Spring Reboot

Yesterday, I went to one of my state's regional librarian conferences.  It wasn't the one for my particular region, but it was fine--plenty of people I knew, and I got some good ideas.  The conference for my region was held pretty far away, and I, of course, couldn't get professional leave to go on Friday.  But the conference I attended was about 1/2 hour away and on a Saturday--WIN/WIN!
At the start, I had a little something to eat while I sat with some librarians I did not know.  We had a great discussion about genrefying our fiction sections.  I am leaning more and more toward it...much to think about here.  It could be a good summer project.
Then I went to a session about a local man who was a civil rights leader (not on our state standards) who was friends with others who are on our people-to-know list.  All the attendees at this session got a free copy of the book--awesome! I am excited to share it with the kids and help them make connections among all these people they're supposed to know about.
My second session was so fun--an old friend presented a session about controversial literature and literature that makes a social commentary.  She noticed me in the audience about 1/2 way through the presentation and stopped to say hello.  Afterwards, we got to talk for a few minutes.  Another librarian came up and announced herself as the presenter's first groupie.  We laughed and let her know that I was officially the first groupie several years ago!
Then it was time for lunch, where I met a new friend, a librarian getting her MLS online and hoping for a school library job next year.  Our lunch time passed too quickly as we found lots of things we have in common.
The third session was a sneak-peak at our state award list for next school year.  I'd already seen the list, but not all of the books, so it was nice to start thinking about that already.  I picked up a few of the books from a vendor who had a great deal, so I can start working on them over the summer. Ooh, I just stopped to order one from Amazon.  The presenter mentioned that it is hard to get; indeed, Amazon had no copies in stock, but I bought it used from a third-party seller.  At least I will have it, as I'm sure librarians around the state will be clammoring for it soon.
I visited with a couple vendors after that and then decided to bag the fourth session and keynote and just head home.  It was a good day, and just what I needed to recharge for the spring.