I have to echo P. Sweeney: I really did plan to blog more, but I got sucked into the whirlwind of activity and joy and exhaustion that IS conference.  Additionally, I spent a lot of time doing committee and process work for YALSA, some of which is confidential, so it doesn’t really lend itself to blogging!  Thus my copying of P. Sweeney continues: here are five of my highlights from 2010 ALA Annual.

My Top 5 ALA Annual Experiences

1. Library Advocacy Day
2. Promoting Teen Reading with Web 2.0 Tools preconference
3. Networking
4. Teen Spaces: Design with Economy session
5. The Stacks (yes, the exhibits!)

More detail about all this good stuff after the cut!

1. Library Advocacy Day

I was fortunate enough to be selected as a recipient of the Friends of YALSA’s Library Advocacy Day stipends, giving me the opportunity to attend my first Library Advocacy Day.  It was a great day!  I had a chance to network with five other librarians and an LIS graduate student from my home state of New Mexico.  We represented academic, public, and tribal libraries.  We attended the rally and being lost in a chanting sea of librarians clad in red was energizing and exciting.  After the rally, we met with both representatives of both our Senators and all three of our state representatives.  Walking around the Mall and through the chambers of the Senate halls, we ran into librarians around every corner.  We crossed paths with librarians from Tennessee, Arkansas, and Illinois.  Even tourists cheered us on when they saw our shirts.   Having the chance to actually explain to legislative aides about what federal funding for libraries means to our state was incredibly empowering…and inspiring!  I’m excited to implement the advocacy training I received back home on the local level.  I have to give special thanks to YALSA for sponsoring such a great advocacy training session on Monday and I suggest anyone interested in advocacy check out YALSA’s District Days for some good ideas on how to advocate on a local level.

New Mexico’s delegation at Library Advocacy Day: Paulita Aguilar, Janice Kowemy, Cynthia Shetter, Angie Manfredi, Lillian Szymanski, Susan Oberlander, (State Librarian) and Karen McPheeters

2. Promoting Teen Reading with Web 2.0 Tools preconference

On Friday, I attended the half-day YALSA pre-conference Promoting Teen Reading with Web 2.0 Tools.  This was a great pre-conference, because it was a good mix of scholarly research, author participation, and practical advice from librarians. (Disclaimer: I presented a segment on having a 2.0 Book Club during the “speed dating” practitioner’s portion.)  The mix of subject matter kept this interesting and engaging over the course of several hours and gave all participants something useful. Besides the awesome YA authors Melissa Walker, Malinda Lo, Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, John Green, and David Levithan, presenters included Dr. Eliza Dresang from the University of Washington iSchool and Dr. Kristen Purcell from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.  Slides, handouts, and information from the session are currently online.  The event was organized and run by the amazing Wendy Stephens and I’m so glad I attended, I got a lot of good ideas and statistics that I know are going to be able help me make persuasive cases to my library administration for strengthening my Web 2.0 services to teens.

3. Networking, Networking, Networking

Or, as it is more happily known: meeting people IRL.  The best part of conference is always getting the chance to meet people you only know from blogs and screen names in person.  I even ran into someone I follow on twitter randomly while waiting in line for books to get signed!  It’s so exciting when you finally get the chance to talk face to face with people you often are communicating with in only 140 characters or when you meet someone in line for a book and start talking about characters you can’t forget.  At these times, Annual feels like a small world where it’s possible to know everyone AND meet someone new.   By following and tweeting with the #ala10 hashtag on Twitter I found new people to follow and new people found me, more librarians than ever!  All this expands my library universe by leaps and bounds and, even during conference, gave me glimpses into sessions I couldn’t attend and different program tracks.  Once I get back to my “regular” life they let me see what’s happening in libraries all across the country.

4. Teen Spaces: Design with Economy program

Another thing I always like about Annual is the ALA Store.  It’s a great chance to actually get a hands-on look at material before you buy it.  I’ve learned to buy what I want early, though, because titles do sell out!  (Bookmarks and posters FLY off the shelf!) This time I picked up Cool Teen Programs Under $100 (which sold out at PLA) and the second edition of Teen Spaces: The Step by Step Library Makeover.

But the real high-light wasn’t just shopping!  The Teen Spaces book was complimented by a program on Monday morning, Teen Spaces: Design with Economy.  The panel not only featured the author, Kimberly Bolan, but had other great panelists from the Bethesda Library, including teen users of the re-designed space and the actual designers.  What was really useful about this session was that it gave so many hands-on, immediate examples.  My favorite kind of sessions are the ones that leave you inspired to try something new, something you’ve just learned, right that second AND that make you feel like you now have the information on how to do so.  Kimberly has her presentation online and it’s a great place to get you started.  I’m already lost in dreams of sound domes and fabric panels!

5. The Stacks

I know, I know, you’re not supposed to say this, right?  The joke, after all, is about how many librarians attend conference just to go to exhibits and load up on totebags and useless free junk they don’t need and don’t take advantage of all the great sessions and events.  Ha-ha-ha.  But for me the exhibits are an essential part of the conference experience.  I network in exhibits and relish the chance to see products in-action and talk to sales reps in person about them.

Most importantly: I take home dozens upon dozens of advance readers and, believe me, the cost of mailing them back home to my library is not free or even cheap.  So why do I do it?  These books power my teen programs throughout the year, especially in summer when teens participate in our summer reading program for the chance to earn free books.  Many, if not most, of these books are the advance readers I pick up at conference.  I offer ARC to teens willing to talk them up to their friends, special consideration if they’re willing to write a review for our teen blog. I can get five book reviews out of a teenager who wants a chance at the newest Cassandra Clare book.  This is a perk for my teen readers, yes, but over the past two years of my conference attendance it’s also become something they work towards and eagerly anticipate.  It makes them feel more connected to the library, more anxious to participate and, let’s face it: they think it’s COOL.  The teens at my library think of Annual like Disneyland and Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory all rolled into one; they would love nothing more than to go.  Since they can’t and I can, the exhibits aren’t just a highlight for the books that get ME excited but for how much I know it means to my library’s programs and my library’s patrons.

In all, it was another productive, exciting, energizing, FUN time at conference.  It’s always so great to be with your community and every time I go to conference I remember how happy I am that librarians of all kinds are my community!  See everyone in San Diego!