ALA Annual is just around the corner, which means, OH NO SO MUCH TO DO.

The highlights of my schedule, so far:

Saturday, June 29th

All About ARCs: The Ins and Outs of Requesting, Using and Abusing Advanced Reading Copies, where I’m co-presenting with Kelly Jensen and Kristi Chadwick. 10:30 to 11:30, McCormick Place Convention Center, S103d.

From the program: “Librarians may have heard of Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs), but do they actually know how to acquire or use them? Why do publishers create these unsaleable copies? Have you seen them at used bookstores, Friends book sales, and should they really be there? What about those “digital galleys” that are becoming available? Come explore these questions and more with a panel of librarians and publishing reps who use them every day in many ways. Discussion topics: What are ARCs?; Who is the intended audience of an ARC?; Why do publishers provide them?; How can you get them?; Digital vs. Print?; What you can/cannot do with an ARC.”

Kristi, Kelly and I are working on this right now. I have THOUGHTS and FEELINGS about ARCs, and libraries, and librarians, and all the things! Including not just what people do (or don’t do) with them, but in how people view them and their use as part of one’s whole professional tool kit.

Fabulous Films for Young Adults, 1:00 to 4:00, Hilton Chicago, Pullman Boardman. This is a committee meeting, but Fab Films is an open committee.

Sunday, June 30th

 YA Author Coffee Klatch, 9:00 to 10:00, McCormack Place Convention Center, S406b. Ticketed event.

From the program: “Enjoy coffee and meet with YALSA’s award winning authors! This informal coffee klatch will give you an opportunity to meet authors who have appeared on one of YALSA’s six annual selected lists or have received one of YALSA’s five literary awards. Librarians will sit at a table and every 3 or 4 minutes, a new author will arrive at your table to talk!”
I’ve managed to go to almost all of these, and while one should bring their own bagel or pastry, what one really goes for is is the chance to talk with and meet the authors.

Monday, July 1st

Conversation Starters: New Adult Fiction: What is it and is it really happening? 9:15 – 10:00, McCormick Place Convention Center, S102d. I’m co-presenting with Sophie Brookover and Kelly Jensen.

From the program: “New Adult Fiction (NA) has made waves in the New York Times, the Guardian, Publishers Weekly, and more. Depending on who you ask, NA either demands its own section of the library or is just a new name to describe books about twenty-somethings, which libraries have always carried. Maybe it’s “young adult books with sex.” Maybe it’s books about emerging adults trying to figure out the world before an uncertain future happens. Join a lively discussion on what NA may be, who’s reading it, where it’s shelved, how we catalog it, and how it fits into reader’s advisory.”

Part of the reason I’m enjoying putting together this Conversation Starter is that, while online New Adult has been talked about for a while, most people I talk with in libraryland haven’t heard about it. I think this is a great opportunity to connect with patrons who are twentysomething.

Michael L. Printz Program and Reception, 8:00 to 11:00, Hyatt Regency Chicago, Grand AB. Ticketed Event.

This is always so much fun! This year, though, I’ve only read 3 of the 5 books. I don’t have copies of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe or The White Bicycle, and I’ve been so busy with things that borrowing a library copy hasn’t worked out. Maybe I’ll have time in the next couple weeks.

So, those are some of things I’m doing and looking forward to!

What about you? What are you plans for ALA Annual?