viewing deadline, so I hope to be able to get back to posting.

This has been a busy year for the committee. In 2009, we had 46 nominations. We had 42 for 2010 and 55 for the 2011 list. This year, we have 62 nominations, which is great. The more nominations, the stronger the final list in theory.

So far, I have watching 39 of the films and would already have a tough time picking 10-15 of the best. It’s a strong group of films and I can see an argument for most of them being included in a final list. I have created a list to track my progress and scores.

My top ten to date are:

Time will tell if any of these make the final list!