Christie’s TLA in a Nutshell
So I had an awesome time at the Texas Library Association last week. I got to meet Justin the Librarian and we talked and mutually fancrushed, and I got some wonderful ideas from his makerspace presentation that I’m implementing. He also reinforced what I’ve been thinking and saying (mumbling) all along:
IF YOU HAVE A TABLE and a CRAFT, you have a MAKERSPACE.
JUST DO IT.
Karen and I got in tons and tons of author lines,
and I got hugs, HUGS I TELL YOU from Alex London!!!
and I got hugs, HUGS I TELL YOU from Alex London!!!
We had dinner with Little, Brown Publishing and got to chat with Holly Brown, Kami Garcia, Paolo Bacigalupi and Libba Bray….
Did I mention Libba Bray?
Karen had a moment… I had mine later with Rae Carson, Alex London,
and Laini Taylor, to name a few….
I then crashed the Maverick’s 5th anniversary party on the advice of WONDER WOMAN ( @librariansti) who was at my panel in the morning, and while no one told me it was a fancy dress party, I actually found my people!
If you don’t know, the Maverick Graphic Novel List is an annual list done by librarians across Texas to recommend graphic novels to librarians of ll areas of interest. Tuan (the Joker above) was one of the founders, and I am going to haunt him for an interview for our Comic Week coming up.
And I got to meet some of the wonderful teens on Thursday who got to take advantange of the Teen Day- it’s an awesome program and if you can get your administration to do it, go for it. They get discounts, and a room just for them, and special speakers- and wonderful energy. (Otterbox rules!)
The exhibits wonderful, and I really enjoy how Texas does it’s author signings- with the majority of them in numbered booths to the side in a specific area. I really wish those at ALA would take note- it makes things a lot easier in the aisles.
I took That Guy along with me as roadie and geek, and unfortunately he had a huge work deadline so he didn’t get to meet as many authors as he would have liked, but we scrimped and saved and splurged on one big thing: the Dinner with an Author dinner, which was Zombie night. It was a wonderful event, and we got to hear passages read by Paolo Bacigalupi, John Campbell, Jonathan Maberry, Diana Rowland, and David Wellington. We got to hear about Maberry’s adult works, and got introduced to Bacigalupi’s zombie book that he wrote for his wife’s class (makes me adore him even more), and I got to geek out on other authors.
And That Guy got his picture taken with Jonathan Maberry afterwards.
I’m still trying to figure out how to turn my google doc of my presentation notes into something that will play nice with blogger- if I can’t figure it out by Friday, then I’ll just cut and paste. My presentation with Peter Coyl and David Levithan went well- the best takeaway was to be the best to your library, and don’t cater to the censors.
And I took home two suitcases full of books and ARCs which I’ve yet to unpack, and I got to meet people I only talk to on twitter, and I met some wonderful new friends, so it was all good.
Filed under: Jonathan Maberry, Libba Bray, Maverick Award, Paolo Bacigalupi, TLA
About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
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Looks like it was a lot of fun! My co-worker went and brought back and bunch of ARCs and tote bags. I can't wait to go next year!
I recommend it. Even if you can't go to the sessions, register early and go to the exhibits- you get a lot out of meeting other librarians and meeting vendors and authors. It IS expensive (full registration is MORE than my bundled ALA Midwinter and Annual combined, and like Karen, my system does not pay for anything save for standard day of work) but there are ways you can cut corners.
*go for exhibits only
*make a list of where you want to go and what you want to do to maximize your time
*look at the hotels ASAP and see where you want to stay
*see if any of your memberships will get you a cheaper rate (we used AAA and found a hotel within walking distance that was signifigantly less than any of the conference hotels)
*share transportation and expenses with friends (not an option when That Guy comes with due to medical issues but workable otherwise)
*ask the hotel staff for recommendations for cheap and good places to eat- the conference center and the neighboring hotels are usually NOT cheap, but the hotel staff will know the local favorites