Takeaways from My 1st ALA Annual

Here’s what I figured out most librarians go to Annual for:

• Reuniting with colleagues who live far away

I didn’t have any out-of-state colleagues to reunite with; although next Annual I’m excited to reconnect with the friends I made this time.

• Attending association and committee meetings

I’m not on a committee and I’ll be honest, ALSC seems very convoluted to a newbie, but I did go to the Leadership & ALSC meeting and the Membership meeting. They were great and very informative; I’m glad I went.

• Snagging free books and pictures with authors in the exhibit hall

I grabbed a few books but I didn’t really see the need to take a bunch of books home. Any upcoming titles that looked good, I snapped a pic of to remember. I did have a great moment when Ann M. Martin signed a book for me and I babbled about how the Babysitter Club books were the first chapter books I ever read. She was completely gracious.

My favorite parts of Annual were:

Working lunch with my fellow Univ. of Michigan MSI alums.

Random connections with librarians I sat next to at sessions and at lunch in the concourse (hi Heidi!).

Taking tangible, practical ideas back to my library to implement.

Being surrounded by people who make our country better every day they show up to work–that inspiration alone was worth the price of admission.

I’m so grateful to the Penguin Young Readers Group Award committee for giving me this opportunity to attend Annual and I cannot wait to get back to work!