Chicago: American Library Association Annual Conference
June 29: The conference is winding down. The morning speaker on the main stage is Kimberlie Crenshaw, author of Backtalker and civil rights advocate. I like the quote she shared from a friend, “Dogs don’t bark at parked cars.”
I walked through the exhibit hall one last time and many of the exhibits were in the process of packing up. I sent Kari’s book via FedEx and picked up a bunch of book stickers at a booth featuring product that I didn’t really seriously pay attention to. The salesperson had an accent that reminded me of Tonje’s -turns out she’s from Sweden.
I had some chicken strips and fries from the food court and read my Kindle for about an hour.
The afternoon speaker was Billy Porter (interviewed by George M. Johndon). I’ve seen him on TV and didn’t really know a lot about him. He won a Tony award for his role in Kinky Boots. He recently had a life-threatening illness and he talked about being the first black actor to star in the musical La Cage aux Folles. He spoke about his childhood, the bullying he experienced, how winning a talent contest changed his life, and his memoir Unprotected. He also has a new picture book Songbird in the Light. “You are enough just as you are.”
Two of the nearby pubs were closed for private events this evening, so I ran into Subway right across the street. I had hoped to enjoy some Chicago restaurants during my stay, but the Lyft rides are so pricey here. Anyway, every meal has been fine; the best meal was at the Italian restaurant where I discovered spumoni.
June 28: I haven’t been up this late in a very long time! What an experience: the annual Newbery and Caldecott awards banquet. I met two librarians from Akron, OH, and they mentioned they are looking for ideas for an upcoming fundraiser. They like the idea of “blind date with a book” so I told them about the books I found at the craft fair in El Cajon. But I also told them to consider a Mahjong tournament fundraiser, too.
I sat with an author-illustrator from Providence, RI. She has a picture book in production that sounds absolutely adorable – a witch creates a spell to remove a bird from her house, and by mistake her house becomes filled with birds: No Room for Birds by Eloise Narrigan.
The theme of this year’s Newbery winner (All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson) is grief – am I just sensitized to this topic or is it really a common thread in literature? In her acceptance speech, Renée read a letter to her mother, who died 4 years ago. Very moving.
The illustrator winner of the Caldecott Award (Cátia Chien for Fireworks) said that “when children are free to play, they bloom and they grow.”
My day started with enjoying George M. Johnson’s talk on the main stage. His book All Boys Aren’t Blue is the most banned title of all time. He spoke so lovingly about his late grandmother and how present she still is. And, memorable quotes like: “Sometimes we choose the fight we’re in; sometimes the fight chooses us.” “Why are we questioning the truth? If it walks like a duck…” “We have become reductive as a society.” “Books are an intermediary to see different people – people that we may not meet in person.”
I caught a Lyft to the Nederlander Theater for the afternoon performance of “Water for Elephants.” It was wonderful. The theater is absolutely beautiful – opened in 1926, it has a gilded ornamental design. The play was true to the book, and the elephant-sized puppet was amazing.
While I was waiting for the musical to start, I got a text and several pictures from Daphne in Salisbury, NC. She is fostering the little dog Bob that I’m very close to adopting. Bob had a haircut today, and he looks so much like the dog Ribsy from a much-loved children’s book.
Book recommendation: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.
One of my favorite chapter books for children: Ribsy by Beverly Cleary.
June 27: I had 76 attendees at my presentation today! Yay! A few people stayed behind to ask questions, and I received lots of positive comments. Shoutout to the technical support on hand to help me get the slides up on the screen – very helpful.
The morning started with a talk by author Lois Lowry. She is 89 years old, and her talk included a few words about 5 (of the over 50 she has written) of her books – how she was inspired to write the book, mistakes she made, and examples of letters she received from readers. There’s a theme of grief that runs through several of her books that I hadn’t noticed before.
One of her early books, A Summer to Die, is about a young woman losing her older sister. The letter she got from a reader was moved by the words of the novel: “Over time the jagged edges are softened by memories.” Lois’ older sister Helen when Helen was 28 and Lois was 25. I could hear the sadness in Lois’ voice as she talked about her much-loved sister.
Other books mentioned today by Lois Lowry: Anastasia Krupnik, Number the Stars, The Giver, and On the Horizon. Her new book comes out in the fall: Building 903. It is set in 2099, when all books have been made illegal and they’re all stored in Building 903.
I had some time before my 1:00 presentation to walk through the exhibit hall and pick up lots of free books. Some of them are ARCs which I’ll share with the book posse. I stopped by a booth for the Chicago Public Library and told them about the spill I took outside the Chinatown branch yesterday. I recommend they paint that uneven section of sidewalk bright yellow.
After my preso, I walked around the exhibit hall again and stuffed even more books in my backpack. I dropped by the USC “Cocky librarian” alumni booth and enjoyed the messiest cupcake I’ve ever had.
Stopping at some comfortable chairs just outside the skybridge between the Hampton Inn and McCormick Place, I met an interesting woman. We talked a bit about our conference experience so far, and when I asked her about the brace on her wrist, she told me a fantastic story of being run over by a car. She broke every bone on the left side of her body, and she still receives therapy for her wrist. Her detailed story was pretty incredible.
Supper this evening at a nearby Mexican restaurant La Calle – not bad. Very crowded. I had a small table across from a window that allowed for some fun people watching. There are lots of noisy motorcycles here in Chicago and lots of horn honking, too.
Favorite Lois Lowry book: Gossamer.
June 26: My day started so nicely, then went downhill briefly, before ending on a high note.
At the breakfast buffet this morning, I met Kim Cooke, author of Song of the Hummingbird Highway. Kim is from the Los Angeles area, and this is her first novel. We talked about books, California, and the beautiful landscape around Las Vegas. I look forward to seeing her at my presentation Saturday and to attending her book signing afterward. I want to send a copy of her book to Kari – she would love it, I think.
I took a Lyft to the Chinatown branch of the Chicago Public Library in hopes of finding a Mahjong open play game. I had seen a description of it online as I was planning my trip. Speaking of trips, I tripped over the uneven sidewalk outside the library and face planted in front of a small crowd of people. Besides a scraped nose and glasses, the only thing hurt is my pride. My Lyft driver, Noel, jumped out of his car and helped me get up. I went in the library bathroom to survey the damage, and a lovely Chinese woman helped me, offering tissues and her place at the sink. To add insult to injury, there was no Mahjong game – I checked the schedule I had seen online, and I couldn’t find a record of it – did I make all this up?
Back to the Hampton Inn, and I walked across the street to the South Loop Market. They have premade sandwiches and drinks – I picked up a chicken Caesar wrap that was pretty good. I saved half of it for tomorrow. But, there was NO Diet Coke, so Pepsi had to stand in.
I attended an afternoon session about introducing a Pokémon club in the library – it was standing room only. The presenters were from a company that offers a free starter kit to libraries. I’ll share this info with our district librarian, Christy. A middle school librarian sat next to me – we struck up a conversation when I commented on his cap with a fleur de lis – he’s a Scoutmaster in Chicago. I also met a tribal librarian and wish I could have talked with her more.
Later, the opening session, facilitated by current ALA president, Sam Helmick, included greetings from Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson. His career began as a middle school teacher, and one thing he said that I liked: “It’s so much easier to have fun when you have a library card.”
The keynote speaker was Rachel Maddow – I’ve watched her for years on MSNBC and her book Bagman is one of my favorites. She did not disappoint in her on-stage discussion with Sam Helmick. The audience applauded and laughed a lot. Rachel was stunned to hear that the word for removing books from the collection is “weeding.” She has a shelf full of such books in her NYC apartment.
Supper at a nearby Italian restaurant called Il Culaccino – Caesar salad with salmon followed by a scoop of spumoni. Where has this delicious creamy dessert been all my life? It’s a beautiful mixture of chocolate, cherry, and pistachio gelato in the colors of the Italian flag. Can I get it in Charleston? Or could I make it myself?
Book recommendation about Chinese culture: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (middle grade).
June 25: I’m in Chicago for the Library conference – presenting as a Solar System Ambassador: “We’re returning to the Moon soon, and here’s how your library can get involved.” I’ve been excited about this presentation, which is scheduled for a prime time: Saturday at 1:00. There’s a glitch: LeVar Burton is speaking on the main stage at the same time. 😦
I took a Lyft from O’Hare Airport to the Hampton Inn at McCormick Place. My driver, Carlos, was quiet (which I like for the most part on a Lyft ride), but really good Spanish music was playing and he sang along – sang really well. The traffic here is thick and slow in every direction.
I left my bags at the hotel and took another Lyft downtown. This driver, Phanvilay, had a French dialogue program on his radio – turns out he’s from Laos, where French is the main language. He’s been here since 1976 – when Laos became a Communist country.
Lunch at the Cheesecake Factory – John and I ate here when we were in Chicago for the ISTE conference in 2018. Chicago has a summer concert series on Thursdays in the plaza, and today’s band was very good. I took the elevator up to the top of the John Hancock building (95 stories). Then a stroll through the nearby American Girls store, and back to McCormick Place to register for the conference. There’s a skybridge connecting the Hampton Inn to the conference center.
Next door to the Hampton Inn is a restaurant called Haidilao Huoguo – it’s a Chinese hot pot place where you cook your food at the table. There’s a large sink-like area in the middle of the table for boiling broths (I chose chicken and mushroom) and thin slices of chicken to boil along with cabbage, sauces, green onions, and cilantro. A robot brought a small bowl of white rice. It was pretty tasty, but I wasn’t in the mood to cook my own supper. This restaurant would be fun with friends.
Favorite Chicago book: Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.
Kelly's SC to CA Road Trip and Reflections 