I just got back from 4 days at the annual American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Conference in Philadelphia. While there, I got to walk over 15 miles back and forth from meeting to meeting, as I considered the conference buses to be too slow. I’m action oriented. LOL. Those 15+ miles did not include my 6 mile 7 AM run from my hotel to the Art Museum, up the Rocky stairs, my Rocky hops and jumps as I sang the famous song, and then along the Schuylkill River. What a treat!!
I go to the Conference to participate in committees and the exhibits, so I can learn more about the profession, ways to reach my future students, and find out what is new in the world of children and young adult books. Since I won the highly competitive ALA 2006 Spectrum Scholarship, I am “giving back” by participating in the Spectrum Institute Planning Committee to plan the upcoming Spectrum Institute at Anaheim in late June. I am also interested in the Children and Young Adult Field, so am on the REFORMA CAYASC committee. I submitted an article to the YALS magazine, so keep your eyes peeled for it. I am a big believer in the importance of advocating for school libraries, so am also on the AASL Legislation Committee. Whew!
I ran around, attended back to back meetings all weekend, and shipped home 5 boxes of ARC’s (Advanced Reading Copies) to sift through and see what new Spring ‘08 releases I would like to have in my library. On Sunday, I heard Dr. Kareem Abdul Jabbar speak about the wonderful historical novels he’s written, his love for basketball and his love for literacy. On Monday, I woke up early and attended the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sunrise Ceremony, which was very moving and then ran to the “Librarian Oscars” where the winners of this year’s Newberry, Caldecott, Printz medalists and others were announced. What a thrill! These winning books are the best of the best when it comes to Children and Young Adult Literature in the United States.
It was a tiring, but learning and fruitful experience. I look forward to Anaheim ‘08 where I get to do it all over again! Gulp…..
