I am so excited!!!!!! Today I’m headed to my first ALA conference ever! I’ve been a school librarian for about seven years now and I’ve done technology conferences and book conferences and English teacher conferences but never a library conference. Look! I even made new business cards to match my blog header:
I’m so excited to meet new people and to see people I know from the interwebz. Librarians, teachers, authors, people who work in book publishing and promotion…. so many awesome bookish people in one place!
Now, I am not registered for the conference proper. I’m going to two YALSA events on Friday and then I have an exhibit pass. I know I won’t get the full conference experience but I really wanted to go to the YALSA events and couldn’t afford them and the conference. Here are the two YALSA events:
Ten Years of YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten : From the “YALSA at ALA’s 2013 Annual Conference” page: “…a half day preconference to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Teens’ Top Ten (TTT)! The Teens’ Top Ten is a “teen choice” list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year. Learn about the program from current TTT groups, receive tips on how to run a similar program in your library, and meet authors who have appeared on the Teens’ Top Ten list (Susan Beth Pfeffer, Cory Doctrow, Sarah Dessen, Marie Lu, and Laurie Halse Anderson).“
YA Lit Bloggers’ Summit: From the “YALSA at ALA’s 2013 Annual Conference” page: “A must-attend event for YA lit bloggers! Take your blog to the next level by participating in a discussion of the state of YA lit and networking with bloggers, reviewers, publishers and authors. Topics such as leadership, marketing, tech help, review writing, ethics and copyright will be covered. You’ll leave with new contacts in blogging and publishing and a clear vision for how to make a positive mark in the vibrant world of YA lit. Authors participating include: Holly Black, Sarah Dessen, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Gene Luen Yang.”
There are also a number of authors I am so excited to meet (or see again!) Patrick Ness is going to be there. Epic fangirling will ensue. Hopefully I’ll be able to at least appear calm and collected! Also, TAMORA PIERCE will be there!!!!! I met her once before and she is wonderful and I am such a huge fan and I just can’t handle the awesome! And Elizabeth Wein! I won’t be able to talk to her about Code Name Verity because that would start me crying and I’d never stop. Plus so, so, so many other authors.
Basically the original point of this was to apologize for a fangirl filled twitter feed and some silence on the blog! I planned to schedule posts for the week but then was scheduled to work both jobs every day until I leave! I fail. Forgive me? 🙂
Also, if you aren’t going to ALA but live in the Naperville area a number of the authors will be doing book signings at Anderson’s Bookshop. Even if you don’t live in the area you can call and order a signed book!!!
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