I had every intentions of blogging from ALA so I could keep up with everything going on but the unthinkable happened. My hard drive crashed on Friday!! I'm so glad I brought my old laptop and not the one with all my "stuff" on it! I was totally out of touch after that.
On Friday, I had the pleasure of working at Harris Elementary School as part of the Librarians in the Community project. The library had been closed for four years and been used as a makeshift storage area. Thanks to Audrey, a dynamic librarian who has taken on the challenge of resurrecting the program, we had a great day getting things organized. While others weeded the collection, I cataloged the small collection that was left. I have never used the system before so probably make a few mistakes. Sorry Audrey :-)
I attended AASL Affiliate Assembly as the NH delegate. We spent Friday evening reviewing our concerns that will be brought to the executive committee. This was my first Affiliate Assembly and I was very charged by the energy in that room.
I spent Saturday at the exhibits and getting autographs. I admit that I spend too much time getting signed books. But who can resist "meeting" John Green, Mary Downing Hahn, Nancy Garden, Sherman Alexie, Lois Lowry, Gail Giles, Laurie Halse Anderson, Marcus Zusak and Judy Blume. There were so many more that I just didn't have a chance to meet. I did manage a program or two also. I tried to get to the Reader's Theater program but there was just no room. The Graphic Novels program was very crowded also but I did manage to get it. The last program I went to was Picture Books for Older Readers. Great info although people were fighting over the handouts. Saturday night I went to dinner with the folks from Boyds Mills and authors Marilyn Nelson and Carolyn Coman.. How cool is that!?
Sunday started with the YA Authors Breakfast. What a great time. It was managed a bit like speed dating with the authors moving from table to table every 10 minutes or so. There was certainly not enough time to meet all the authors but it was fun to meet so many Printz award winners. Our table hosted Garret Freymann-Weyr, Gary Schmidt, Walter Dean Myers, Alan Stratton, Marilyn Nelson, Ellen Wittlinger and David Almond. I was absolutely speechless sitting next to David Almond!!! After the breakfast, I hurried over to the AASL Affiliate Assembly that had started earlier. Sunday was more time at the exhibits getting signed books. Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, Cecil Castellucci, Carolyn Mackler, Sonya Hartnett, Karen Beaumont, Jane Dyer, Sara Zarr, Barry Lyga, Garret Freymann-Weyr, Dana Reinhardt, and Ellen Wittlinger. I was too late to get into the Judy Blume program:-(
Monday I went to the YALSA program on popular paperbacks. The YALSA President's Program, A Day in the Life of a Teenager, featured young people doing readings from the past years of YA lit. They were very good. Then a panel of YA authors spoke about how YA lit has evolved since the 1960s. On the panel was David Almond! Oh yeah, Robert Lipsyte, Nick Hornby and Joanna Cotler. Michael Cart moderated. I also went to the DVDs for YAs program. On the exhibit floor, I finally got David Almond to personalize some books for me. I also got signed copies from MT Anderson, and Sharon Draper
Tuesday I went to the closing session with Garrison Keillor. What a treat. I then dropped by the exhibits one more time. I was able to get a signed copy from Gene Luen Yang without waiting in those horrible lines from the past couple of days! I then headed out to Capitol Hill for the Library Day on the Hill. Very exciting. I was unable to speak with either of my Representatives but I left my message and know they are both supporters. I don't know it they ever took me up on the invitation to star in a Read poster!
Wednesday I went site seeing and then headed off to the airport. My plane was over 6 hours late. I finally got into NH at about 4:00 am. I really wished I hadn't signed up to go to a workshop on Thursday but I made it through the day on minimal sleep.
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