TangognaT

Agent Of L.I.B.R.A.R.Y.

April 3rd, 2004 at 9:04 pm

totebags

in: Library

Why is it that at library conferences where attendees are given free totebags, people come with totebags from other conferences? Is it so easy to form a sentimental attachment to a square bit of canvas with handles and an Internet Librarian 2000 logo? Or a giant totebag advertising an OPAC that no longer exists? Why must the totebag appear again many years later? Is it some form of karmic retribution? Or is it a way of appearing like a chic, seasoned information professional?

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  • meredutangognat
    11:17 pm on April 3rd, 2004 1

    Many of your topics are beyond me, but here’s something I can relate to — BAGS! I don’t know about library conferences, and I go infrequently to other professional conferences, but here’s a guess at some of the processes going on concerning bag reuse: 1) the person liked the particular size and configuration of the bag, and so kept using it; 2) there were such fond memories of that conference, that the bag is a comforting reminder of the experience; 3) the person wishes to be identified as a conference attendee (and library professional) and so kept using the bag with an identifying logo even while pursuing other activities; or 4) the person wants to be identified as someone who attended that particular conference — your chic, seasoned professional who made it all the way to Tierra del Fuego for the International Conference of Librarians Needing Cool Tote Bags.

  • Simon
    1:04 am on April 4th, 2004 2

    It’s like going to a concert. You can never, and I mean NEVER, wear the t-shirt of the band you are going to see. Unless it’s a really obscure old one from way back before they were well-known and popular.

    So I think you’re right, it’s a way of appearing like a seasoned, battled-hardened veteran of information.

  • LTR
    12:57 pm on April 4th, 2004 3

    How long has this been bugging you? :)

  • tangognat
    6:35 pm on April 4th, 2004 4

    Just since I went to a conference very recently :)
    It was funny the day after I posted that entry I ran into someone who spoke fondly of their DRA Taos totebag (!)

  • Librarygirl
    9:40 am on April 5th, 2004 5

    The first (and only) professional conference I’ve attended so far was online, and we didn’t get free totebags! I want a totebag! I’m not sure my next conference will be giving out totebags.

  • carol o
    11:07 am on April 5th, 2004 6

    DRA Taos? Wow, that’s old-school…

    Me, I’m more of a “too cool for school” conference-goer myself. I refuse to use conference totebags, even when I’m actually at a conference, and insist on my trusty messenger bag instead. Just being superficially self-righteous I guess. Also, and maybe it’s just me and the conferences I go to, but the totebags I attempt to refuse but get anyway tend to be these thin, flimsy things..

  • tangognat
    7:43 pm on April 5th, 2004 7

    I don’t think I’m as cool as Carol, because I do tend to use the totebags at conferences, especially if I decide to do something like visit the exhibit hall at ALA and pick up a ton of YA novels. I try not to walk around everywhere with the conference totebag though, since I’d rather be undercover.

    Once I went shoe shopping during a break from a conference and when I told the salesperson why I was in town he said, “If you’re a librarian, where is your bag?!” So many people were wandering around the city with identical bags.

    Usually I either toss the totebag or use it when I’m trying to clean out random stuff from my car.

    Librarygirl, are you going to ALA Midwinter in Boston? Even though there are less exhibits, you might have a chance at a coveted totebag :)

  • Librarygirl
    9:54 am on April 6th, 2004 8

    Of course I’ll be at ALA midwinter in Boston. It’s about the only conference I can afford to go to:)

    I’ll be at the Catholic Librarian’s Association Conference next week, too, but that’s because my school is paying for it. I doubt there will be free totebags, but I might just get some religious iconography out of it :)