How to use this Page

Sweaty, sticky, moist Orlando edition.

So here’s a new way to experience the American Library Association Conference.  We’re going to tackle it in a visual way.  Which is to say, if I took a picture of it, it’s going into this post.  Here then is a look at what caught my eye on the conference floor, where the booths are plentiful, the alcohol oddly prevalent, and the carpets super sproingy.

First up, a slew of diverse picture books I hadn’t heard of before that I encountered for the first time at ALA.  In no particular order:

This is such a cool book.  It’s the children and possibly grandchildren of modern immigrants talking about how much they owe to their forebears.  This is the perfect book to combat immigration studies in schools that begin and end with Ellis Island.  The text is shockingly simple, but very well done.  Look for it!

Other cool looking books included:

Next up, titles that aren’t necessarily picture books that caught my eye for different reasons.  All of these look interesting to me in some way.  Without comment:

Now for some of the more useful items from the floor.

When you walk past the booths at ALA you may find yourself avoiding eye contact with anyone aside from a large publisher.  This act has some problematic repercussions, particularly when the person at the conference is new.  Honestly, if the rep from Vox Books hadn’t called me by name I might have missed what is clearly a super cool new innovation in audio picture books.  And please bear in mind, if I’m enthusiastic about this it’s because I liked what I heard.  I haven’t tried out this product myself yet.

Meet Vox Books.  Better yet, take a gander at it.

Okay, so what you’re seeing here is going to be a little unclear at first.  Basically, this is a picture book, normal as can be, but with a little, thin, audio component on the left.  Do you see it?  Right there.  It really doesn’t affect the closing of the book at all and it can’t be removed.

Now if you’re library is anything like the ones I’ve worked in, you may have an area where book and CD sets hang off to the side.  And as we all know, when they’re returned, half the time the book and CD don’t even match.  One library system I worked for tried just creating little pockets for the CDs within the books, but then you couldn’t tell them from the other picture books on the shelves.  And then the CDs would get lost.

In this case you have the audio right there, with a headphone jack, the ability to skip ahead or adjust the pages, and some seriously good books.  Check ’em out:

Really quite good.  You should hear the background music they create as well. The readers are also excellent.

They’ve even covered their bases and done nonfiction books too:

And let me tell you, that hardcore voice reading the Earth Movers book was great to listen too.

I know what you children’s librarians out there are thinking.  You’re considering the noise these could create in the library.  You aren’t wrong.  Remember The Very Quiet Cricket?  Ever have the batteries in one of those puppies die on you?  You get a sick sounding duck quack emanating from your shelves, randomly, for days.  This could be much worse, except you can actually charge these books up.  They even ding when you’re supposed to turn the page.

So yeah.  Looked neat.  Worth exploring, anyway.

Less useful items from the floor?  You got it:

First up, it seems that Ripley’s Believe It Or Not is committing hardcore to the children’s book scene.  They have early chapter books, nonfiction, board books, you name it coming out.  And they had one of their fellas doing caricatures on the floor.  Vain critter I am, I couldn’t resist:

Yup.

Then there was a station set up to help people with copyright advice.  I approved of the look of the place:

Have I any regrets from the weekend?  Well, I would have liked to have known about this beforehand.  I didn’t have any ideas of what to read, but it would have been really fun.

And finally, some good old-fashioned liquid nitrogen.

I’ve seen some fun gimmicks at a conference before, but dipping carmel corn into liquid nitrogen so that when you eat it you look like a dragon spitting smoke . . . well that’s pretty original.

What did the rest of you guys who went see?

Tomorrow – Actual panels n’ stuff!

 

Add a Comment

ALA is many many things to librarians - a place to effect solid innovative change for librarianship; an opportunity to work on behalf of all librarians to fight the good fight on legislative issues, universal access, bridging the digital divide, IF and advocacy. It's a place to learn, to share and to network. Warm greetings and hellos from colleagues old and new, a chance to discover a little more IRL than we have time to on our social media accounts. There is time for committee work and attending Notables, leadership opportunities and division board meetings. Informal lunches, after hours get-togethers and hallway convos keep the crazy days interesting.

One of my favorite parts of the conference is always the exhibit floor. While some spend time queuing up for author's signatures or advanced reader's copies - and I've snagged my share - I like to spend some quality time really looking at everything children's publishers have out AND up and coming in the next publishing cycle.  I like looking not just at the large publishers but also smaller publishers that publish for a smaller niche market or larger publishers that publish primarily in countries outside the US. This is where you can often find hidden gems of diversity that celebrate different cultures and countries.

In the past,  these presses and publishers were often relegated to the last two or three rows at the end of the exhibit floor. But this year at ALA, there is a welcome change. The small press tables can be found at the end of rows - rows that put them next door to some of the biggest names in publishing, ILS systems and other national vendors. You won't have to go far to find a first time exhibitor like Karadi Tales, a publisher in India who has two books recently honored by the South Asia Book Awards - The Rumour won the young people's award in 2013 and in 2015 A Pair of Twins was on SABA's Highly Commended list. The books that are on exhibit from this publisher are delightful and easily open up our collections to needed diversity.

This new juxtaposition of large publishers near smaller or more diverse publishers means that it will be easier than ever to take a few steps and discover presses outside the mainstream houses we know and love. So if you are coming to ALA, take some time to chat with these publishers from smaller presses or publishers from different countries and discover the true richness of our publishing world. Your community will thank you!

Add a Comment

My Vegas anxieties were well-founded. Ick, I do not like the strip. But....

THE HOTEL
I stayed at a small conference hotel with a favorite old friend and colleague about a five minute walk from the convention center that was a normal, slot machine free space.  Cool iced water with slices of strawberries, lemons, limes and oranges made the walk worth it. A free breakfast with omelets made to order, healthy fruit and cereal choices and some fine evil bacon and sausages greeted me in the morning; at night the "manager's special" meant bottomless free drinks and fresh tasty veggies as well as the usual munchy chips. Two blocks away was a delightful tapas restaurant with extraordinary and inexpensive food. I felt renewed every day.

TRANSPORTATION
The shuttles done good. I never waited long, got to meetings on the strip on time and was kindly deposited in front of my far-from-the-strip hotel after receptions and evening events (despite printed info that indicated I would only be dropped off at a hotel four long blocks away). Each trip also = great conversations

Blogging tweeps selfie thanks to @berasche. How many can you name?

THE MEETINGS/THE PEOPLE
For the first time since I got on ALA Council three years ago, the council meetings got out early so I could actually participate in a few ALSC meetings and events. Niiiiice. My favorite meeting was the one talking about experiential SLPs and no prizes - right up my alley. And my next favorite was the ALSC membership meeting where I chatted - if even for a minute - with colleagues new and old.  I think the ALSC board, office and leadership are doing an outstanding job. It was good to be able to see that again after three years away from my  board service. The Newbery Caldecott banquet (SLJ editors invited me to sit with them and reviewing collegues) had great speeches, great food and great fun. And I was energized and renewed with the chance to meet, talk with and re-connect with many old and new friends. That ALWAYS is the best part of IRL conferences.

THE ELVIS WEDDING
A friend and her hubby renewed their vows at an Elvis wedding chapel in some of the most fun moments of my conference. Late arrival but still making it for the vows, Elvis singing "Viva Las Vegas" while we all danced, a rainbow, funkadelic bridal party, being hustled out the side door after to make room for the next happy couples, a long wait to return in windy dry downtown Vegas with good dear friends made this as memorable a conference experience as I will ever have. I mean, Vegas.

ALA COUNCIL
I have always prided myself on being a process junkie but Council truly challenged that perception over the past three years. It was not an easy assignment for an action person like me but I was proud of my service. Here I am with my "diploma" certificate proving I sat through many meetings.

I can't say I was a change agent but I welcomed the opportunity to serve WI as a chapter councilor. I got to know some wonderful colleagues from many different kinds of libraries and was graciously welcomed over to the twitter crowd by microphone 7 to wrestle with angels that danced on the head of the Council pins. Mixed metaphor VERY intended.

FINALLY
Council and the ALSC board always meet on Tuesday (or the last day of conference). For the last six years I have had the rare opportunity to wander the convention center halls after the glitz and conference glamour has been packed and people have left the conference site a ghost town. It makes me ever eager to leave and find my way home. So let me leave you with those last few images that we "left-behind-to-finish-ALA-business" get to see:

Hallway to meeting rooms

Darkened food court

ALA Store

Add a Comment

I am not a fan of Vegas.

There I said it.

I usually look forward to ALA conferences despite any particular location. But this time....

This time the location had me dreading what I usually look forward to. I hate heat. I hate venues where I can't walk easily between meetings and events. I hate hype.

So I sucked it up to get ready for #alaac14. Did an awesome job prepping my materials (flights, parking, hotel, shuttle, ALA schedule, like that). Maybe did best best packing ever - EVER - and had the luxury of being able to leave at 10:30 am to make my direct flight between Minneapolis and Vegas.

On the drive I was teary-eyed. Was this my last ALA? Why was I so sad? I look forward to seeing my good friends and colleagues both new and old - those whom I have shared trenches with and those whom I stand back and watch fight the good fight as young turks ready to take on the world and teach us ALL. THE.THINGS. But I know I am stepping back and away as my time as an active librarian winds down.

Amidst this melancholy on my two hour drive up to Minneapolis I suddenly jolted. WTF?!?! In my perfect packing, had I put in my powercord for the laptop the library provides for conferences? I pulled off the highway in Rochester MN and no, I had not. A quick call to a colleague to see if she was still in town (nope on her way to ALA), a thought to ask my partner to overnight the forgotten cord, and a request of my iphone's Siri to find a computer store were my action plan. Siri got me to Office Max to a mobile Best Buy and then to a big box Best Buy where I found a cord to buy.

I was re-energized. No more tears, no more narcissistic self-reflection. I like action and solving problems and here was another one conquered. Time to get back on the road and to the airport after that unexpected delay. I was focused, driven and needing to hit the boarding deadline. And I did.

Once in Vegas, I was delighted to see familiar friends at the airport - greetings, hugs and the joy of unexpected and always welcome reconnections. My roommate got in touch with  Vegas relatives and we shared a sweet and lovely evening of what Las Vegas offers beyond the glitz, gambling and glamour.

And I am reminded again of how every place is really home. We are never really far from the familiar. It brings me contentment and a great deal of joy no matter how far I am from my own hidey-hole home.  I come to Vegas today ready to conference thanks to the connections I find that make ALA so vital. It's all good.

Add a Comment

I've been conferencing a loooonnnng time at ALA.  I agree with colleagues posting and tweeting, this conference was a win in every way for youth librarians.

Maybe because this is the first newly compressed conferences - fewer days and fewer sessions sponsored by units and almost all programs held at the conference center itself. This seems to make it possible to attend more events than ever before.

Maybe the addition and continued support for member-driven content (ignite sessions, uncommons, conversation starters) that resulted in great youth presentations. The unit-supported content was pretty amazing as well.

Maybe because groups of librarians connected through blogs, the twitterverse and groups like EL, ALATT and Flannel Friday reached the perfect storm of connectivity creating kismet meet-up moments and IRL chat.

So, despite substantial time spent fulfilling my responsibilities as ALA chapter councilor for my state, I have to say that this conference was an amazing, robust and energetic one for youth librarians.

A few highlights:

• Caldecott 75th Anniversary Celebration with astounding speeches and delightful pre- and post- banquet fun thanks to the hard working planning committee 
• ALSC Caldecott Preconference!
• Guerrilla Storytime!
• Declaration on the Right to Libraries! 
• Youth Librarian Meet-ups  including Kid Lit Drinks Nite on Friday and Karaoke on Saturday!
• Home-made-pitched-by-individuals-and-voted-on Conversation Starters filled with Youth content!

This doesn't even begin to address the ALSC and YALSA supported programs, the exhibits, committee work, the auditorium speaker series...and just everything.

There was energy and innovation and excitement - not just to see each other but to strategize what else we can do to be uber superhero librarians back in our communities and looking at the future. I talked about this kind of collaborative energy here and here.

And while I celebrate attending conferences, I also think we do so much outside of conferences to stay fabulous and tuned in and inventive. So whether you were at ALA or not, the doors are open for you to walk through!

Mel from Mel's Desk gets at the core of what I LOVE about this at-conference-and-not-at-conference paradigm in what I believe will be THE blog post on personal learning, connecting with those who share your passion and empowerment for the next decade. Conferences like ALA are one way to connect and learn - but there are so many other ways too that happen everyday when we reach outside our workplace and connect.  Let's go and let's do it.

WIN!!!

Display Comments Add a Comment

Program preparation for school age programs is important but where is the line drawn when the time spent preparing is two, three, five, or even ten times more than the actual program length itself?  Are we, as programmers, leading the charge in the program or empowering the kids in their exploration - are we guides or drill sargeants? Is there a way to organically link the books and materials that surround us every day into the programs and then back again to the collections so that kids understand the fundamental amazingness of the library and its resources?

These questions have led to many conversations and ideas. One of the people I have looked to during this conversation is Amy Koester over at the Show Me Librarian. And now Amy and I would like you to join this conversation at ALA in a few weeks. We will be presenting a 45 minute  "Conversation Starter" on Monday July 1 at 1:30 pm at the Mc Cormick Center Rm S102D.

During this time we want to explore with you ideas on making programming more rich while keeping preparation in perspective.  We'll also share resources that have helped us free ourselves and keep programming and preparation in perspective in our necks of the woods.

We think it's high time we start talking about this...how about you?

Add a Comment

With ALA slamming up at breakneck speed, I feel the need to make sure I connect to each and every one of you who come to Chicago.  Logistics tell me I'm nuts. But then again, it's worth the try.

Although there are some great social events in the offing, I think another youth services blogger and readers of blogs and twitter -peeps gathering would be fun to do especially if you're thinking of being at the Newbery/Caldecott awards banquet on Sunday June 30 at the Sheraton or the speeches after! It struck me that lots of us would be hanging around this premier youth services celebration, so...

....if you plan attend the banquet or just drop by the speeches after the dinner (there are chairs set up and you can listen to the speeches free and gaze upon the glitterati in the audience!), we can do a meet-up!

Traditionally, at the conclusion of the banquet, a receiving line with the honorees takes place right after the speeches outside the hall. There is always a cash bar. It's a great spot to gather and chat late night (caffeinate early to be up late!).

So consider this for your schedule and say hi!

Post N/C Youth Blogger/Blog Reader/Tweep Meet-up
Sunday June 30
Sheraton Chicago banquet area
10:30-11pm-ish start (or whenever N/C speeches end)
 

Display Comments Add a Comment

Ok, ok, so I feel a little guilty even bringing this up. As a blogger, I know I have a slightly bigger audience than I would without. But no guts, no glory. I join my colleagues in the blogosophere to invite you to read through the suggested Conversation Starters at ALA and vote for ones you'd love to be involved in.

I hope you consider two I am lucky enough to be involved in with my fabulous colleagues: Amy over at Show Me Librarian; Amy over at Catch the Possibilities and Mel over at Mel's Desk. After some chatting on twitter that moved over to a google doc (more than 144 characters...wow!), we decided to try the conversations even further out with more people jumping in and proposed two programs for ALA this summer. We are excited about the possibilities!

Thinking Outside the Storytime Box: Building Your Preschool Programming
STEM for preschoolers! Dance parties for toddlers! When we stretch beyond storytime, our youngest patrons benefit from richer learning experiences, their parents and caregivers engage with the library in fresh ways, and staff become motivated by new, creative challenges. Jump out of the storytime box and explore active and passive early-childhood programs that are easy to plan and repeat, maximize your staff resources, and enable you to reach more young families. Our panel will share program ideas, planning resources, and early literacy connections to help you leave prepared to build on the core storytime experience.
Presenters: Amy Commers, Amy Koester, Melissa Depper, Marge Loch-Wouters

Unprogramming: Recipes for School-Age Programming Success  
Do you find yourself spending tons of time planning school-age programs that are over in the blink of an eye? Are you ready to challenge yourself to be more efficient with your staff time and department's resources? Discover how to streamline planning and preparation while offering worthwhile literacy-centered programs--where kids help shape the direction of the program! Panelists will share tips for "unprogramming" at your library as well as ideas for helping staff adapt to this new style. Prepare to leave with a myriad of program ideas and resources for unprogramming on your own.
Presenters: Marge Loch-Wouters, Amy Koester

If these topics are ones you would love to chat on and you are an ALA member, please do vote for these...and a host of other good ones proposed by ALA members. Read them and leap!

Display Comments Add a Comment

Check this out:

That would be my press pass for this year’s 2012 ALA Conference held in beautiful (though strangely stormy and cold as of Thursday) Anaheim, California.  Having hopped a plane from my native New York I now find myself on the opposite coast, a full country-sized swath away from my young.  Fortunately there are things to distract me.

This press pass, for example.  Though I am now hold the Youth Materials Specialist position with NYPL I like that I can put my hoits and my toits on hold as I canvass the conference floor.  This press pass allows me to do so.  Note the “Plain City, OH” location.  I didn’t do that myself, it just sort of happened in the course of some of the registration craziness and I couldn’t be more pleased.  Now I can be my own secret self, tiptoeing about like a sneaky pete.  And nooooobody will ever know the difference (unless they read this blog post, of course, but I mean, c’mon, what are the chances of that?).

Now I know that we’re still in the midst of the Top 100 Books countdowns and I have every intention of keeping those up but I will ALSO be reporting while I am here when I am able.  I would have done #4 yesterday, I swear, but I met up with my sister and then in the course of things I saw this sign overlooking a parking lot.

A veritable sign of a sign.  Soon thereafter I ended up in a bathroom that looked like this (forgive me my sideways images):

Yes.  It is a room covered in scary clown images.  It is an apartment filled with scary clowns and a pot-bellied pig.  I’m not kidding about the pig.  This is my sister’s apartment and when we walked in Thursday night it was under an enormous beanbag.  I walk in and this big black beanbag starts snorting and walking towards me.  Worth the price of admission to Anaheim alone, right there.  So anyway, walking snorting beanbags sort of drove blogging from my mind for a while.

As for the conference itself, as of Friday it hadn’t burst into full swing.  That will come this morning (which will be spent by me running like a chicken with my head cut off for the first four hours then eating eating eating for the remainder of the day).  There were some low-key celebrations, though.  Word on the street has it that Daniel Handler successfully shocked the socks off a large number of librarians at a Booklist-related Guys Read event.  That’s the most interesting thing to happen, short of Rocco Staino losing his iPad on a plane, Mr. Schu wearing the world’s greatest fake mustache, and the fact that the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet tickets are all already sold out on account of the upcoming and highly anticipated Jack Gantos speech.

Now I relax in my hotel room shared with Roxanne Feldman (Fairrosa Cyber Library of Children’s Literature) and Monica Edinger (Educating Alice) where we prepare for our full assault.

By the way, I only brought my contacts and not my glasses so if you see me wid

Add a Comment

As you prepare to go to ALA conference...or really any workshop, CE opportunity or speech...you need to read and own my friend Ingrid's blog post at Magpie Librarian on badly behaved librarians. And if you see yourself in her post, please, would you keep it down? The rest of us are trying to listen  - and not to YOU!

Image: 'IMG_6851''  http://www.flickr.com/photos/24630636@N03/6976435455

Add a Comment

When last we left our intrepid hero, she was spending five hours in a Washington D.C. emergency room rather than hanging out with, oh say, Karen Cushman at a Kidlit Drink Night.  So there was that.

The next day, however, I was determined to make up for lost time.  Alas, being determined and actually convincing your body to act like something rather than a wounded baby seal are two entirely different matters.  I fared better once I realized that I would last longer in this world if I put just a little pressure on the old right foot, and didn’t insist on launching myself through the air like some kind of crutch-wielding orangutan.

So it was on to the convention floor for fun and profit.  First up, I needed to grab my press badge, and while doing so who else did I see but Tom Angleberger, author of the widely (and justifiably) acclaimed The Strange Case of Origami Yoda.  Here Tom is, being interviewed by Barb Langridge of the Howard County Central Library and the television show Books Alive!

While waiting for them to finish I wandered about to my press room.  Outside of it I took a strange delight in this pile of little pamphlets.

Needless to say, I took one.

After exchanging words with Tom and Barb I stepped foot upon the conference floor, whereupon I had an amazing shock.  My general attitude when attending a conference floor, dear readers, is to be sneaky, quick, and sly.  I dart from publisher to publisher, attempting to mimic a dragonfly.  All iridescent flashes and leaps to the side.  However, I found that with my newfound encumbrances I was like nothing so much as those big machines in the second Star Wars movie.  You know the ones I mean (I really should have asked Mr. Angleberger while I was with him what they were called).  The resident Star Wars fan says that they are AT-ATs.  He’s not wrong.  They are also known as Walkers.

Whatever they’re called, they were I.  Clumping, clumsy, clanking, cantankerous.  Until, that is, I saw Laura Amy Schlitz.

Oh, we are getting a better look at that hat.

That’s the stuff.  Authors were in abundance this day, so I took a great deal of fun in snapping quicky pics of them

Display Comments Add a Comment

Well, I’m proud to say that the resident husband and I have arrived safe and sound in ALAla land.  Washington D.C. welcomed us like a too affectionate panting dog, all moisture and temperatures over 90 degrees.  Ah, swampy capital.  How I’ve missed ye.

I begin by planning out my itinerary for the next few days. I’ve already noticed a couple things while here, which I shall endeavor to let you know about.  Frankly, if you’re in town right now I doubt that you’re going to read me, but just in case I’m compiling a list of things I’ve learned from my ALA Conferences over the years.  Some of this has practical implications in the future as well.

• First off, the conference floor will not be open to the librarians until Saturday morning.  However, there is usually a Friday night pre-opening where folks with MLIS degrees swarm the floor like hungry piranhas, devouring any spare marketing employees foolish enough to cross their paths.  These marketing folks, by the way, tend to arrive in town on Wednesday and then spend two whole days setting up their respective booths.  If you see one, give them cookies and bottles of water.  They deserve them.

• You always want to find out where the ALSC Notables Committee is doing their talk.  Anyone can walk in at any time to listen to them discuss the best books of 2010.  It’s a real eye-opening insight into the reasons why one book or another is either beloved or loathed by the librarian community.  You don’t even need a pass to watch them.  And it’s really the only time you can watch how a committee debates a book.

• The Book Cart Drill Teams are a necessary part of any major ALA Conference.  At 4:00 on Sunday you will have a chance to see the cream of the book cart crop dancing, boogying, shimmying, and shining their way across the conference floor.  These are always amusing routines.  I have two goals in my life (both following in the footsteps of Jon Scieszka) and one of them is to someday emcee a bookcart drill team competition.  I even have a routine of my own I could do!  Until then, however, I’ll just enjoy watching these folks do their stuff.

And for this particular conference:

• In the land o’ tweets, a snarky anonymous tweet has started called @ALATotebag.  It aims to proffer thoughts on the conference in its own way.  From it I learned about an ALA Dance Party taking place.  I’m not going myself, but if folks are in town and need to put on their boogie shoes, apparently it will take place Friday night, starting at 10:00 p.m. at Apex DC, 1415 22nd Street NW.  There will be an $8 cover.  Watch #aladanceparty for more details.

• I got this from Carol at RIF: “Please join Reading Is Fundamental at a Macy’s sponsored tweetup/reception on Monday, June 28 between 5:30 and 8:00 p.m. at The Shakespeare Theatre Company (Sidney Harman Hall), 610 F Street NW, Washington , DC 20004; brief remarks at 6:30. Hope you can drop by to visit!”

• Finally, I don’t know what the conference floor will hold, but there is one exhibit worth mentioning.  Word on the street has it that this kooky thing is going to be up and “running” at the Simon & Schuster booth.  It’s a cardboard version of a website.  And yes.  It works.

1 Comments on ALA 2010: Remembering What I’ve Forgotten, last added: 6/25/2010