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I know the TLA convention is supposed to stand for Texas Library Association, but it really should stand for

TOTALLY LIVE AWESOMENESS!

What happens when you connect 7,000 librarians with publishers, vendors, and authors?

A convention floor full of orthopedic shoes?

Wrong answer. Aside from the mosh pit of ARC hyenas, y0u get an amazing experience. In no particular order, here’s why you shoulda been there, Holmes…

13. The Locale: Three Words. San Antonio. Riverwalk. Fiesta.

12. Suzanne Collins: Not only did Suzanne do a question and answer session about The Hunger Games series, she also autographed books in the author’s area. She is supremely kind and gracious in greeting fans. She’s also one of the few people I’ll sprint-across-the-convention-floor-to-score-a-signing-wristband for.

Go Team Peeta!

11. Publishing People: As a library convention, TLA is second only to ALA. Most of the major publishers are there. It’s not uncommon to meet editorial staff at the booths. It’s wonderful to get a sneak peek at the wonderful new titles coming out. These folks know their stuff. They know what’s good and they know what’s hot. And they are incredibly kind to librarians! And we love them for it.

10. Maureen Johnson: Wowsa, MJ brought a million jars worth of crazy coolness to TLA this year. She spoke on a YA panel and signed at her publisher’s booth. (And don’t think I didn’t score an extra autographed copy of Suite Scarlett for a blog contest. I absolutely did!)

9. Authors, Authors, Authors: Jeff Kinney. Julie Powell. Jay Asher. We have more authors at TLA than Scarlet Whisper has jewels. The sessions and autograph area are always chock full of the very best scribes in the known universe. Don’t take my word for it, you can check out the author and speaker list here. I can’t tell you how fun it is to hear the stories and musings of these talented folks. At TLA, writers are ROCK STARS!

First Day Jackpot!

8. ARCS: Advanced Reader Copies are in no short supply on the convention floor. Publishers kindly supply librarians with books to preview. Here’s the thing, though. Nobody likes the hyena who snatches every book in sight and stuffs copies into her free tote bag. I’m not an indiscriminate ARC hog. I stop, look at the book, and decide whether I’d like to read and review it. Also, the booth folk are kind enough to give the ARCs, so I always try to get their input on what books they’re excited about. They know the good stuff. I’ve found more evergreens and wonderful titles this way. For example, Connie Hsu was