*This post is shared on behalf of one of our professional development award winner, Marie Ascher.*

Thanks to a UNYOC professional development award, librarians at New York Medical College attended the virtual Charleston Conference in November 2021. Most were first-time attendees. The Charleston Conference is an annual gathering of librarians, publishers, electronic resource managers, consultants, and vendors of library materials. We thought it was an outstanding conference and a good opportunity for professional development. Originally Marie Ascher received the award but due to travel restrictions she opted to open virtual attendance to multiple colleagues. 

This is what the NYMC librarians had to say: 

• The practical aspects of this conference were especially rewarding. Hearing about actual transformative agreements that libraries have developed and successfully executed, which vendors they are working with and what the publishers’ perspectives are, is valuable information when you are forming your own agreement. 

• The Charleston Conference provided a deep dive into current issues in electronic resource management and collection development. This helped me feel more confident when facing tasks at work that are new to me. The conference was an ideal opportunity to engage with librarians across disciplines about the common challenges to our profession. In this way we discover solutions and find a sense of community and connection.
  

  
  
• I found this conference to be particularly rewarding for professional development involving collection management, topics in scholarly communication, and career planning.
  
  
• We appreciate the opportunity that the UNYOC Professional Development Award gave us to attend the Charleston Conference. It was a great experience and several of us are looking forward to attending again in the future, maybe in person next time.
   
• One of us had attended the Charleston Conference in the past and highly recommend every librarian attend. The practical knowledge that is shared during the sessions provides effective solutions to everyday issues in library collections and management. Thanks to UNYOC for providing the resources for NYMC librarians to attend the 2021 conference.
   
• I’ve always wanted to attend the Charleston Conference. It was a great conference although I’m sure it could be better in-person. I attended several sessions on transformative agreements, on diversity and inclusion, and on new document delivery options. I plan to attend again in the future. The content covered here was very different from what you normally see at a Medical Library Association meeting. 

If you are interested in attending this conference, the registration and call for papers for 2022 are now open. For more information, see https://www.charleston-hub.com/the-charleston-conference/ Maybe we’ll see you there!