The Nerdy Teacher Librarian: AASL Conference: Experience. Education. Evolution

Earlier this fall I had the opportunity to attend the AASL Conference in Columbus, Ohio. This was my first AASL Conference and I had a blast! I'll admit I was a bit starstruck by all the authors and "famous" librarians - movers and shakers like Diana Rendina of Renovated Learning and Matthew Winner or the Let's Get Busy Podcast and All the Wonders.
Even though it was about a month ago, I'm still processing some of what I learned there! I definitely came away with an overall feeling of passion for books and my profession as a librarian.

Here is a link to the session handouts: http://www.ala.org/aasl/ecollab/aasl15-handouts

Some of my favorite sessions were:

Transitional Chapter Books for Beginning Readers, Shannon Hale, Sara Pennypacker, and Troy Cummings. This is the second time I heard Shannon Hale in the past year and she is spot on and engaging!
Illustrated Fiction: Blending Visuals With Narratives to Draw Students In, with Nick Bruel, Maggie Stiefvater, Jon Klassen and Kenneth Oppel! I can't wait to read Kenneth Oppel and Jon Klassen's new chapter book, The Nest (and luckily, I snagged a copy in the exhibit hall!)
Makerspaces and Libraries: How to Bring Some STEAM into Your Program, with Diana Rendina. One of my take-aways from her session was do your research, find your focus, get others on board and include student input! And, just do it! You can think about and plan for a Makerspace for a while (years even), but you just need to get started and see where it takes you. You can
Beyond School Visits: Making Virtual Connections with Authors and Illustrators. Matthew Winner was the moderator for this amazing line-up of authors: Loren Long, Matthew Cordell, Jonathan Auxier, Rafeal Rosado, Marc Tyler Nobelman, and Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
Elementary Library Centers with my new friend Edie Crook and Carolyn Vibbert. Their presentation can be found on Carolyn's Blog, Risking Failure.
Elementary Media Literacy with Nancy Jo Lambert.
The Power of Pictures Books with Kevin Henkes, Steve Light, Sophie Blackall and Sean Qualls.

I also loved meeting authors in the exhibit hall, Meet and Greet Author Time (Author Speed Dating) , Brian Selznick's keynote, and the Author Breakfast! I'd love to go again to the next AASL Conference in 2017!