I don't know why I am so lucky, but each year at ALA conference I am privileged to get an invitation from Holiday House to join them on Friday evening to launch the conference. I am, of course, not the only attendee. Many, many, many ALSC, YALSA and AASL peers stop in - some before the USSBY program , some between sessions of award committee discussions, some just to start our conference. We hug, we high five, we kiss (I know!!!).
We see the newest books from Holiday House. We get chance to chat with book creators. We see our colleagues. We ask how are you? What committee are you serving on? What should we change ? What are you thinking? Are you happy? How is your family? Let's make a difference. Let's have lunch.
One or two are a little distracted, a little harried, a little shy. But that is the very rare exception. Most of us are genuinely glad to reconnect. We dish, and laugh and share our dreams and plans and failures; our families and friends and favorites. Our news and views and happiness to reconnect IRL.
That is conference in a microcosm and why I love the immediacy and work to get here twice a year. To be with so many of my tribe. To hug and say hi...and then, to get to work!
Graphic courtesy of Pixabay
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