ALA 2010: ARCs from the Stacks

My bag of books from last year's ALA Annual in Chicago remains unread (and I promise this photo is new). This year my plan was the same, take no more than a one bag of books I would read. I was lucky enough to get two titles autographed and stuck to my plan. Of course, traveling by car made it a bit simpler as there was a serious lack of room in the trunk for our return trip home.

The autographed titles? I happened to be walking past a booth where Nikki Grimes was signing ARCs of her latest, A Girl Named Mister. and in the next aisle was Janet Mullany and her ARC Jane and the Damned. Both authors were extremely gracious with a smile and friendly word for each person in line.

Other ARC's included:

• The Clockwork Three
  by, Matthew Kirby
• Dark Song
  by, Gail Giles
• The Danger Box
  by, Blue Balliett
• Monster High
  by, Lisi Harrison
• Misty Gordon and the Mystery of the Ghost Pirate
  by, Kim Kennedy
• Exley
  by, Brock Clarke
• You Killed Wesley Payne
  by, Sean Beaudoin

It remains to be seen how many I read, but the list is definitely more varied than ARCs from past conferences. There is one title missing, a book I read waiting for a session to begin ... if only I could remember the title.

ALA 2010: Book Cart Drill Team

A trip to ALA Annual is not complete until the Book Cart Drill Team competition! View the rest of the videos, including the opening and closing "ceremonies," on the Demco YouTube Channel.

ALA 2010: The Hotel

ALA Annual 2010, Washington DC, is here and gone; I'm still unpacking my small bag of goodies and uploading pictures. For the first time, I was able to not only stay at an official ALA hotel, but also reserve said hotel through the ALA web site.

As is often the case when preparing to attend ALA annual, my blog narrative begins with procrastination; I waited to register until I knew funds may be available from work.  I waited to find a hotel until I knew family traveling with me to the conference could finagle time off work. The chain of events worked well for registration, I got in the final day for advance registration, but not so well with my initial hotel search.

Several evenings of searching usual travel sites (Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotels.com, AAA, and Expedia) returned single hotel rooms starting at $250 and I needed two rooms for four days.  I checked the ALA conference site for available hotels on a whim and half an hour later had reservations - two rooms, plural, at the Holiday Inn Capitol at a significantly lower conference rate. Not as grand as my hotel accommodations while at ALA Annual in 2007, this hotel was one block from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, an open air pool on the roof (pictured above), and free Internet access. Even better, the Gale shuttle bus picked up right outside the lobby doors throughout my conference stay.

Playing tourist in D.C.

True tourist confessions. I am that person; the one carrying her camera who is irritating family and friends on vacation continuously saying, "Go stand in front of that sign so I can take your picture." Ironically, I am the same person everyone is glad to see when vacation is over because I have photos of the excursion. While I do not run amok with the camera dangling from my neck, even I have standards, the camera is rarely far from my purse or hand. So last Friday when I arrived in D.C. at the lovely Washington Court Hotel on Capitol Hill too early for check in, I was content to stash my luggage and take a walk to the Capitol building (a short three block walk) and snap a few photos.



The web album does not include photos of the hotel, but it was lovely and the service excellent. Unable to physically check in to my room (it was only noon), the customer service person at the desk registered me and politely inquired if I knew said reservation was for a parlor room. I assured her I did know, but did not mention I had done so because it was what I could afford when making my travel plans via Expedia. She then graciously offered to upgrade me to a deluxe room, at no extra cost! My mother didn't raise any fools, so I politely thanked her for the accommodation upgrade, stored my luggage, and headed out on the town (quickly before she changed her mind). Unfortunately, I did not have time to tour the Capitol Building, but it was worth the walk.

Also included in the web album are photos of Union Station. Naturally I was intrigued by the idea of visiting the shops and made sure to visit Monday evening after finishing my conference obligations. I did not purchase any souvenirs, but managed to have a nice dinner at the station. Though not a glamorous choice, the service and food was great at Uno Chicago Grill. Plus, I was able to watch people (a great past time), and start one of my ARC's, The Chicago Way, while dining.

For the first time in a long time I have a plethora of informational topics for the blog. Not only conference items, but book reviews and session commentaries are on my list.


Tags: Washington, D.C., ALA, ALA Conference, Washington Court Hotel, Picasa web album

LOC: A web album

What librarian's visit to Washington, D.C. would be complete without a trip to the Library of Congress? Not mine! The LOC blog posted great opportunities for ALA attendees, among them the chance to visit the main reading room in the Thomas Jefferson Building after hours on Friday (5 - 7 pm). I had to miss my scheduled tour of this facility on Monday afternoon due to a session conflict, but I was not going to miss a chance to visit the LOC.

After arriving early Friday afternoon, taking a quick walking tour around the Capitol building area, and winding my way through the seemingly endless registration line (to pick up my badge), I met a friend and took advantage of the LOC open house. We boarded one of the ALA shuttle buses to the Hyatt on Capitol Hill, near my lovely lodgings at the Washington Court Hotel, and walked the four or five blocks to the LOC. As is often the case, before arriving our group had expanded to over a dozen librarians looking for the same building!

Descending on the Thomas Jefferson Building we were told there was a spill of some sort and the designated entrance was not accessible. Instead, we crossed the street and entered through the main building and followed our guide through the underground tunnels into the other building (very cool). As the pictures show, the building is beautiful and was only surpassed by the graciousness of the librarians who worked late that evening allowing us to tour and answering legions of seemingly unending questions about their facility and practices.

• Thomas Jefferson Building
• Library of Congress
• LOC Blog
• Librarians to Converge on DC

Tags: 2007 ALA conference, ALA, Library of Congress, LOC, Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, LOC blog