Today I went to the Massachusetts Library Conference in Cambridge (I took a bus! By myself! And got off at the correct stop! Grownup city success! And yes, I do feel like this when I go to Boston.). It was good: I got to see some sweet panels, catch up with librarian friends from around the state, and see some authors. More on those in a minute. The most important part of my conference experience, materially speaking? I got this SWEET bag (I have many reusable tote bags from library conferences, but this one is extra amazing):
It’s the best.
I also got to hear M.T. Anderson speak and he signed a copy of his great YA classic Feed. If the first line of the book doesn’t make you want to read it, I don’t know what will: “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.” I showed this to my cat, who was less than impressed.
Perhaps the highlight of my day was seeing a presentation from Peter H. Reynolds, author of The Dot and other amazing books for kids. He’s a great artist and storyteller, and dare I say it, pretty inspirational. He thinks that, “Story is the best technology we have to save the world.” How can you not love that? Plus, his books are great. Check them out.
Finally, I’d just like to say that last year at MLA I was a little overwhelmed by the accomplishments of other people and felt a bit like I had nothing to add to the whole conference. Not this year. While I didn’t actively take place in any official discussions, I felt better about my place in the library culture as a whole. Maybe I’m not presenting at a conference yet, but I do good work. I’m blogging for YALSA, I have good interactions with patrons, I have fun with programs (Sunday I’m going to tell you about Teen Iron Chef!), and I’m working my butt off on making the YA collection at my library the best that I can. So I’m not mediocre. I’m a good librarian, and I can only improve.
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