How Much Time Should Librarians Spend at Professional Meetings?

It is important for all professionals to keep abreast of developments in their respective specialties. We can do that by taking advanced courses or attending professional meetings that can last from one hour to several days. Since information technologies are changing so rapidly, it is especially important for librarians to know what is going on. Time spent at meetings takes us away from our daily responsibilities to our customers. We must always remember that the tuition dollars spent by students pay our salaries.

I am Facebook friends with colleagues at many universities. I have observed that a few of them always seem to be traveling to a meeting or at a conference. I must assume that their supervisors approve of this, but if they spend an excessive amount of time at a meeting, they are letting their daily responsibilities slide. Universities usually pay for their people to attend meetings. Costs for travel, food, and registration, can really add up.

In the past I have gone to one major meeting (for me the American Chemical Society National Meeting) and several short local ones in the course of a year. In the past year I have had to use my own funds for most of it since the travel budget at NJIT has been tight.

I am asking my colleagues who are reading this their opinion on how much time is appropriate for librarians to spend at professional meetings.