She's a brainiac: The mental and emotional salve of listening to intelligent speakers at ALA
It has been two months since I attended the annual American Library Association conference, so it's about time I got around to writing my little blog post about it. These big conferences are a mixed bag for me. There are amazing speakers and really great sessions at these big conferences, but because they are big... I am lost the whole time. I was literally wandering around with giant blisters on my heels, fighting back tears half the time. Everything I want to see is so far away, and there are such crowds! So, it might be my last ALA. As much as I liked some parts of it, I will probably stick to the still-big-but-less-overwhelming Public Library Association conferences, unless I get some great grant or committee opportunity that requires ALA attendance.
Anyway, onto the good: there are so many incredible speakers that you can't make it to all of them. I went to several, including Lois Lowry and a panel of authors with books coming out this fall (I will list them later), and I went to the Carnegie awards.
Just being in the same room with these intelligent, pleasant, agreeable women would have been a treat at any time, but when the news seems to be a constant slog of stupidity and ugliness, it was a balm. (It happened to be women this year, but last year the Carnegie winners were two men, and I did want to go hear a man speak- Lavar Burton!- but it was at the same time as a panel on digital literacy! I heard he was awesome, big shock.)
Lois Lowry came out without a prepared speech. She had a stack of notes and said that if a fan blew, she was in trouble. She was going to talk about five of her books, but only had time for four. She talked about two that I read in YA lit classes and college and was completely blown away by- The Giver and Number the Stars. She also talked a bit about her new book, Building 903, which sounds really good. She was self-deprecating and so interesting. It was delightful. We clapped for her for ages.
I have been to the Carnegie awards twice now and was disappointed to hear that their funding has fallen through, if I understood right, so they aren't scheduled for next year. (BTW, I didn't even know about these until I went because there is also a Carnegie medal for best illustrations. This one is Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction). Even though I don't expect to be going again, it is a fantastic event, and I hope they get it going again. It's quite laid-back, and after the speeches, you get a free, signed book from each speaker. Last year, there was the fiction winner (James by Percival Everett), the non-fiction winner (A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko), and the keynote speaker's book (Without Consent by Sarah Weinman). Signed copies!
This year, there was no keynote speaker, but hey, two books is pretty good. Technically, I guess they aren't free since you pay for a ticket, but it is just great to be in a room full of book enthusiasts who are... behaving. No one has a cell phone conversation during the speeches, or stands up with their phone out to film so the people behind them can't see, or harasses the speaker. You'd get thrown out of a librarian conference for acting like that. Everyone was just glad to be there and happy for the winners. We did get out our phones to take pictures or notes about the longlisted books, but unobtrusively.
This year's fiction winner was Megha Majumdar for A Guardian and a Thief. The nonfiction winner was Yiyun Li for Things in Nature Merely Grow. I haven't read them yet because I already had books checked out and holds on other books, but I have canceled some holds and paused other ones to make space. I am looking forward to them, although I don't think that either will be easy books. The fiction book deals with food shortages for one thing, and the nonfiction book is a memoir that deals with the deaths by suicide of the author's two sons. I know it will be hard to read, but I believe it will be worth it. One of the blurbs is "a work of genius."
The last event that has been on my mind was a panel of five authors: Jeneva Rose, Tananarive Due, Meg Anderson, Laleh Khadivi, and Bonnie Jo Campbell. They talked about the books coming out this fall, and it was just all so smart and interesting. No word salad. No drivel that sounded like it came from AI. And we got galleys of the books!
Jeneva Rose- Sometimes I Scare Myself
Tananarive Due- Mazywood
Meg Anderson- The Memory of Borrowed Books
Laleh Khadivi- Female Life on Planet Earth
Bonnie Jo Campbell- The Spirits
There weren't as many galleys to be given away in the expo this year, but I did pick one up that I am looking forward to- A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle, who I haven't read yet. A murder mystery set on a ship. There were lots of signings but even in my fancy new shoes that I bought and broke in so I wouldn't have sore feet- I had sore feet and wasn't about to stand in one of those lines.
I havne't read much from ALA yet- I had things checked out from the library before I left, and I am going through that stack first, but I am coming up on these galleys for books coming out in late September, and I want to try to get those read soon so I can review them online before they come out. And here, of course. Also, they just look great.
One other positive-energy event was going to the new Obama Presidential Library. I wasn't going to go because I knew that tickets were already sold out, but then I heard from another conference goer that there are parts of the center that are open without a ticket- including the new branch of the Chicago Public Library! And it was great. The lines were terrible, but no one was complaining. At the gift shop, they were letting us in by groups, and no one seemed to mind the wait at all. I bought a book about the White House before it got knocked down. (Designing History by Michael S. Smith. I am linking to bookshop.org as usual, but it says it is backordered. I bet you can order it from the Obama center gift shop.. It weighs a ton though, so I don't know what it would cost to ship. I broke my back carrying it around, but it was worth it to have photos of the White House before it was half-demolished and covered in gaudy crap.) Also I got some pens, and a candle, and a couple of other things. And the cafe had a really good cookie. The library branch was fantastic. Small, but lovely.
Oh, and in Trump's second term, I've learned the term "getting glazed" from descriptions of his cabinet meetings, and let me tell you, librarians walk away from these conferences double-glazed. Every speaker starts with how much they looooove libraries and how amaaaaaazing librarians are, and don't you think I'd get tired of hearing it? Well, I sure don't. I eat that stuff up. Honestly, I think they're right.
All in all, the conference was a good experience. It was my first trip to Chicago. But the stack of books is the best part.
Some links are affiliate links to bookshop.org. If you haven't shopped there, you should check them out. They support independent bookstores.
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