Over this past week, I have been sharing out reflections on my trip to Chicago for the ALA Annual Conference. You can read part I and part II for more pictures and thoughts.
Friends and Conversations:
As typical of any ALA conference, connecting with friends, authors, publishers, and other book people is part of the experience. The conversations over meals or while walking around the exhibit hall or en route to an event add a richness to conference experience that is tranformative.
Often I fail at taking pictures with those that I meet up with and other times pictures just don't turn out well. Below I have tried to include photos despite their graininess. I haven't included names of everyone because I know I will accidentally leave someone out.
The Award Ceremonies and Acceptance Speeches:
Part of what I enjoy doing at ALA Annual is attending the various award ceremonies and listening to the acceptance speeches. This year I made it to the following:
The CSK Award Breakfast
Thank you to Ed Spicer, this was my first time at the CSK Award Breakfast, and it certainly won't be my last time. Next year, I plan to get my ticket early. The speeches by each of the winners were heart-felt and moving.
The ALSC Awards
The ALSC Awards are held the morning after the Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder banquet. I know I hit snooze quite a few times but I love going to see the awards presented to the Sibert, Batchelder, and Geisel winners even if I can't usually stay for the whole thing. It was also my second time during the weekend that I got to hear Rep. John Lewis speak and I appreciated his inspirational messages.
Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder Banquet
One of the highlights of the conference is attending the Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder banquet. I had so much fun sitting at The Brain Lair (a nod to the bookstore Kathy Burnette plans to open) table with Nerdy Book Club friends. I am always inspired by the speeches given by the winners. Check out this link to Horn Book for the print version of the speeches.
Schneider Family Book Awards & Luncheon
Schneider Family Book Awards are given during the ALA Awards. Though we do not have an opportunity for our winners to give an acceptance speech, it is fun to see them walk across the stage with committee members to receive their awards. We do celebrate as a committee with the winners at a luncheon where Dr. Katherine Schneider speaks to everyone via speakerphone.
I was particularly terrible at taking pictures at the Schneider Family Book Award Luncheon. However, I had to get a picture of these awesome gifts from Jen Bryant and Boris Kulikov.
Each member of the jury received a braille version of Six Dots and a bracelet with braille writing on it.
I tried to capture the bracelet in this picture.
I tried to get a picture of the braille overlay in the braille version of Six Dots. It is fascinating to see and feel if you have never experienced a braille book.
The Members of the Schneider Family Book Award Jury and Winners of the Award
The Closing Keynote:
I can't believe that I actually got to hear Hillary Clinton give the closing keynote. I dragged Mary Ann out at 6:00 a.m. so we would be in line early. The good news - we ended up in the fifth row. I included Clinton's speech as recorded by CNN below if you are interested in listening to it. I appreciated her support of literacy and libraries.
Posted by CNN: Hillary Clinton Keynote Address at ALA Conference:
Though it has been a few days since the end of the conference, I am still extremely thankful that I have been able to attend and be a part of the events of the weekend. I am thankful to all of the ALA staff for the work they put into planning and organizing the conference. I am also thankful for all of the publishers for all of the things they do to help participants connect with authors and books.
Now to look forward to NCTE '17 in November.