I am a better librarian than I was yesterday. Was it the cataloging quandary that led me to reading a chapter of Maxwell’s handbook for RDA? Was it the reference question that introduced me to an obscure historical figure that I hadn’t heard of before and took me to new levels of Boolean searching?? Or, was it the readers’ advisory interaction that ended with me having more books on my to-read list than the patron??? Yes, yes, and yes! But that’s a regular day. It’s the extraordinary days that librarians spend together at the annual ALA conference that take us to the next level, year after year, and #alaac15 was no exception.
Here are a few of the moments that developed me professionally last month at the American Library Association Convention, this year’s theme – “Transforming our libraries, ourselves”:
Library games: I had no idea what I was walking in to, and that turned out to be laughs, technology fails, trivia, competitive book talking, storytime, and a lip synching competition.- Enhancing access to literary works for children: Cataloging is huge part of my day to day, so the information shared here was key, and this was a great workshop put on by Janis Young from the Library of Congress. Whole-small-whole, it was actually a constructivist lesson; she taught us the concept, we practiced on our own with hands-on exercises, and then we discussed our answers together as a group! 385 (audience) and 386 (creators/contributors) fields – here I come!
- Auditorium speaker series: Advice and observations from Edwidge Danticat and Sonia Manzano make us all better people. It was incredible to talk to them, to take home signed copies of Untwine and Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx, and to be present in the room when ‘Maria’ announced that she is retiring from Sesame Street.
- Scholastic readers’ theater: David Levithan narrating, Jennifer Nielsen reading the part of the friend, and Edwidge Danticat reading the part of the mom, helping Alex Gino present their new book George (!), and then Dav Pilkey doing Captain Underpants sound effects for Craig Thompson’s new graphic novel Space Dumplins – classic.
- Jean Whitehorse: It was moving to hear the personal story of this American Indian woman, who participated in the occupation of Alcatraz in 1969-1971. She talked about more than this one particular protest; she gave us before, during, and after stories, putting that experience in the context of the life of a Native woman in the 20th century.
- Dinner conversation with Nikki Grimes, Bill Konigsberg, and Alex Gino: Three authors of significant and diverse literature for children at the table with me…?! Yes, I nerded out, and talked with them about the characters and plots from their books. Having just read The Porcupine of Truth in our Employee Reading Club in June, it was great luck (preparation meets opportunity!) to have highlights from the discussion to share with Bill Konigsberg.
Book groupie: As mentioned above, I am a nerd, and I’m a sentimental one at that. In between workshops there were opportunities to shadow two of my role models – Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, author, librarian, and my former colleague, and Andrea Davis Pinkney, author, editor, and my current colleague. It was an honor to spend time with these two women who both write and disseminate stories that fill in the gaps in both nonfiction and literature for children.- Coretta Scott King awards breakfast: Poetry, dancing, singing – and all before 9am. The sheer volume of heavyweight champions in the room was balanced by an absence of one Walter Dean Myers that was so palpable that when his son stood up, it was as if everything that came before Christopher Myers' award medal presentation… the poetry, the dancing, the singing… was in preparation for his speech. Read it here on the website for The Horn Book.
It was a great conference, and a great weekend to be in San Francisco.
My only disappointment? No book cart drill competition! So sad. Maybe next time…
