Tales from a Loud Librarian

Loaded down with swag from ALA I had been planning for the American Library Association's (ALA) annual conference in New Orleans for over a year. I was prepping the students in two of my book groups about what it would be like for them to spend a day with me at ALA, and if they wanted to attend, I made sure that they saved the date well in advance since many of them have camp, travel, or even work during the summer months. I was chair of the Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) local area task force for this conference, so I had many duties throughout the week. I had not attended an ALA conference since Chicago in 2013, so I had booked myself solid from a pre-conference on Friday, June 22 until the afternoon of Monday, June 25. Then life happened. I had to put my 91 year old mother in the hospital on the Tuesday before the conference. We did not think she was seriously ill, but she had been feeling poorly for weeks. She knew about the conference, and ...

Read my blog post on YALSA's The Hub I strongly believe that belonging to professional organizations is crucial to my development to be a better librarian. Some of the organizations that I belong to include: JSLA, LASL , LLA , LACUE , ALA , AASL , and YALSA . Yes, it can get expensive because I have to pay for these memberships as my school does not, but through these organizations, I can network with my peers, get professional development, and find materials online that can help me do my job. Because I get so much out of both the state and national organizations to which I belong, I also like to give back. So when I was asked to chair the YALSA Local Area Task Force for ALA 2018 , I agreed. ALA is having its annual conference in New Orleans at the end of June. I am beyond excited because I have not attended since 2013. Though I belong to the school librarian's division of ALA, AASL, I have done most of my volunteering with the Young Adult division, YALSA.  Part of ...

Thomas waiting to speak at the YALSA BFYA session Every year during both the Mid-Winter and Annual conferences for ALA, YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) invites local teens to visit the conference one day to speak at the Best Fiction for Young Adult Committee meeting. It is a great day where the kids get to give their opinions on what they have read to the committee members, get fed by Penguin Publishers and meet many of the authors of the books that they have read and loved. I took a group of ten kids when ALA was in New Orleans in 2011. One of the members of Bookmarked, pictured above, spends his summers in Chicago with relatives. He didn't get to attend ALA in New Orleans, so I invited him to spend Saturday, June 29th with me.  Thien Pham on the left and Gene Yang on the right Hanging out in Artist Alley at ALA We started the morning at an interview of author/illustrator Gene Yang by his friend and collaborator Thien Pham . I knew that Thomas...

I love meeting authors. One of the reasons that I love attending ALA Annual so much is the opportunity to meet all the authors that I read and recommend to my students. I hate to admit it, but I am a true fangirl. Luckily, I can keep it in check and not gush when I actually come face to face with these remarkable writers. My ALA began on Friday night at Penguin Teen's rock star author dinner. Laurie Halse Anderson was there. She visited my school two years ago when  Forge  the sequel to  Chains  was published. She was kind enough to say that she remembered visiting PFTSTA, and I knew that she was telling me the truth when she described our cafeteria that was surrounded by windows. Her novel that is due out this fall does  not  have a one name title, and it takes on some dark, contemporary themes. My box of books of ALA arrived yesterday, and this one is on my to read list. I finally get a chance to meet Sarah Dessen I have been a big fan...

Sign at airport welcomes the librarians to Chicago On Friday, June 28th I left New Orleans after  being home only 36 hours after ISTE to attend ALA (American Library Association) in Chicago. I have been to the last two Annual ALA conferences and really wanted to attend this year too. Attending conferences is an expensive proposition. I was very lucky to win a scholarship along with six other librarians from EBSCO to attend this conference. You can read my winning essay here . If you are a librarian and want to attend ALA Annual or Mid-winter, you should apply next year. EBSCO paid for my conference registration and $1000 towards my travel. Our pictures and names were listed in the lobby of the McCormick Place Convention Center along with all the other ALA award winners. Below is a picture of that poster. Click on the picture to enlarge It was a rush to see my name hanging on the wall  The only requirement for this scholarship was to attend a breakfast on...

During the school year I don't get much time to choose what I want to read. If I have an author visit planned either face to face or virtual, I read that author's work in preparation of the visit. I have somewhere between 5 to 8 author visits every year. Once a month BRiMS, the middle school book group, reads a specific book, and I have to read that book to lead the discussion. I have been reviewing books for both School Library Journal and Library Media Connection for a year and a half. I am sent books to review, and sometimes I am reading two or three books a month to review. That doesn't happen often and when it does, it drives me crazy. I am also on the Louisiana Teen Reader's Choice committee and am helping to select the ten books for the next reader's choice award. There is a very long list of books with a 2012 copyright that I am suppose to read before the July 20th committee meeting. Not sure how I am gong to do that. I read approximately...

Last year, I had such a good time attending the ALA Annual conference away from home that I knew I wanted to go again. I just didn't know how I was going to fund the conference and a summer vacation. So when EBSCO and ALA announced in the fall about a scholarship to attend ALA Annual, I wrote 250 words on how attending ALA would contribute to my professional development. I found out a couple of weeks ago that I had won. I didn't want to post here until ALA announced it. Which they did yesterday. Open this link to read the press release about the seven winners. I am the only school librarian. The only stipulation for this scholarship is that we attend the EBSCO breakfast on Sunday, otherwise I can schedule my time at the conference any way that I want. I have never been to Chicago so I am not only thrilled about the conference but also thrilled about seeing Chicago. My husband is going with me, and we are going to stay an extra day so that I can actually visit a museum or tak...

Click here to download the entire program I have already blogged about the awesome award that I won from the American Association of School Librarians, a division of the American Library Association. The official photographs were released last week, so I want to post them here as I like to use this blog as my professional portfolio. On June 25, 2012, I was given the 2012 Information Technology Pathfinder Award at the secondary level. The picture above shows the cover of the program from the event. The picture below is the program page from the IT Pathfinder award. I won the secondary division of the program. This amazing librarian from Minnesota, Sally Mays, won the elementary division. It was an honor to win with Sally. She is so dynamic. I love meeting librarians with energy like hers.  Click on the picture to enlarge it for easy reading Each award presented at the ceremony was sponsored by a different vendor. Follett Software Company sponsored the IT Pathfinde...

I have lots more to share about the 2012 ALA annual conference. One of the ultimate highlights for me was winning the Information Technology Pathfinder Award from the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). This award is given to two librarians, one at the elementary level and the other at  the secondary level for their innovative approaches to information technology in the school library. On the first night that I arrived in Anaheim, I am walking through the exhibit hall and see a familiar name, Sally Mays , on the name tag of the person walking by me. Sally was the elementary division winner of the IT Pathfinder Award. We jumped up and down together a bit and shared what winning this award has done for us and our libraries. Both of us were blown away when we received the news that we had won. Unfortunately, we didn't meet up again until the award ceremony on Monday morning, but through social media we should be able to keep in touch. This is the first award ceremo...

I had a blast at ALA. I was kept busy from the time that I landed on Friday, June 22nd until I left for my vacation on Tuesday, June 26th. I began my Anaheim adventure by having lunch with a former student who I had not seen since she graduated high school in 2003. She was in first grade when I first became a librarian, and now at 28 she hopes to illustrate children's picture books. I sure hope that she can find a way to fulfill her dream and maybe some day I will be standing in line for her to sign her book at ALA. One of the things that I like to do most at ALA is get some face to face time with many of the authors that I enjoy reading. It was really cool that I got to meet three authors with whom the students at Patrick Taylor had communicated with through Skype. Here are some of the authors that I had a chance to meet. All of them were delightful and took the time to chat with me.  On the first night I went to a dinner hosted by Penguin for three dystopian queens:...