ALA Midwinter 2009 – Denver, Day 5–The Youth Media Awards

The Youth Media Awards have been announced … and three Maine authors/illustrators have been named:
Ashley Bryan 
Stephen King
Melissa Sweet 
Here are the awards in alphabetical order:
Alex Awards — “ten best adult books that appeal to teen audiences”
Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow
City of Thieves by David Benioff
The Oxford Project by Stephen G. Bloom
Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris
Mudbound by [...]

ALA Midwinter 2009 – Denver, Day 4

What a FABULOUS DAY!!!
Everything that I  ATTENDED today was WONDERFUL …
Rushworth Kidder, founder of the Institute for Global Ethics, was a fascinating and inspiring speaker.  He talked about how there are core values that seem to emerge in all cultures and societies: honesty, responsibility, respect, fairness and compassion. He also explained that although ethics is [...]

ALA Midwinter 2009, Denver – Day 3

My morning started out with the Sunrise Speaker series and a presentation by Leigh Rubin, the creator of the comic strip, Rubes.  He told us how he got his start.  He still remembers the first cartoon he drew when he was in kindergarten and how much he loved that he could draw a picture that [...]

ALA Midwinter 2009 – Denver, Day 2

The school library advocacy institute was a big disappointment … I won’t go into the details.  Evidently, not all school librarians are as fun-loving as I am :>
The exhibit hall opened this afternoon and I picked up a copy of 3 Willows by Ann Brashares, just like I said I would; tomorrow I’ll try to [...]

ALA Midwinter 2009 – Denver, Colorado

It’s like spring here … I went out for a walk this morning and it was 50 degrees and climbing.  No snow.  I’ve kept my hat, scarf and mittens in my suitcase.
Here are some of today’s highlights (for me) at this ALA Midwinter Meeting …
Friday – 1/23/09
9:30am-4:30pm – American Association of School Librarians Advocacy Institute [...]

At ALA Annual in Washington D.C. – Ms McDaniel’s Memorable Moments

Meeting Charlene Schiff was a real highlight for me. She is a survivor is the truest sense of the word. Charlene’s courage and strength are a source of inspiration. Thank you for the message of compassion that you spread in the world. I sincerely hope that our paths cross again.
I was GREAT to see [...]

At ALA Annual in Washington D.C. – Day 8

Today was our final day, well half-day, in Washington, D.C. Otrell, for some reason, got up at 6:30 am, but the rest of us slept until 8:00 am.
After breakfast, I decided to go back to the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial to get some pictures and I wanted to see the Vietnam Veterans’ [...]

At ALA Annual in Washington D.C. – Day 7

The conference is over; the last day was Tuesday, June 26th. Wednesday was a day that we had all to ourselves. We were finally well rested.
A library colleague we had met at the Coretta Scott King Awards Breakfast had offered to drive our bags back to Maine for us! (Thank [...]

At ALA Annual in Washington D.C. – Day 6

Hi, me again. I’m writing this as of 10:33 PM, Wednesday, 6/27/07. In the morning we went to the Coretta Scott King Awards. Among the winners were such books as Copper Sun, Jazz, and Moses: How Harriet Tubman Led her People to Freedom. Afterwards we visited the exhibit hall one last time, managing a final [...]

At ALA Annual in Washington D.C. – Day 2

We had a fabulous day here in D.C.. We all slept long and well.
Our hotel serves an extended continental breakfast, and, although I modeled good balanced eating habits (e.g. hard-boiled egg, toast with peanut butter, oatmeal and fresh fruit), I’m afraid that my charges are unimpressed and insist on beginning the day with a [...]