This week marked the 5th year in a row that I have attended the Texas Library Association annual conference. I look forward to this event every year! There are incredible sessions on a variety of topics that affect librarians and library programs. One of my favorite sessions dealt with library programming. I hope to add some fun and interesting after school library programs to our library schedule in the fall. Any and all ideas are welcome!
One particularly exciting moment for me at the conference was when I was awarded the MVP runner-up award. The MVP award is given to school librarians who show excellence in their virtual presence through several different online media avenues. I am so honored to have received this award.
One of the best things about TLA is having the opportunity to meet incredible authors and have them personalize books. I was fortunate to attend a luncheon that author Laurie Halse Anderson was presenting at (wow!) and I also attended the Texas Tea in which I met lots of talented authors! My favorite was meeting author Jonathan Maberry (his book Rot & Ruin was in our March Madness tournament). I actually had a fangirling moment and asked to take a selfie with him. Can you blame me?! 🙂
Many of the authors I met are going to be at Teen Book Con on April 26th. (Don’t forget, I’m still accepting permission slips!!) I will be doing some book giveaways in the library the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!
Me and Victoria Scott – TeenBookCon author!
Me and Laurie Halse Anderson – TeenBookCon author and keynote speaker!
Me and Melissa de la Cruz – TeenBookCon author!
Me and Jenny Han – TeenBookCon author!
Since this conference was in San Antonio this year, my fellow librarians and I were able to visit the alamo, eat on the River Walk, and play ghost hunters at the Menger Hotel. Did you know that the Menger is the most haunted hotel in Texas?? Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any ghosts on this trip. Bummer.
This was one of the best TLA conferences I have attended! I have returned with lots of new ideas and can’t wait to start implementing them into our library.