As I verified that I didn’t pack fireworks, it hit me—at 35—that #alaac24 is my first time traveling to a place where I’m a complete stranger. Later, with my elbows tucked to my sides in the middle seat on my flight from Florida, I feel like I imagine I would have felt as a kid on my way to sleepaway camp if I didn’t have two siblings and the Wayside Baptist youth group with me.
But I’m no stranger to being strange. To say nothing of the personal, I’m a graphic-designer-turned-general-education-teacher pursuing a PhD in special education and writing a dissertation on school libraries. When the media specialist I volunteer with suggested I attend ALA, I was outwardly enthusiastic but internally hesitant. Conferences give me massive anxiety. I usually hide in my hotel room and sneak away to vegan spots on my own. However, a mentor had also (lovingly) suggested that special education may not be the best academic home for me. So I joined ALA and ASLC.
In the weeks leading up to the conference, the listserv emails came pouring in. Surprisingly, I didn’t let them pile up in my inbox. I opened them all. I stepped away from Dawn, then Adulthood Rites, then Imago to read them with equal gusto. In a thread called “Eat like a local (i.e. cheap) in San Diego,” I asked about vegan recs. I had a PDF guide *with a map* in my inbox within minutes. Later, on Zoom with two dear colleagues, I exclaimed, “They’re AGGRESSIVELY inclusive!” (Remember: We can’t even use the word “inclusive” in Florida public schools.)
Even though I’m arriving as a total stranger, I hope I don’t leave as one. If you see someone with their nose buried in Fledgling between sessions, come up and say hello! And if you can’t make it this year, I hope I can offer you a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed perspective on my first time at library camp…I mean ALA.
Conference Blogger Kelley Taksier (they/them/theirs) is a former classroom teacher pursuing a PhD in special education at the University of Florida. Currently their research focuses on students’ access to texts in public schools. As a part of this work, they collaborate with school librarians, who encouraged them to join and attend ALA! They are looking forward to connecting with more school librarians at their first ALA conference in between enjoying all the vegan food San Diego has to offer.
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.