One of the hardest things about ALA Annual (#ALAAC2024) is choosing which session or event to attend. The conference scheduler app is great for this because you can star more than one thing, and it adds it to your calendar. Then, I usually make a game day decision!
I usually attend the Graphic Novel and Comics Round Table‘s Friday Forum. It always inspires me, and I love hearing about new comics and graphic novels and how they are being used in libraries.
But, this year, I signed up for a ticketed event in which I had not participated before. I spent the day touring school libraries on the AASL (ISS) school library tour. It was so much fun traveling around La Jolla on a bus full of school librarians.
(What is the collective noun for a group of librarians–A Catalog? A Shelf? Leave your suggestion in the comments below!)
On the tour, there was something for everyone as we got to see La Jolla Country Day School which has a library that serves elementary, middle, and high school; The Bishop’s School which serves 6th-12th grade; and The Gillispie School which serves students from two years old through 6th grade. Each library was unique, and it was interesting to hear about collection development, programming, and library policies at each school.
It was also so wonderful getting to meet and talk with librarians from all over the country. On the way back to the Convention Center, I turned to my seatmate on the bus, and we both talked about all of the ideas that we have! I’m #FeelingInspired, and #ALAAC2024 has only just begun!
Guest Contributor Soline Holmes (she/her/hers) is a librarian and the Information Services Department chair at Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is the Secretary for ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable, co-chair of ALSC’s Children and Libraries Editorial Advisory Committee, and a member of ALSC’s Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee. She also serves on the Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award committees for K-2 and 3-5 and is a Teaching with Primary Sources Network Mentor. She has given presentations on graphic novels, Mother Goose and STEM, Primary Sources, and Global Education at local and national conferences. At ALA, she is looking forward to some of her favorite events: GameRT’s ALAPlay, the GNCRT Magical Comics Tea, and the Newbery/Caldecott/Legacy Banquet. When she was little, Soline wanted to be the first person to direct and star in the first musical on the moon….
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.