Save the Date: ALA Virtual Conference

The ALA Virtual Conference will be held July 13th and 14th. If you couldn't attend ALA in NOLA, this is a less-expensive chance to hear some of the presentations - no travel or hotels involved! If you did attend, this is a (free) chance to hear presentations you may have missed the first time around. HINT: watch for a condensed version of YALSA's Pecha Kucha: Teens & Technology.

Last Minute News: I'm Presenting!

I'm presenting on QR codes at the ALA 2011 conference Sunday morning. Look for "Pecha Kucha: Teens and Technology" @ 10:30 in rm 394! Please come for a YALSA panel on various ways to use technology to serve teens in your libraries. Check the conference scheduler for all the presenters, topics, and presentations.

If you're interested in more information on using QR codes, there's also a link to my four handouts: QR Code Generators/Readers, Ideas for QR Codes in Libraries, Ideas for QR Codes in School, and Thanks to My PLN (a list of early adopters who have already been exploring creative use of QR's in their libraries).

On My Way... to ALA 2011

I can't wait to leave for ALA 2011 tomorrow - even if it does seem that I don't have half the things done that I need to before I go. It will be my first trip to New Orleans, but I'll be traveling with a fellow teacher-librarian who has spent a lot of time there (and has connections in the local music community), so we're sure to be spending time eating good food and checking out the music scene.

I'm looking forward to so many of the AASL and YALSA sessions, to networking with my Twitter buddies in person, and meeting some of my librarian heroes, but most of all to the chance to meet Paolo Bacigalupi!

Teen Read Week

October 17-23 is Teen Read Week. this year's theme: Books with Beat. We'll be holding contests and giving away books, then chatting with a YA author to finish up on Friday!

May I Have Another?

Early this morning, I was off to a bad start. I was so tired, I almost fell asleep at the wheel, so I had to stop and take a breather, making me late to school. While stopped, I noticed that my sick dog had wiped snot on my pants. After a 45-minute commute, it was too late to go home and change.

Then, it turned into a great day:

A boy came in to return Paul Volponi's Black and White. He said "I really liked this. Can you find me another book like this one?" He wasn't very articulate about why he liked the book, so I tried to think of story parallels. I showed him several of Walter Dean Myers' books, Chris Crutcher's Whale Talk, Ben Mikaelsen's Touching Spirit Bear, and the two Volponi books I had left (all our Freshman English classes were in for book talks last week). He considered them all, and left happy with another Volponi, The Hand You're Dealt. No story parallels at all - must be the writing.

Later, a girl came to return Marked, by P.C. Cast, and begged for the second book, Betrayed. She was devastated that someone else was reading it. Several periods later, it was returned. Before I even checked it in, the first girl walked by on her way to a class in the Computer Lab. She saw the book in my hand, and literally jumped up and down with joy. Another happy customer.

Oh yes, and an English teacher asked if I could help him find two book lists, one for his Honors classes, and another one for his reluctant readers. I handed him YALSA's Best Books for the College Bound, and Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers.

I felt like a genius by the end of the day. I love my job!

ALA Chicago today

Lunch with an old friend, connecting with library school classmates, cheering at the AASL L4L mini-session, and touching all those new books - what could be better for a school librarian?

But it did get better: waiting in line for an advance copy of Catching Fire, the sequel to Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, we strangers had a fun book talk about the first one. Our patrons ate it up (sorry, I couldn't resist), so I know I'd never get to read the sequel when it comes in. The chance to read this advance copy before my Book Club meets again in the fall made my day!

One more moment of Nirvana: I watched Neil Gaiman signing hundreds of copies of his new The Graveyard Book, and Laurie Halse Anderson signing Speak and her new Wintergirls, while I chatted with Franny Billingsley and her daughter. Franny's Well Wished and The Folk Keeper were beloved when I worked in a middle school; her newest, Big Bad Bunny, is too young for my high school patrons, but it's adorable, so I've bought it for my favorite very little readers.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings...