Saturday in Chicago

Attended an orientation for first timers at the Palmer House Hilton first thing in the morning. Several speakers covered varied aspects of how to get the most out of the convention experience. The emphasis was on joining a group, i.e., NMRT (New Member Round Table), and getting busy. The smaller the group, the more likely you are to get involved. I resisted the temptation to join and sign up for a committee.

I hopped the shuttle to the convention center and attended a program called Literacy, Leadership and Librarian Flair. Featured speakers were Laurie Halse Anderson, Alan Sitomer and a young poet named Jacqueline Woodson.

I actually went because one of Ms. Anderson's books was one of my favorites in the Riverchase Library and I read it aloud around Thanksgiving time. It was Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving. The text was so exuberant, a real page turner and great read aloud book! Little did I know that she has ditched kiddie lit and is writing cutting edge teen stuff. Her website is at http://www.writerlady.com and her blog is http://halseanderson.livejournal.com. I will have to read one of her novels and evaluate the wisdom of her progression. Just like I'll have to read the other two panelists. I did enjoy listening to their presentations. Mr Sitomer has a couple of websites, http://thebookjam.ning.com and http://www.alansitomer.com . He remains a high school teacher and his power point featured some of his students. Pretty powerful stuff. So, these authors are movers and shakers in the YA Lit category, and their presentations were well worth hearing. For example, I learned the new 3 R's that real books provide: Relevance, Relationship and Rigor, from Mr. Sitomer.

From there I shuttled to the Hyatt Regency to enjoy Debbie Macomber relating her journey to becoming a published author in Put A Little Romance In Your Life. She and I are pictured above. My new friend Wendy Cornelisen, a Reference librarian in Brentwood, TN, took the picture. I mistakenly remembered Ms.Macomber as one of the authors we were going to read in our Book Club, and so I thought it would give my peeps a thrill. But, alas, she is not on our This Year's Reading List after all.

I returned to the convention center to hear Love is in the Air – Romance Writers Discuss their Work. Ms. Macomber was joined by Laura Caldwell, Cathie Linz, and Eloisa James. The ladies were most entertaining as they discussed their works and then autographed copies of their books for audience members. At this stop I collected an arm load of books, not to mention a really cool tote bag from Harlequin Publishing. The titles are Sooner or Later by Debbie Macomber, Red Hot Lies by Laura Caldwell, Smart Girls Think Twice by Cathie Linz, and A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James.

Immediately following this presentation I attended the Opening General Session which featured Christie Hefner, recalling changes and growth she oversaw in the Playboy organization. Sorry, no take aways from here...

The evening was capped off by the ALA/Proquest Scholarship Bash, which was held at the Art Institute of Chicago. I ran into Wendy Cornelisen again, and toured with Wendy and another librarian she introduced me to...what fun ladies! What an impressive collection! My word! Monet, Manet, John Singer Sargent, Seurat, Van Gogh…just incredible, and I didn’t see everything! Oh, and I must mention Grant Wood’s American Gothic. That painting is memorialized with a larger than life statue in one of the parks on Michigan Avenue, and the reason is evidently that it is part of their collection.