Where: Seelbach Hotel, 500 S. 4th Street (2 ½ blocks from the Convention Center)
When: November 14, 2019, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. right after the AASL Exhibits close
Why: To share the wisdom of so many retired or almost retired luminaries of the field with the current generation of practitioners and educators.
Organized by Blanche Woolls and David V. Loertscher
You may have heard about or read the book The Last Lecture that noted:
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave - "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" - wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.
When Blanche and Dave were in a reflective mood, we realized that we are a part of a spectacular group of leaders in a profession that all of us have loved, cared for, contributed to, and got back more than we ever could give. We thought about those who had retired or were nearing retirement and in our reflect about the 20+ years of the Treasure Mountain Research retreats, we wondered if we could gather together a group of the greats; the luminaries in school libraries to mix with the current crop: that new generation of hopefuls.
Thus, this site is an invitation to assemble a group of retirees or soon to retire and the current crop of practitioners and educators for a fun night of sharing, wisdom and, perhaps a bit of autographing.
The site chosen for our Colloquium of the Greats, to be held on Thursday evening, November 14, 2019, is the historic Seelbach Hotel, 500 S. 4th, Louisville, KY. Founded by Bavarian-born immigrant brothers, Louis and Otto Seelbach, it opened in 1905. Envisioned by the founders to match the old-world grandeur of European hotels in Vienna and Paris, it has a French Renaissance design. Throughout its long history it has been frequented by many notable Americans including F. Scott Fitzgerald who took inspiration from the Seelbach for a hotel in The Great Gatsby. It has been featured in three films, the Insider, the Hustler, and was used for the wedding scene in The Great Gatsby (2013). Presidents who have stayed there include Taft, Wilson, FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ, Carter, Clinton, and George W. Bush. The Seelbach, now a part of the Hilton Hotels & Resorts, is on the list of Historic Hotels of America. P.S. If you wish to stay there (502-585-3200), they brag that there are a couple of ghosts lurking about...
Practitioners and educators: come join us and register for free at: