Author: Angela Newman

One of the main reasons I was able to come to PLA this year was because it was in Philadelphia – a 20 minute train ride for me. No airfare or hotel needed! However, what I failed to take into account was the sheer amount of exhibit hall swag that I’d have to leave behind because I – already struggling with a laptop the size of a breakfast tray and the weight of a surfboard – couldn’t physically carry it home on the aforementioned train. Wednesday, I left with two ARCs from the Nancy Pearl lunch; yesterday, I left with nothing but my good looks; and today I’m leaving with two bookmarks, some postcards from the ALA store, and this button. (Yay, button!) My hat is off to everyone who flew here with an empty suitcase for the express purpose of filling it with free gear. Well played. ETA: I…

First off, I want to say that I was gonna go to the Readers Advisory Toolkit workshop this morning anyway. Finding out the presenters were handing out chocolate was just a bonus. An awesome bonus. I took some time between morning sessions to explore the exhibit hall a bit more – and visit the ALSC booth! – so this blog post will have to be cut a little short. Instead of highlighting the top five things I took away from my workshop this morning, I’ve got to limit myself to just three. Top Five Three Things: 1. Instead of asking patrons the question, “What kind of books do you like?” to help guide me (often answered with a blank stare or a shrug in my department), I will now ask children to name me 3 books they loved and 3 books they hated and why. (Or maybe just one book…

Sometimes it’s hard to choose what to attend at a conference. Sometimes it’s very, very easy.

Like seemingly everyone else in the free world, I ate lunch at the Reading Terminal Market today. (This photo does not do justice to how crowded the place was this afternoon; stopping to take a picture was not possible when I first arrived, carried along as I was by the tide of lunch folk.)

Am I the only one who references Breakin’ 2 whenever confronted with the 2nd edition of something? I definitely acquired a copy of the 2nd edition of Every Child Ready to Read a few months ago. And even though I have taken it out of its shrink wrap – and even assembled it! – I’d sort of put that big scary binder on the back burner until today. But now that I’ve attended Every Child Ready to Read in Action, I am much less afraid of the prospect of conducting an early literacy workshop of my very own. Top Five Things: 1. All of the downloadable slides and notes for the ECRR workshops are editable.  Which is great if you’re like me and like to inject your own style into things. (Though I would try to leave my movie quotes at home. I would try valiantly.) 2. Workshops are flexible…

How to boil down a 75 minute conference workshop into a shortish microblog post? I thought maybe a list of the top five things I took away from each workshop would be my best bet, so I give you the John-Cusack-in-High-Fidelity-inspired Top Five Things. First session of my day was Social Media and Your Marketing Plan. Top Five Things: 1. Develop a social media policy. I know what you’re thinking. I know because I wrote it in the Notes section of my conference program. It goes something like, ‘Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Not another policy!’ But seriously, this one is a good idea, because it allows you to be thoughtful about your social media efforts and concentrate them where they’ll be the most useful. Decide which platforms you want to use and what kind of content you’ll use it for. 2. Develop a schedule for your content. I know I tend to post…

If I were to make a list of things I did not expect to see today at the PLA conference, an a cappella choir singing ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ outside the exhibit hall would be pretty near the top. The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Glee Club began singing outside the hall about 10 minutes after it opened, and I managed to take this grainy photo of them before they skedaddled.

Nancy Pearl has the power to bring things back from the dead. Well, at least, if those things are books, and if by ‘dead’ one means out of print. I had the chance to attend her luncheon today at PLA where she introduced her latest project. It is called ‘Book Lust Rediscoveries,’ and it is, to quote the handy flyer I received on my way out, ‘a series devoted to reprinting some of the best (and now out of print) novels originally published between 1960 and 2000.’ Don’t we all have at least one title on our shelves whose condition and/or appearance we lament but just can’t bring ourselves to weed because it’s too good not to have? Imagine being able to order a shiny new copy with new cover art, an introduction by Nancy Pearl, and a readers guide with discussion questions for book clubs! Luncheon guests were treated…