Boston Arrival! Day One.
So I am here! Arrived! In one piece!
This year I am now official "The Press". Yup. And with that comes a certain sense of obligation. In brief, I feel required to blog as much as possible, whilst also running around like a chicken with my head cut off.
Now since today is Friday, not much is happening yet. Folks are registering for their badges, finding their hotel rooms, etc. The convention floor isn’t even open yet (though I heard it will be tonight at 5:30 so guess where I’m going . . .)
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In any case, there’s always something to report.
I have the good fortune to be staying with three other ladies in this fine establishment of a view of the harbor here:
And merely across the bridge is the convention / possible airport.
Proof positive that I am actually in Boston, and not faking it in New York.
So, anywho, I took a stroll over the freezing bridge to the convention center today.
And since I am press I got to go in the press room. The honest-to-goodness press room.
The hope was to walk in and find a bunch of guys chomping on cigars, reading the papers, playing poker ala His Girl Friday. Alas . . .
All very professional, I’m afraid.
ALA is also on top of things in tersm of the Haiti Relief Fund. Look how quickly they had a banner made up!
As there wasn’t much to do yet, I took a stroll around the ALA Gift Shop. Lanyards this year consist of thin strings of elastic. So if pretty lanyards are where your head is . . .
And looky looky at this! They’re selling the medals all by themselves.
It’s enough to give a girl ideas, it does . . .
Newbery/Caldecott Banquet what-I-should-wear ideas.
There are attractive bags as well.
And posters that I’d not seen before.
Owlys galore.
And a little shameless self-promotion.
So I’m coming back across the bridge to my hotel when I spot these guys.
Civil War monument, you say? Oh no, oh no. Not even close.
Who knew? My sense of Boston essentially begins and ends with Good Will Hunting, so this was a surprise to me. Those of you in the know will not be surprised, though. I’m sure.
More as it comes! I’m now off to a lunch that will require some fast walking.
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About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.
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That’s an awesome sculpture – both for what it comemorates and artistically. I love the way you photographed the horse in that top picture!
Have fun when the floor opens!
Hello all! The ribbon cutting ceremony is at 5:15 (I have to be on the dratted stage faking I love crowds) and then the doors open at 5:30 so everyone can dash in. I have a countdown on my computer and I am looking for an app for my new Pantech Impact phone that will give me a countdown on my phone for major events like this. I love exhibits. See you there.
Does your role as being one of The Press come with a hat?
I kinda think this situation calls for a fedora.
They’re selling sheets of the medal stickers? To what end?
Randolph, when the books win, we will need to sticker our library copies. They only come with stickers if you purchase them from here on out!
Also handy for creating “Newbery Notebooks” for your Mock Newbery club student to keep notes. 4th Graders like shiny things.
Randolph,
They sell sheets of stickers because a lot of libraries will already own copies of the award-winning books and want to have theirs adorned with the shiny medal too without having to buy new copies.
Who needs to actually *go* to ALA, when we have Betsy there reporting? Not I, I say.
Thanks much.
*grin* Can”t wait to see you rock more stickers…
It’s like being at ALA, except without the back pain caused by lugging around “can’t miss” ARCs that doesn’t go away for weeks!
I had no idea! I was worried they’d be snapped up by authors/illustrators who just wanted to see how it looked on their own works. Do librarians who self apply follow some sort of convention as to where the medal is placed? Or does anything go?
I love Boston (of course I live here so I’m a bit bias)! Hope you have a great time!
And I suppose the photo at the top of this blog also connotes that we’re getting our info straight from the horse’s mouth, eh? hehehe
Fun fact: A “Every Child Ready to Read @ Your Library” bag is roughly equivalent to a large box of ARCS. *nods*
Oh, darn. Should be an instead of a. Oh, well. Happy thoughts! I was able to get an ARC of The Night Fairy from Candlewick. They didn’t have it out yet, but I asked them about it, and I was asked if I would like one. Why, yes I would! So excited. However, I didn’t get an ARC of Fleischman’s Charlie Chaplin biography (I don’t know if it was even being offered, since I don’t know the publication date). I couldn’t remember his publisher, so I couldn’t ask anyone if they had an ARC.
They did indeed. It was Harper Collins. And it looks loverly.
*stamp stamp stamp*
Oh, well. As I told the nice Candlewick lady last year when she told me that ARCs of The Magician’s Elephant were being handed out during a session that I really needed to attended: I’m going to order the book anyway. But I can’t wait to read it! I loved his Houdini biography and recommend it whenever I can.
When Paul Zelinsky won the Caldecott for Rapunzel, he wore a cumberbund make with Gold Medal stickers…along with his hand painted tie that looked like a page in Rapunzel. He looked most charming!
That is an interesting question about where to put the Medals! And yes, you too can give your book a Caldecott Medal..sticker that is. I love the idea of the stickers on the Newbery Club notebooks. Betsy–your posts are always fun and these from Midwinter are no exception. Thanks!