First ALA conference = lots of books

I attended my first American Library Association conference last month in Washington, D.C. The annual conference is huge! Although it was very well organized, it was quite overwhelming. There was so much going on, it was difficult to decide what to attend. Unfortunately, the sessions I sat in were either not what I expected or not very engaging. I suspect that once I start working as a librarian and have a niche, I'll be able to get more out of the conference sessions.

The best event I attended during my time in DC was an information session on federal librarianship careers. It was at the Library of Congress, so I had to take the subway there, which was very confusing. I wish I had taken a tour of the Library of Congress, but at the time I thought attending the conference was more important.

I spent most of my time in the exhibit hall, attending author signings and collecting free books for children, teens and adults. Of the 50-some books I brought home - 15 are signed copies! Some of the books are not available to the public yet (advanced uncorrected proofs). I met most of the authors or illustrators, including Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor, Vicki Myron, Jim Breuer, Adriana Trigiani, Julia Alvarez, Heidi W. Durrow, Jon Scieszka and David Small.

I also got a picture with Nancy Pearl and a signed copy of her latest "Book Lust" tome. I wish I had brought my Nancy Pearl librarian action figure with "amazing push-button shushing action" for her to sign, but it's still in the box and I didn't want to carry it around all day.

My friend Merritt had traveled from St. Croix for the conference and we had blast. She taught me the art of obtaining free books. She shipped 8 boxes of books back to the island - most to donate to an elementary school library - and took a suitcase full of books back with her on the plane. Pretty crazy but the kids will love it.

We stayed in Chinatown at a hotel with an Irish pub downstairs, which was awesome. Hard cider on tap! The walk to the convention center was only about 4 blocks, but it felt MUCH longer while lugging bags of books in the 105-degree heat.

Now I just need to get another bookshelf to store my new books AND find time to read them!

P.S. Check out this cool video for a peek at the ALA exhibit area: Penguin Goes to the American Library Association (ALA) 2010 Annual Conference, by Julie Schaeffer