How do we make the most of a conference or workshop? Are there ways to record the information and inspiration so that it’s useful when you’re back at work? On this Mega Scout Books project, Kari Chapin and Hannah Lee teamed up to answer those questions for the Public Library Association’s 2016 conference. Kari is an author whose books and project management tools help creatives, makers, and entrepreneurs achieve goals and grow their businesses. Hannah is a talented illustrator who who runs POSTFLORAL, a design shop specializing in all things print and pattern.
The biennial PLA conference gathers public librarians, library support staff, and friends and vendors of libraries, for a multi-day conference. The 2016 conference took place in Denver, CO and featured educational programming, social gatherings, author talks, and exhibitors sharing the latest in supplies and services for libraries. This year’s edition also included a #PLA30Day Challenge, which aimed to keep the community engaged and sharing ideas and challenges beyond the conference using their Scout Books.
The PLA Mega Scout Books had bold purple and black ink on the cover and inside cover too, and custom pages printed in purple, yellow, blue, and red. Kari and Hannah decided to use four spot colors to help highlight the content. The Megas were stitched with yellow staples for a nice pop of color. The custom pages have prompts for recording your ideas, next steps, and possible outcomes. They also have space for doodles, notes, and reflections.
We asked Kari a few questions about the project:
What was your goal for the project?
My goal was to create a piece for the PLA that would keep their attendees interested in what they learned at the conference, long after they were back at home. I wanted to give the attendees a way to get ore involved with their sessions and maybe teach them a few tricks that they could use to boost their productivity when they found themselves back at their libraries.
Was there a part of the process that you especially enjoyed? Learned from?
I really enjoyed working with such a limited amount of space. As a writer who usually turns in 90,000 words to an editor and then watches those words turn into a regular book length work, it was a fun challenge to condense my message and ideas into the parameters the Scout Mega Book. And I really enjoyed visiting Scout while our book was being printed. That was a whole new level of education!