Last month was the annual PaLA Convention and I was fortunate enough to be able to attend, this time in my loverly state capital. I feel that I have come full circle in my time as a library type. No longer am I seized by the crushing fear that I will be singled out and asked to leave for masquerading as a library type nor do I get the feeling that I am playing. I feel confident enough to know what I am doing and to offer my two cents with a (somewhat) informed opinion.
Of course my trip would not have been complete without the obligatory getting lost. Although I had a printed map and one on my phone, I still managed to get lost on 83 which runs East and West and South and North.
Once I arrived, checked in and carted the huge bag of crap that I packed, I realized that I was without Lysol, a no-no especially after having watched one too many episodes of Dateline. Again, getting lost, I finally found the Harrisburg not in brochures and was extorted out 5.25 for a small can. I saw the capitol building that night. It was lovely the first two times but times 3-7 lost its appeal.
I overslept the next day so I missed the pre-conference which was about intergenerational program. I wasn’t quite as sorry as I should have been; when my grandmother comes to visit there are four generations of Fagg women under one roof and well, hilarity ensues. The rest of the conference was great from there!
I caught up with my buddy Karl, a guy that I met at last year’s conference and we hung out together. He is just as snarky, if not more, as I! We giggled and goofed and learned through most of the sessions.
Highlights:
I met Jennifer 8 Lee and now have a new appreciation for Chinese food..
I met Maureen Wright who has surpassed Karma Wilson as my favorite picture book author featuring a bear
I ran into people I had met at conferences past and they remembered me (Eep!) and we chatted about stuff and I felt like I knew what I was talking about (Double Eep!)
My next project
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