Eating in THE Library

Today we had so many experiences that we will have to write about them over the next few days, but for now, you can look at all of our photos on flickr. Other people's conference photos are also posted on flickr. Also, there are many other people blogging this conference and AASL has an official conference blog, so you can read about all the other things going on.

We ended the day at a reception at the Library of Congress, hosted by James H. Billington, Librarian to us all.

Watch your local news tomorrow for Senator Jack Reed's press conference about his bill to include school librarians as highly qualified under No Child Left Behind. We'll be there cheering him on with thousands of our colleagues.

Three Days and Counting

Sunday morning we attended a Scholastic Breakfast. This was an opportunity for Scholastic to introduce its new set of high interest books entitled Science Behind the Scenes: Forensic Files. The main speaker was Dayle Lynn Hinman, a renowned and famous criminal profiler who appears on Court TV's Body of Evidence.

Three of us went to AASL Affiliate. This body meets at conferences and discusses concerns and commendations that are passed on to ALA; it usually takes six months to move through the process. All regions of the country are represented, and it is wonderful to meet folks from other parts of the country.

We spent time in the Exhibit Hall checking out all of the vendor displays. The hall was huge, and we managed to to get lots of goodies that we will be giving away at our conference in the fall. It was a great opportunity to ask vendors questions and obtain information.

I attended the Judy Blume presentation in the ballroom. She has not presented at ALA for a number of years and was thrilled to be there. The bulk of her presentation dealt with how she became a writer and was both informative and moving. Judy thanked all of us for supporting her throughout her career and indicated that she still has many things to write and will continue writing books.

There are still many events and presentations to attend, and we are trying to take advantage of as many as possible.

Steet Lit

The appeal of urban fiction to my high school students in Boston was undeniable. Sometimes raw and shocking to those of us who didn't come up on the streets, urban teens see themselves in it, along with hope that they will come through like the characters in the books. We had several copies of Teri Woods' True to the Game in my library, but once they went out, they were rarely returned - and if they were, they were dog-eared and tattered. I resorted to buying gently used copies to continually replenish our collection. My students acquainted me with other authors in this genre and their books also flew off our shelves.

I was intrigued when I saw a session on the program on Street Lit. It turned out to be a panel of three authors - Darren Coleman, T.N. Baker and none other than Teri Woods herself. My students would be beside themselves if they knew I had met Teri. She has an inspiring story for kids who are growing up on the street. Determined not to go down the same dead-end road as her peers, Teri self-published True to the Game in 1999 and sold it out of the trunk of her car. Over 1-million copies have now been sold. Her fans will be happy to learn that True to the Game II will come out in November. "People think street lit is too gritty, too explicit, but it was okay for me to live that life. I hope it opens up a bridge for communication for people that are living that lifestyle." Fiery, determined and outspoken, Teri has high expectations for herself and her readers. It was a delight to see and hear her in person.