#alaac23 in Chicago, part 1

 

The American Library Association held its 147th Annual Conference at McCormick Place in Chicago from June 22-27.  I was among the 15,842 attendees.  That's more than last year (Washington, DC: 13,900) but not back to pre-pandemic (Chicago, 2017: 22,702).  

Badge ribbons 2023

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I attended the Freedom to Read Foundation board meeting on Thursday as liaison for the Retired Members Round Table.  FTRF and the Office of Intellectual Freedom have been busy dealing confronting threats to intellectual freedom -- book bans in school and public libraries, and curriculum, inquiry, and tenure in colleges and universities.

I went home Thursday night and then back downtown on Friday for three nights.  (I stayed at the Palmer House, one of my favorite hotels, with RMRT friend Naomi.)  

Friday afternoon:  Treasure Our Treasures reception for corporate donors and Legacy Society members at the Chicago Cultural Center, the former Chicago Public Library.  

Yes, there were people, but I took pictures of the magnificent domes (right center:  largest Tiffany dome in the world) and mosaics.

The opening general session featured Judy Blume.  Definitely a fan favorite for the 4000 in the audience!   She and her husband own a bookstore in Key West.  The interviewer asked what she'd say if she had a meeting with Ron DeSantis.  "Could I have weapons?" she joked. More seriously:  "I'd ask, 'What are you afraid of?'" 

As the local person on the RMRT board I planned three events. 

RMRT members enjoyed dinner at Petterino's in the theater district.  I reserved three tables of six which made conversation much easier than one huge long table.  

The walls of the restaurant are lined with caricatures of celebrities who have dined there.

Saturday morning:  RMRT 'field trip' to the Newberry Library .   It is a private research library, free and open to the public since 1897.  I've known about it for years but I'd never been there, so when I was asked to plan the outing that was my chance.

The Newberry has special collections in genealogy, maps, postcards, and regional history.  

Saturday afternoon:  RMRT business meeting and book club.  The book prompt was "a book about your home state." Oregon, New York, Illinois, California, Alabama -- lots of interesting recommendations.  

Reception for the Downs Intellectual Freedom Award, given to student journalists and faculty at New College in Florida.

The Andrew Carnegie Medals are given for excellence in fiction and nonfiction. The reception was at the American Writers Museum.  It is really interesting.  

The Word Waterfall spills along the wall.

AWM's special exhibit this summer, Dark Testament, includes quilts by Dorothy Irene Burge.  (Website here)

The medal recipients spoke and signed their winning books.  (I'm halfway through Otsuka's The Swimmers now.)

Sunday morning:  I had an adventure.  (See the next post for details.)

Sunday afternoon:  RMRT President's Program.   Andrea Frederici Ross talked about Edith, the "rogue" Rockefeller McCormick. 

 Edith and her husband Harold were among the group who brought opera to Chicago. She used her money to establish Brookfield Zoo, promote Carl Jung and Jungian psychology, develop real estate, collect art and antiques, and amass a huge library of rare books. There was a lot of misery along the way and she died at age 59

Monday morning:  I sat in on ALA Council III for a while.  (I was on Council for 13 years:  as Maine chapter councilor, councilor-at-large, and Executive Board.) 

I had another adventure (next post!), then back to McCormick for a last round at the exhibits, and then the Gala Author Tea.  

Novelist Lindsay Hunter said, "The library is about my kids discovering themselves by searching for themselves in books on the shelves.”

I caught the 4:32 train and was home at 6 p.m.   (So grateful to caregiver V.  S was glad to see me.) 

 Vendors had less swag than in previous years -- but these new books (mostly ARCs (advance reader copies)) will keep me pleasantly busy all summer.

Next post: museums and other adventures in the city.