June has been a whirlwind of a month!
In just a few days, I will be going to the American Library Association annual conference in San Francisco (total attendance is approximately 25,000 people!). For a few days, librarians from around the world convene to share ideas and learn together. It is time to catch up with old friends, to hear about new developments in the library world, to look at books that have not been published yet, to attend yummy breakfasts (and cocktail parties) sponsored by publishers, and to have a great time with other librarians.
One of my publishers, ALA Editions, is sponsoring a session called “Time for Storyime.” On Friday from 3-4 PM at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square in their Golden Gate 1 Room, I will be presenting with colleagues Saroj Ghoting and Linda Ernst. We will be leading the audience in fun activities from our books, so we expect everyone to have a rollicking good time.
The ALA Exhibit Hall opens at 5:30. There, publishers display new books and often give away advance reader copies of books that have not yet been published. Exhibitors show off new security systems, library furniture, computer hardware and software, book repair tools, audio books, magazines and newspapers that are looking for subscribers, puppets for storytimes, T-shirts with catchy slogans for librarians (such as “Be a Novel Lover”), and more. Visitors to the exhibit hall have the opportunity to use a 3D printer in a maker space, to browse through tons and tons of books, to talk to a wide variety of vendors, and buy random items depending on who has rented a booth (it could be jewelry, sculpture, shoe inserts or Egyptian cotton sheets!). There are large booths run by publishers such as Disney and HarperCollins and small, one-person press tables.
Mother Goose on the Loose will be there, too! At Booth 3439, Mother Goose on the Loose representatives will be signing people up for our newsletter, talking up the upcoming Kickstarter campaign for the MGOL Home Kits, looking for BETA testers for the online construction kit, and encouraging library systems to schedule training workshops. We will even have a raffle for our cool, new, child size MGOL canvas bag.
On Saturday, from 2:30 – 3 PM, I will be signing books at the MGOL booth.
On Sunday, from 2-2:30, I will be giving a presentation on the Graphic Novel stage in the Exhibit Hall called “Using Musical Activities to Build Early Literacy Skills.” This interactive session will involve singing, playing instruments, and demonstrating the free Feltboard -Mother Goose on the Loose app.
“Babies Needs Words Everyday: Bridging the Word Gap as a Community” is a session sponsored by the ALSC Office and the Early Childhood Programs and Services Committee (of which I am a member). We created posters that can help inspire parents to talk with their children. Panelists at session will talk about the initiative and discuss how communities are investing in relationships to create common goals and increase children’s exposure to language. Read more about it on my ALSC blog post at: http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2015/06/changing-table-initiative-come-to-fruition/
The posters are available for free download at http://www.ala.org/alsc/babiesneedwords.
In addition to these presentations, there are many more exciting session, events, and speakers. If you will be there, please stop by the MGOL booth, 3439, and say hello!