I was fortunate enough to attend the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) 2016 Congress held in Columbus, Ohio from August 13-19, 2016. It was an amazing experience! I volunteered for the first three days and attended sessions and library tours for the remainder of the congress.  My volunteer hours were spent assisting attendees from all over the globe reach their destinations in the Greater Columbus Convention Center. It was interesting and exciting to talk with library professionals from all over the world.  I attended major sessions including the President’s Session – Answering the Call to Action: How Might We Respond to the Challenges Presented in the IFLA  Trend Report, as well as a presentation from David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States.  I attended other sessions such as From Action to Impact: Health information professionals connecting communities – Health and Biosciences and Privacy Law in the Digital Age: Governments Rethinking the Meaning of Information.  I managed to work in visiting the exhibit hall as well as the poster session.  The IFLA Library Boulevard was in a main hallway.  This area was reserved for Ohio libraries and library associations to display their library banners.  ALAO‘s banner was displayed alongside all the other banners representing Ohio for all the visitors from all over the world to see!  On the last day I toured Chemical Abstracts Service and OCLC. I heard about patent families and saw an old card catalog! It was an exciting week!  The next IFLA Congress is in Wroclaw Poland in August 2017.

Missy Creed, Health Sciences Library at The Ohio State University