AzLA Conference

I just returned from a two-day conference in Mesa, Arizona. It was the 2006 Arizona Library Association (AzLA) annual conference. This was my first professional-level conference for my chosen field (well, maybe my first professional conference in general, as I'm not sure that I would consider all of the JET stuff I had to do professional).

I stayed in Phoenix with my friends Tracy and Chuck, and I was treated like absolute royalty. The level of hospitality was definitely 5-star in my book! Tuesday we went out for sushi and beer to this wonderful place called Moto http://mrmotorising.com/ . Then Wednesday we drug ourselves back to Phoenix to find the welcoming smells of homemade chili eminating from the kitchen courtesy of Chef Chuck. I don't normally eat chili, but this was so delicious I had two bowls full, and had to force myself to stop eating! Kudos!

The keynote speaker this year was Mr. Ridley Pearson. He has written a number of "scary" books, but he has recently wandered into children's fiction (yes, I know, quite a change). His popular books are a recent collaboration with Dave Barry (the newspaper guy) which tell how Peter Pan became Peter Pan. The keynote speech he gave was hilarious, and his later talk on literacy was very inspiring. Ridley plays in an author rock band called the Rock Bottom Remainders http://www.rockbottomremainders.com/ ,which tours to raise money for literacy causes. You find that authors are some of the biggest advocates for literacy, and many share Ridley's attitude: it doesn't matter whether a person reads their books or not, it's just wonderful that they are reading at all.

While I'm not too familiar with Arizona authors, quite a few were at the conference for signings and presentations.

I attended some wonderful presentations on topics including manga (Japanese comics), literacy, technology in libraries, Myanmar and Palestinian librarianship, finding a job, and creating displays.

And, of course, I met a lot of nice librarians and networked a bit.

Naturally I splurged and purchased a couple of books to be signed. One was the first book in the Peter Pan series, and the other is a book by James Rollins called Map of Bones. I had never heard of Rollins, but he intrigued me because the program described him as an outdoor adventurist and certified scuba diver. It was fun to talk to him about diving.

I had a great time, but the next few days are busy. I currently have 45 e-mails to process from my Arizona account alone regarding college business, and other things like that. I'm working all day tomorrow, then I have class this weekend. Monday I have another business trip, as I'm accompanying the visiting Japanese librarian to see two libraries in Sells (no, don't really know where it is, but I know it's Southwest of Tucson. In the desert somewhere, I guess.). Then I'm working all day Tuesday, I'll have Kendo, then working all day Wednesday too. I *might* take Thanksgiving off, but Friday will be project work, then I'm working Saturday and Sunday to make up the days I'll miss because the library is closed on Thursday and Friday.

The semester is over soon...