Wednesday, November 20, 2013

#AASL13 Wrap Up: Still Buzzing with Ideas!

The American Association of School Librarians had their national conference last weekend, and it was fantastic. Rocco Staino and I were the author event co-chairs -- we had over 50 authors talking with school librarians about their work. Here's just a smattering of the amazing folks we hosted:

a few of the amazing authors at #AASL13

I am so grateful for everyone's contributions. I'm still buzzing with the energy I get from connecting with passionate librarians and authors about how we inspire kids. Our work matters deeply, and we bring so much to our communities. We help them think more about the books we read. Connecting with authors and illustrators gives us a glimpse into their creative process, peeling back some of the layers. 

Meeting fellow librarians was a huge highlight for me. I especially loved connecting with my Twitter pals -- these face-to-face connections cements our friendship. These are folks I turn to all year long to help me develop my craft. Here are two librarians I really enjoyed sharing this conference with: Donna Macdonald and Susan Polos.


I found that posting quick Tweets was easier for me than taking notes. I know it isn't quite as good of a record, but it was a way for me to share the joy in the moment.


I also liked using the hashtag #aasl13 to follow other librarians at the conference, sharing their excitement and take-away nuggets.


Thank you so much to all the authors and publishers for sharing their enthusiasm hooking kids with books, history and science. Thank you to my fellow librarians for your laughter, friendship and passion. And thank you to my family for helping me pursue my dreams.

©2013 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

6 comments:

  1. Kindred spirits all around! How WONderful! :D

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  2. Couldn't agree more! This was my first time attending AASL and I already can't wait to go back for AASL15! Feel renewed and ready to try all the new things I learned in Hartford!

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    1. Hooray! I hope we can continue to connect and share what we're trying in our schools. Thanks for the kind comment :)

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  3. In the small world department, my friend/SIL (also a friend of yours) just emailed me to let me know that my tweet was shared in your blog. Guess I should start following you! Tried to find you at AASL (she gave me a heads up) but it was just a tad too cuh-razy to pick you out of the crowd. I am sure our paths will cross one of these days.

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  4. Don't know why the comment above recorded as unknown. I'll claim it, as I wrote it.

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    1. Hi Nancy! What a small world! I'm so glad you liked the author events. We worked hard to gather some interesting, exciting authors. Hope to be able to connect again virtually, until our paths cross for real!

      Mary Ann

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