ALA bound

I have finished my pre-conference necessities shopping, strategically placed several outfits on my bed in preparation for packing this evening, and last night was able to make plans to meet a friend at the convention center tomorrow evening (yikes! tomorrow already) so we can go to the LOC, visit the main reading room, it's open from 5-7 pm specifically for ALA attendees, and "do" dinner. After looking at the preliminary program guide on Tuesday, I have to reiterate what I posted on another blog; one of the main reasons I like going to ALA as opposed to academic librarian specific conferences is that ALA has program opportunities for everyone.

At ALA annual, I get to feed my inner-geek-librarian at technology sessions, my inner-child-librarian with children and YA literature sessions, and my inner- teacher-education- liaison librarian with academic sessions on education librarianship and EBSS committee meetings. Case in point, here are several sessions I am interesting in attending:

• LOC: Main reading room open Friday evening 5 - 7 pm
• Can Blogs be Trusted?
• Picture Books for Older Readers - OR - Alex Award Winners 2007
• Stories for a Saturday Evening
• Trend Setters in Teen Literature
• Book Cart Drill Team - OR - Blogs and Related Technology
• ALSC Poetry Blast

Add to the list my aforementioned EBSS meetings, poster sessions, and visiting the exhibit hall and I will have little time to peruse DC in tourist fashion. It's been years since I have visited the area and I would love to see the new memorials. It is a given I will change my mind once, twice or three times when I get the actual program and begin the decision making process. But that is part of the whole, one of the best sessions I attended last summer I went to because the session I really wanted was cancelled ... worked for me.

Here's hoping my posters and I make the plane on time tomorrow morning. I am grateful the airline changed my departure time from 7:30 am to 8:45 am. Be sure to say "hi" if you get to either of my poster sessions! And, unless I get an uncontrollable urge to blog from one of the computer stations at ALA, this will be the last post until July 2nd.

Tags: ALA, ALA Annual, ALA Washington, DC