The 2011 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans was an exciting and highly entertaining event. I felt so fortunate to work with ALSC through the Student-to-Staff program. The weekend was fun, hectic, exhausting, and exhilarating. Many of programs I attended and worked at were enlightening educational experiences that taught me things I could imagine any children’s librarian using daily as they strive to better their services. One such program was “Criss-Cross Applesauce: Multi-Age Story Times” by Kathy Klatt and Saroj Ghoting, where the speakers introduced the ideas of continuous story time and sequential story time in a very creative and interactive way. “Before and After Harry Potter: Fantasy for Grades 3-5 and 5-8” was a very informative session that gave children’s and young adult librarians a plethora of titles that could help guide young readers through the exciting genre of fantasy. Some of the other events I attended were simply…
Category: ALA Annual 2011
Check out ALA Connect for handouts from the Annual Conference
The ALA Conference held last month in New Orleans offered a wealth of information to all the attendees. If you missed the conference, many of the handouts, presentations, and powerpoints are now available online at ALA Connect. As an ALSC member you can simply login and find out more information about: Saroj Ghoting and Kathy Klatt’s presentation entitled Criss Cross Applesauce: Making Multiage Storytimes the Best They Can Be (You might remember the ALSC blog post by Mary Ann Scheuer wrote on this presentation.) Adding your voice to the Strategic Focus Discussion which began at ALA. (Here’s an ALSC blog post about this conversation.) Handouts from the presentation on Sensory Storytimes. (Here’s an ALSC blog post giving an overview of that presentation.) These are just a few of the things you can find on ALA Connect. You’ll want to browse around; there’s oodles of great information and opportunities for discussion there.
Wilder times
Coming back from ALA is always time for reflection. When the conference is in a city like New Orleans, one of my favorite cities in the world, the reflection includes fun times, music, and great food. But this ALA conference was a little different for me. As a member of the 2011 Laura Ingalls Wilder Committee, I got to meet and spend a little time with our chosen awardee, Tomie dePaola. Not only did I get to have lunch with a legend in children’s literature, I got to meet a really nice, interesting, and fun man. Tomie dePaola is gracious — he was so genuinely happy to win the Wilder Award, and treated our committee with nearly as much awe as we have for him. I can honestly say that serving on the Wilder committee has been one of the shining moments in my career as a librarian. With the…
Annual in New Orleans: A Student-to-Staff Perspective
Since September of last year, I have been ALSC’s awards intern. It was a pleasure to continue my work with ALSC as their Student-to-Staff volunteer at Annual Conference. As a first-time Annual attendee and visitor to the Big Easy, I had no idea what to expect. There were many times when I was overwhelmed, such as the first time I stepped into the Exhibition Hall that housed over 900 exhibitors. But there were also many great moments. In between greeting and distributing surveys, I had the chance to listen to seven, unique ALSC workshops. During these workshops, I had the opportunity to hear panels that included many talented individuals–including best-selling authors and illustrators, book and media award winners, and an expert in the field of autism. All aspects of the ALSC workshops I attended were enjoyable, but some of the highlights included: Pat Mora’s poetic way of speaking; Carla Killough…
Inspired by international books for children
I was inspired by the #ALA11 panel discussion presented by the United States Board on Book for Young People (USBBY) entitled, “Independent Publishers-International Children’s Books.” Representatives from four US independent publishers shared their thoughts on international books. Groundwood Books, Kane Miller Books, NorthSouth Books, and Chronicle Books each shared about their particular vision, story, and favorite titles. I was particularly moved by Kira Lynn, of Kane Miller, as she talked about the quieter, subtler sensibility that foreign children books can bring to our children. “And that can be as simple as what people are having for dinner, what their apartment looks like, or how they dress.” Ms. Lynn continued on by drawing comparisons between going to foreign films and reading foreign books, that there’s a moment when you become so engrossed in the story – because it is truly about story, after all – that you forget that you are…
Back to reality
Yesterday was my first day back at work after a magical #ala11 weekend. During my pre-work run, the following appropriate songs came up on my Ipod shuffle, in this order: I’m So Tired by the Beatles – Does ANYone get enough sleep at ALA? Not this librarian! And small wonder, given how much fun I had… Early in the Mornin’ by Buddy Guy – Appropriate not only because Buddy Guy is a Louisiana native son, but also for the bluesy lyrics “Now it’s early in the morning … and I ain’t got nothin’ but the blues”. Hello, Post-ALA Depression! Dawning of a New Era by The Specials – Don’t you feel as if you now have enough energy and inspiration and ideas to change the world – or at least your library system – or at least your own tiny corner of your library system?! It could well be the…
You know you’re a children’s librarian when …
You know you’re a children’s librarian when … you attend the huge, annual American Library Association Conference featuring famous authors like Harlan Coben, C.S. Harris, Erica Spindler, Laura Lipman, and Wendy McClure; and you pass them all up because you can’t afford to miss Grace Lin, Rick Riordan, Clare Vanderpool, Erin Stead, Tom Angleberger, Jeff Kinney, Richard Peck, and all the other wonderful authors and illustrators who gathered this week in New Orleans. I wish I’d had the time to meet them all!
The pure pleasure of poetry
A shining moment in my memory of #ALA11 was the pure pleasure of the ALSC Poetry Blast. Although I was tired and spent after a long weekend, listening to these poets renewed me with energy and enthusiasm for sharing poetry with children of all ages. As Joyce Sidman says, we all need time to ponder, “Time alone, without noise and distraction. This is when ideas come–when things sort themselves out, when you see visions and solutions. Not just for writing, but for life.” The ALSC Poetry Blast brought a bit of this pondering time to me on Monday afternoon. I was able to listen and be transported to place within myself that has room for just this sort of pondering. Stephanie Calmenson started the afternoon by sharing poems for the very young. She captures the voice and thoughts of youngsters perfectly, reading with enthusiasm and pure joy. Her poems for…