The annual meeting and exhibition of the Medical Library Association (MLA) will take place in Washington, DC, May 21-26. Billed as “the premier event in health sciences information,” the session will be held at the Washington Hilton, at 1919 Connecticut Avenue, NW.

The theme of MLA ’10 is “Reflect and Connect.” Staff from NLM and its National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) will offer a series of demonstrations, tutorials and talks on a wide spectrum of issues at the NLM theatre in the exhibit hall and at other conference venues. The Friends of NLM will hold its annual MLA reception at Dumbarton House, 2715 Q Street, NW, Sunday, May 23, 7:00-9:00 PM.

NLM invites MLA attendees to two major events:

Monday, May 24 (7:00-8:15 AM)

NLM Online Users Meeting “Sunrise Seminar,” in Lincoln West

NLM staff will highlight recent accomplishments and describe new developments in a variety of online systems, including MEDLINE/PubMed, MedlinePlus and DOCLINE.

Tuesday, May 25 (9:00-10:00 AM)

NLM Update, in International Ballroom Center (Washington Hilton)

Speakers:

Donald A.B. Lindberg, MD, Director; Sheldon Kotzin, Associate Director for Library Operations; and Deborah Zarin, MD, Director, ClinicalTrials.gov.

This year, NLM will host the post-conference, MLA/NLM-sponsored Joseph Leiter Lecture, Wednesday, May 26, at 2:00 PM. Titled “Knowledge Services and the Role of Medical Libraries in Healthcare IT,” it will take place in Lister Hill Auditorium on the Bethesda, Maryland campus of the National Institutes of Health. The speaker is John Halamka, MD, CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts. The session will also be videocast live and archived for later viewing. Library tours and refreshments will follow the lecture at 3:00 PM.

Also, for the first time, the 2010 National Program Committee of the MLA has selected a common book, Daniel H. Pink’s A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, for attendees to read and discuss before, during and after the meeting. Pink will also be the conference’s keynote speaker and John P. McGovern lecturer.

The MLA annual meeting Web site contains much more about the meeting, including a sneak preview of Daniel Pink’s presentation.