I attended the Texas Library Association's 2016 Annual Conference, and though I've been home for two days, it is still fresh on my mind. The time was incredibly enriching and filled with so many incredible moments. I took some pictures, but I couldn't capture everything. You never can.
What makes this conference so amazing? Well-planned and painstakingly organized, the blueprint for this conference is laid out early, with attention to every detail! And the people! All of the dedicated and determined librarians who plan and execute it all make it great for attendees as well as speakers.
I had a tiny part to play in it, mostly through the work of two programs (along with some volunteer work for the Bluebonnet Luncheon):
Donalyn Miller and I shared many title recommendations in "Book Chat Live" -- including picture books, graphic novels, early readers, middle grade, nonfiction. We hope we helped librarians spend money on books! We had more books than time! Isn't this always the case? Most certainly, working with Donalyn was a wonderful experience!
I also moderated a panel of authors in a session appropriately named "Notably Newbery".
This session will get its own blog post here tomorrow! I hope you will come back to read it!
I couldn't possible attend everything I wanted to, but through the beauty of Twitter, and conversations in hallways and ballrooms, I was able to learn from sessions I could not attend.
One session I found particularly wonderful was the Poetry Roundup!
There is always a great lineup of poets at this event! And listening to these poets read from their work is truly a wonderful experience! Attending this session always give me great ideas to share poetry with my school.
Dr. Sylvia Vardell is the moderator and poet planner extraordinaire! I attend Poetry Roundup every year!
Newbery winner Kwame Alexander, author of The Crossover, shares a poem for the Poetry Improv with Janet Wong to his left.
This is my first blog post about #txla16. Some conferences just can't be written about only once! Especially ones held in Texas!!
I hope you will visit again tomorrow to read more!
Fantastic recap and fun to read about the events!
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous! I've been to TLA once and can't wait to go back someday. I bet your session with Donalyn and your moderating gig were both sensational! (Will you be at ILA in Boston?)
ReplyDeleteThanks for including the Poetry Round Up in your write up-- and for your kind words too. I'm so tickled that you love it as much as I do-- and appreciate all your support. It really is an incredible experience to hear poets reading poetry, isn't it? Inspiring every time! I'm already working on next year's 13th annual Poetry Round Up!
ReplyDelete