In 1876 103 librarians (90 men and 13 women) met in Philadelphia and, on October 6, founded the American Library Association. Of course they're busy celebrating another major anniversary in Philadelphia this summer so the #ALA150 festivities were in Chicago, which has been home to ALA since 1909.
This was the 40th Annual Conference I've attended since 1984. (I didn't go in 1991 or 2016 and the 2020 conference was cancelled.) I'm retired from the job but not from the profession! I go to see long-time friends, listen to interesting speakers, learn about issues, and of course to get new books.
As it turned out, there wasn't extra time to go to issues-based programs (many of which dealt with the threat and the opportunity of AI). But I managed all the other aspects just fine!
Rachel Maddow was the Opening General Session speaker on Friday.
Dr. Jill Biden was the President's Program speaker on Sunday.
Both were passionate and articulate!
I had several responsibilities for the Retired Members Round Table. I coordinated a group dinner Friday evening (no photos). On Saturday morning I arranged for a guided tour of Driehaus Museum. Financier Richard Driehaus purchased the Gilded Age Nickerson House for his collection of late 19th/early 20th century decorative arts. I hadn't been there for many years and it was new to the others who attended.
The RMRT board meeting was Saturday afternoon, followed by the RMRT book club. We meet by Zoom every fifth Sunday but in person at the conference. The prompt for this session was "education" and as usual our interpretations of the prompt were varied. (I chose Yale Needs Women and Good Morning, Miss Dove, both of which I've reviewed on this blog.)
Monday's RMRT program was "Words Matter: an Introduction to the Dignity Index ." The presenters were my friends from the AAUW Batavia-Geneva-St. Charles Branch. They are certified Dignity trainers. When I heard them at the AAUW-IL convention a couple of years ago I knew the idea would be great for ALA, and it was.
I didn't get any really good pictures at the ALA150 Bash, the big party on Saturday evening. But I was there!
Books, you say? Just a few -- and in all honestly not as many as previous years. I shipped a small box home and was able to repack my suitcase to accommodate the rest of them.
(And, I'll have you know, as of this writing -- a day and a half after I got home -- I've read two and I'm halfway through a third.)
The Gala Author Tea was Monday afternoon. I was able to get the 4:32 train. It was a hot half-mile walk from the Winthrop Harbor depot, but I went in the front door at 6:15.
It's on my calendar.
Next post: the quilts!
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