char

BookExpo 2011 Awards!

2011-05-27T17:39:00.000-07:00

As librarians, booksellers and publishers return to the daily grind, we can now reflect on the past week's activity at Javits Center with the annual BookExpo Awards!

"Here, Smell This" Award

Among the remainders, independent authors and special interest groups in the far, far away land of the 5000 aisles, there stood a booth for Taste Science LLC and retired Cornell Associate Professor Virginia Ultermohlen, Nutritional Scientist conducting research with a most interesting survey on taste and smell and how it links to reading preferences (e.g., a person's sensitivity to the cooling effects of mint influences their preference for reading fiction vs. non-fiction), personality traits, choosing professions and even decision-making!

Best Children's Librarians in the Universe and Beyond Award!

This award goes to two of the best Children's Librarians in the country, oh yes, and in the Universe and Beyond, Karen Brunkhorst and Barbara Pavlovic of the Queens Library as well as to all the Children's and School Librarians who introduce little readers to the world of books during their formative years. We thank you for guiding and encouraging all the little ones to, what we hope will be, a lifelong journey of reading and appreciation of books!

Best Book and Companion Tote Award

1st Place: This award goes to publisher Simon & Schuster for the fabulous in-booth signing of Man in the Moon. This publisher handed out a themed-related tote to attendees waiting in line, who were then greeted by the very kind and gentle author William Joyce, a book and a spin dial. Congratulations to Simon & Schuster on a first-class signing.

2nd Place: Brian Selznick delivers another compelling work with his new book, Wonderstruck and Scholastic's 3 dimensional looking tote!

3rd Place:

Kudos to Penguin on its 3rd place finish with the beautiful book/tote, Home for Christmas by Jan Brett

"That's good to know" Award!

It is sometimes hard to get past the frenzy of all the free books, totes and swag, but let's not forgot that there's an educational component to BookExpo with the ABA Day of Education. The year's programs varied but one program stood out, the "Digital Market and the YA Audience, which included the newly released Bowker PubTrack/ABC survey and the correlation between YA's use of social media and their use of digital media (in which there is very little correlation perhaps due to digital fatigue).
A few points from this program:
1) texting/emailing ranked at the top of teen activities at a whopping 86%, with reading books at 39%
2) young adults are (very slowly and somewhat resisting) adapting to ebooks due browsability issues and the inability to share the ebook. In other words, teens prefer the feel and touch of a book, the ability to physically browse (going to the middle or sometimes peaking at the end), and most importantly, being able to share the book with their friends
3) when reaching out to this social networking generation, whether at your library or bookstore, go to where they live, virtually that is (otherwise that would be creepy and illegal), which is MySpace and Facebook.

The Publisher with the Mostest Award!

The mostest totes, that is! Hands down, this award goes to Chronicle Books for offering not one, not two, but three different totes throughout the 3-day BookExpo (2 of the 3 totes pictured below)!

"Gee, it sure would be nice to have the wi-fi service we paid for" Award!

This award goes to all the publishers and exhibitors, especially in the Digital Zone, who calmly and patiently accepted the puzzling notion that the premier convention center in the greatest city in the world is unable to provide functioning wi-fi service, which is an additional charge to the exhibitors. We hope that BEA can improve this situation for next year's BookExpo so that exhibitors can fully demonstrate their product(s).

The Most Retro Swag Award!

To Merck & Company, Inc. for offering tiny reproductions of the 1899 Merck Manual, which included sections on Materia Medica (Latin for "stuff to make you feel better" featuring entries such as "copper acetate to encourage vomiting"); and Therapeutic Indications (listing see references such as "Brain, Fever of-- See Typhoid Fever"). Thank you Merck for this super awesome swag and for reminding us how very fortunate we are for the advances in modern medicine.

The Department of Homeland Security has got nothing on us Award

Figuratively speaking that is, this award goes to a team of four Children's Librarians, from the Midwest (maybe), who secretly met each morning in a secluded, dimly-lit section on the bottom level of Javits Center! This covert operation began on Tuesday morning at 0700 hours, where this 4-person special forces team strategized to capture every Children's book available at the day's events. These sweet & meek-looking, comfortable shoe-wearing librarians expertly camouflage their tough, hard-as-nails warrior interiors. After the leader issued coordinates for the day, e.g., Mary--5 at 1300, Joyce--3205 at 1100, etc. (Mary goes to Autographing Booth 5 at 1 p.m., Joyce goes to Booth 3205 at 11 am), they broke for grub (where one member fixed a 6-year dispenser problem in 2 seconds at a concession stand), discussed niceties (such as children, husbands and in-laws) and then refocused with serious intent to begin the day's mission. So, this award goes to the Children's Librarians special forces team for their tactical maneuvers, innate problem-solving ability and their capability, if they wished, to protect and lead the free world!

"The stars must have been perfectly aligned" Award!

This award is of a personal nature and goes to the Heavens for opening up on Tuesday morning at approximately 10:37 a.m. when, lo and behold, favorite author Dava Sobel was discussing her upcoming book, A More Perfect Heaven: How Nicolaus Copernicus Revolutioned the Cosmos at the Midtown stage.

The Heavens parted for a second time, later that morning, when this blogger happened upon an in-booth signing of the book and got to meet one of her favorite authors! Now, this is what BookExpo is all about!

Most Dedicated Author who color-coordinated with her Book Cover Award

This award goes to fan favorite Melrose character Jane Mancini a.k.a. Josie Bissett, who, coincidentally, wore blue nail polish (as seen in letters c, m, e, though a bit deeper in color) that was perfectly coordinated with her Children's book, Tickle Monster.

Best Catalog Cover Award

There is great thought, creativity and design that goes into catalog covers, with the aim of drawing in potential customers while reflecting the essence of the publishing house, publisher, and/or book distribution company. Bears and apples dominated this year and the winners are:

1st Place: BenBella Books with its reminder to keep Mother Earth's NYC green and clean
2nd Place: Blue Apple Books' smart choice of a cutesy bear in onesie pajamas
3rd Place: Candlewick Press' patient and polite bear and his special hat
Special mention: Publishers Group West's belief that gentle giant bears and young make believe princes can find laughter together

1971 was a Great Year Award

Well, maybe not a great year, but it marks the beginning for three exhibitors that celebrated a 40th Anniversary at this year's BookExpo--IPG, Wiley's Dummies series and Ziggy. In fact, many publishers and exhibiters celebrated anniversaries at BookExpo, setting a record high. Happy Anniversary to all who celebrated milestones and a very special happy birthday to Ziggy!

The Cat's Meow Award

There was a surgent of dogs represented at last year's BookExpo, however, the cats have reclaimed their terrority this year, as represented by the wild imaginations of three beloved, though not always well-behaved, felines-- Nick Bruel's Bad Kitty , Judy Schachner's Skippyjon Jones and Kids Can Press' Binky the Space Cat!

Autographing Area vs. The Exhibits, which is better? Award!

Silly question, right? Both are winners! These two events are polar opposites and provide completely different, rewarding and unique experiences, leaving many attendees wishing they could be in two places at one time.

The Autographing Area is scheduled so attendees have a lot of control over which books and signings to wait in line for, yet requires some flexibility if an author is a no show, or a particular line snakes into the Children's pavillion and may alter getting other autographed books within that hour. It requires patience, but affords the opportunity to meet, greet and talk with colleagues from all over the country. This is perhaps one of the richest and most treasured experiences of BookExpo. And if you were lucky enough, you might have been able to wave to Mo Willems' life-size characters Piggie and Gerald the Elephant.

On the other end of the spectrum, attendees can travel, aisle to aisle, through the world of the Exhibits Hall in search of new books and products (code for swag and totes), experience the more intimate in-booth author signings and partake in special celebrations, such as a Judy Moody party with bite-sized cupcakes, feather boas, free t-shirts and the chance to see the young actress playing the book's character, which was one of the many celebrations that filled up the Exhibits Hall with fun, excitement, spontaneity and joy.

Thanks for guiding the masses Award!

Our great appreciation to Kirkus Reviews' 2011 BEA Big Book Guide and Library Journal's Barbara Hoffert's BEA Galley & Signing Guide 2011 special BookExpo supplements, featuring book reviews. These supplements help guide the librarians through the plethora of books and hopefully becomes a regular feature of BookExpo. And may they one day incorporate "the fine art of swagging" into those supplements!

Best Tote Award

The award is given for the most excellent totes. There were many exceptional totes this year, but three totes stood out from the rest, and they are:

1st Place: Little Brown's Tintin tote

We applaud Little Brown and Company on its brave show of support by celebrating over 80 years of boy reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy. The Tintin series has drawn criticism over portrayals of certain groups and people, however, it reflects the attitudes of those times. To hide these truths lends to us forgetting and more importantly, opens us to repeating history. Bravo to Little Brown!

2nd Place: Priddy Books (imprint of Macmillan) offered this organic tote in celebration of 10 years of great books, if they say so themselves!

3rd Place: Capstone's Stone Arch Books onomatopoeia-inspiring (Bam, Swoosh, Vroom, Wham, Whizzz) tote

Special mention: The insect green colored tote "I Wonder Why" by Kingfisher (Macmillan)

Best Swag Award

All swag wins, however, there were 3 publishers that went above and beyond by offering original, enlightening and purposeful swag to introduce their new books!

1st Place: For originality and educating us on farm anatomy, Storey Publishing takes the top spot for its 4-postcard design

2nd Place: Orange Palm and Magnificent Magus Publications for guiding us to the supreme path while enjoying a cup of tea

3rd Place: Bowtie Press for promoting urban farming with a starter packet of tomato seeds

As we close the last chapter on this year's BookExpo, we return to our libraries where many face deep budgetary restraints and continue the fight to maintain quality service with so little resources. And for this, we thank BookExpo giving us a momentary escape as well as the reassurance that we are not alone in this struggle. And to our publishers and authors, we thank you for helping us fill up our shelves, especially at a time when we need it the most. We'll see you next year!

Pictured below:

Primitives by Kathy (top left); author/illustrator Peter Brown and his friend Lucy (top right); Penguin's display of book covers; the Amulet Books 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' snow globe; Mo's Nose new clothing line; Kristi Yamaguchi's NY Times best-seller Dream Big, Little Pig ; Abbeville Press display for Flip-o-Saurus and Flip-o-Storic; Lulu's fun body displays; Good Books' display of Children's books, newcomer Pink Pig Press; and Sarah Dessen's travelling promo

We will not be Shushed, 24-Hour Read-in

2010-06-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

Live Video Stream of "We Will Not Be Shushed," a 24-hour read-in to support the New York City libraries. Saturday, June 12, 2010, 5:00 p.m. - Sunday, June 13, 2010, 5:00 p.m. on the steps of the Brooklyn Public Library @ Grand Army Plaza.

The stream can be viewed at Kyte.tv (under savenyclibraries), http://savenyclibraries.org and this blog

BookExpo America 2010 Awards!

2010-05-29T06:21:00.002-07:00

The BookExpo Awards have returned! The awards pay tribute to authors, librarians, publishers and anyone who contributes to the success and essence of BookExpo. A quick disclaimer to readers: the awards are beginning to garner a reputation, but you should read them anyway, so let's start!

"Moment-in-time, picture-taking moment" Award

This award goes to the Moon (lower right-hand corner) for gracing the New Yorker skyline, and clearly being there to welcome in the opening night of BookExpo, as discovered by colleague Helen Tomlinson.

"In Pursuit of Excellence" Award!

This award goes to Opening Session
speaker Barbra "Babs" Streisand, who had a one-on-one, sit-down interview with Oprah's bff, Gayle King. The interview, which largely focused on Ms. Steisand's new book My Passion for Design (right) as well as her impeccable design and aesthetic, revealed the following:

#1: Ms. Steisand, at a very young age, use to play under the kitchen table, withdrawing into her imagination and creating a world outside of her humble abode in Brooklyn
#2: She loved reading Nancy Drew books as a youngster
#3: Her love of design blossomed during her location scouting for "The Prince of Tides," in which she designed a set inspired by her imagination
#4: Aptly corrected Gayle King when asked if she was a perfectionist, indicating that her aim is in pursuit of excellence

In sum, we discovered that Babs is, in every definition of the word, an artist. From singing to directing to designing to writing, she embodies the truest spirit of an artist, escaping into her imagination and creating. With great honor, we welcome Ms. Steisand to the imagination of writing and to the wonderful world of books!

"But they seem so nice and sweet" Award!

This award goes to the authors of Bite Me! This sister duo, Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat (left), appear in every way, the classic, sweet, all-American sisters from next-door, who have stirred up a paradoxical book campaign, combining their wholesome Suzy homemaker image with a saucy, adjective-filled cookbook entitled, Bite Me: A Stomach-Satisfying, Visually Gratifying, Fresh-Mouthed Cookbook.

Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings meets Twilight meets The Da Vinci Code Award!

Yes, I know, you really have to fit the niche for this award, but we do have a winner! This award goes to The Goddess Phophecies by D. R. Whitney (right). The story--Vivienne Le Faye, 16-years-old, unaware of her noble heritage, inherits a priceless family amulet and a strange family curse that haunts her. She will be cast into a 5-book epic featuring a mystical world of witchery and magic filled with portals, dragons, orbs, the cup of immortality, and supernatural gifts; only to be protected by her immortal love (sorry girls, not Edward Cullen)--a boy with blazing golden eyes who shields her from all things evil. Fantasy at its best!

The Southpaw Award!

This award goes to Ziggy creator Tom Wilson (left), Sara Gruen (right), and all the other left-handed authors out there! My, those left-handers are a creative, talented, truly awe-inspiring group of amazing human beings! Our left-handed writers provide the ying yang, universal balance in the world of right-handed writers, which, without them, would most likely result in an off-tilting of the Earth's axis, a catastrophic shifting of the tectonic plates and ultimately, our planet's gravitational pull right into the Sun (ouch!). So, please remember this and be really grateful the next time you read Ziggy!

"Oh, do you work for Library Journal?" Award!

The Librarian Lounge is a place for librarians to put down their heavy, over-stuffed totes, rest from the hunt for swag, and regroup, refocus and reenergize with FREE refreshments. This space and these refreshments are graciously sponsored, year after year, by Library Journal. This year, Library Journal staffers greeted and mingled with the Librarians. One such staffer looked familiar and when asked, 'oh, do you work for Library Journal?'--she could have responded with "like, uh, yeah, I'm only the Editor-in-Chief of Library Journal" she simply and understatedly said "yes." So, we thank Editor-in-Chief Francine Fialkoff for her modesty and Library Journal for sponsoring the Librarian Lounge!

Librarians' Editor Pick Award!

During Library Journal's Day of Dialog, the latest titles
and trends were presented by four editors during "Editors' Picks." With a twist on a good thing, we offer the Librarians' pick for the Editor to watch! The backstory: A publisher and vice-president with her own imprint, Amy Einhorn Books selects purposeful books with sustenance and reverence! This imprint published the hugely-successful book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, demonstrating this Editor's innate ability to choose contemporary literary masterpieces coupled with the commercial success of language translations, movie rights and selling a quadtrillion copies!

"What is up with Dogs and BookExpo" Award!

Inevitably, dogs make their way into BookExpo every year! This year is no exception as evidenced by the doggie swag (left), books galore including Puppies: Wet Noses and Fuzzy Bellies (lower left) and a tribute to Boo Boo, the world's smallest living dog (below)!

Best Librarian/Author conversation Award!

Librarian:
"You're awesome!"
Author:
"You're awesome!"
Librarian:
"You're super awesome!"
(the end)

Big award to Children's author Peter Brown (right) for quickly catching on that Librarians really do have the final say. Plus, to Little, Brown and Company for offering a great litho (left) when they ran out of Peter's new book, Children Make Terrible Pets ,due out in September 2010. But wait, is Peter a leftie as well?

The Unofficial, Official BookExpo Tote Award!

Most years at BookExpo, a tote will appear out of nowhere, readily available, on display by the registration area, and becomes the unofficial, official tote for BookExpo (right). And often, this generous exhibitor, usually small and unassuming, goes unnoticed and is lost in this grand offering. Ah, but not this year! Let us pause and take a moment to thank Eunice Tse and her family's business, TSE Worldwide Press Inc., which provides book-printing, custom packaging & conceptual design to book-sellers and libraries worldwide! Thank you to the Tse family for this great tote!

Best reference to pop culture and most eye-catching, swanky book cover Award!

Leave it to an art book publisher, Assouline, to give us a brilliant, visually-inspiring book cover and leaving us secretly hoping for a Lulu remake of To India, with Love, starring a young Ben Kingsley look-alike, with set design by a colorizing, crazed Andy Warhol type.

Best Swag Award!

The exhibitors always provide great and interesting swag, ranging from small orange construction cones to lanyards to pighead squishy toys. This year's winners gave us exceptional swag (pictured above):

1st Place: C & C Offset Printing Co., Ltd. generously provided a set of three pop-up maps which included Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai!
2nd Place: Waterford Press offered two beautifully illustrated identification brochure guides for New York City Birds and Central Park Wildlife!
3rd Place: Rough Guides gave out a fold-up map of New York City--no ordinary map, a special map, a waterproof map!

Best Tote by Category Award!

The winning Exhibitors, by age category, have earned a reputation for consistently providing outstanding totes, year after year! The winners are:

Children's: Kids Can Press continues to reach excellence in offering sturdy totes that truly showcase its books and characters with brilliance! Scaredy Squirrel and Chester, two beloved Children's book characters from Kids Can Press, adorn this tote (above), clearly making it the first place tote in the Children's category!

Young Adult: Penguin
Promoting the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series, this was the most popular tote (right) among young Librarians, who seemed seduced by the Pac-Man vampire design. Kudos to Penguin for offering an unlimited supply as well as a brilliant tote in multiple colors!

Adult: Ingram scores first place again with its tribute to the greatest city in the world, the Big Apple (left)!

Newcomer to Totes Award:: Roaring Brook Press makes a sweeping entrance to the world of totes with this off-beat, alternative-looking tote (right)!

A back to reality moment Award!

While for many, the few days of BookExpo becomes the Center of our Universe, only because it is such a rich, wonderful and exciting experience, there were two important life events that happened simitaneously with BookExpo.

The first was a rally at City Hall (left) to save the public libraries in New York City from devastating budget cuts that will unemploy librarians and decimate library services for millions of New Yorkers.
The other event was the joyous graduation ceremony of library and information science students (right: Selina Sharmin and Kimmie Szeto from Queens Library) at Queens College. So, this award goes to the graduates entering the profession and the practicing librarians (Queens Library's Aliqae Geraci, Anne Marie Clarke, and Nancy Weiss, to name only a few) fighting for the very basic services offered by libraries and librarians.

While this harsh economy endangers new librarians finding employment and cripples library services and librarians' livelihoods, it offers us an opportunity to discern what is important, what is essential and what is necessary. Yes, yes BookExpo is important, but libraries and librarians are more so. Libraries serve a fundamental role in our communities and librarians offer an invaluable service that will always, always be necessary, essential and important.

Most interesting BookExpo fact Award!

From start to finish, it takes 18 months for publishers to give us a book.

Best Cover Award!

Memo to publishers: "If you put scaly creatures, floppy-earred dachshunds and snowpets on the cover, the Librarians will take your catalog." But even better, you may receive one of these serendipitous awards!

1st Place: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (top left); 2nd Place: Waterford Press (top right); 3rd Place: Sleeping Bear Press (bottom left)

Best Tote & Exhibitor Award!

Drum roll, please. As exhibitors wait on bated breathe, the winner of this dynamic duo award is Ingram! Consistently, Ingram has provided a strong, durable plastic tote, with a design that honors the hosting city of BookExpo! And more importantly, a small group of librarians, waiting in line for Justin Cronin's The Passage, collectively decided that the tote was just great and perfect for carrying groceries. Oh, those librarians, so practical and sensible! Ingram continues to exemplify the truest essence of BookExpo--being front and center with a large exhibit space during hard economic times, continuing to offer great, traditional service & product, and providing a tote that advertises its name, pays homage to the capital of the publishing world and lastly, helps the librarians bring produce home to their families.

"I can't believe I snagged that" Award!

In the final hours of BookExpo, as the Exhibitors pack up and the few remaining Librarians drag their totes, exhibitors will give away books that, well, they just don't want to pack up and lug back to their publishing houses. Here are a few of those snags...

Best decision ever Award!

BookExpo America has decided that the exhibits will return to 3 days next year, making the new dates May 24-26, 2011. Mark your calendars!

BookExpo America 2010 Pictures:

Pictured clockwise, sort of: Left-handed Michael Connelly autographing while saving the world just by being (top center); authors' first computer displayed by Abrams (upper middle right); Jane Pauley's husband's new book (middle left); the next best book blogger, Lori Hettler, The Next Best Book Club (lower middle right); and Harper Lee's 50th anniversary of setting the bar high for great American literature (lower center)

Best of Reference 2009

2009-05-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

says...daring, informative and necessary." Well, not really, that's just a line from one of our skits. Enjoy the opening montage of reference works selected, created by the talented Lauren Lampasone:

For the Best of Reference 2009 list, please click here

PLA 2008 Conference Awards!

2008-03-30T05:43:00.000-07:00

From John Wood's inspiring talk at the opening session, to the plethora of great product and swag in the Exhibits Hall, to the diverse programs for managers and frontline staff alike, it is now time for the PLA 2008 Conference Awards!

"We saved a tree today!" Award: This award goes to PLA for it's meaningful and forward-thinking decision to have a paperless conference. The environment smiled as a tree was spared and less waste was generated.

Best sightseeing spot in Minneapolis Award: Is it the famous outdoor sculpture of the Spoonbridge and Cherry (pictured below), or the nightclub where Prince filmed "Purple Rain?" While interesting, this award goes to, none other than, the statue of American TV icon Mary Richards a.k.a. Laura Petrie a.k.a. Mary Tyler Moore (pictured left), located outside of Macy's (originally Dayton's) at Nicollet Mall and 7th! The sitcom featured a host of wonderful characters such as Mary's best friend Rhoda, gruffy Mr. Grant, lovable newswriter Murray and anchor-with-a-huge-ego Ted Baxter. The statue honors the now infamous scene where Mary Richards tosses her hat in the air in the show's opening montage. We love Mary Richards, and if the Simpsons create a parody of you, then you have made it after all!

Most creative note-taking technique Award: This award clearly goes to this librarian who knitted throughout the entire program. As she explained, knitting helps her to focus her mind! For this, as well as a great picture taking moment, we give this crafty librarian the most creative note-taking method award! Mental note-taking, wow, how appropriate for a paperless conference, don't you think?

"Look, a free lunchbox to hold little swag" Award: One of the hottest giveaways was a Books on Tape lunchbox with an audiobook inside, given out daily to the first 100 adult librarians and 50 Children's librarians. Yes, anyone can use it for a lunchbox, but it also makes the perfect box to hold little swag, baby swag and especially magnetic swag! Thanks to Books on Tape for this multi-purpose and practical giveaway!

Best t-shirt Award: Speaking of giveaways, let's begin our swag awards! The most popular exhibit giveaways were the free t-shirts. So, here are your PLA Conference best t-shirt award winners:

1st Place: "Librarians Rock" by Plunkett Research (pictured left, in the middle). Yes, yes, this is a truism, but it's always good to see our rockness personified
2nd Place: Youniquely4u message t-shirts (pictured left, bottom). This exhibitor offered purple t-shirts with different, unique messages, such as "Of course, I know," "Ideas are contagious, catch one at your public library," plus many more. This is, perhaps, the most clever and astute brand promotion ever exhibited at conference. Youniquely4u would have received 1st place if they also offered a message t-shirt, oh, I don't know, maybe something like, "of course, Librarians Rock."
3rd Place: Gale's "I Have Issues" t-shirt (pictured left, top). Clearly, a much sought after t-shirt giveaway as witnessed by the mob of librarians who rushed to grab, push, trample (oh, sorry, I digress) for their free t-shirt.
This mob-like scene may be due to the fact that only 50 t-shirts were given out Friday morning, or that librarians love free stuff, or that librarians have issues, or all of the above!
Honorable mention goes to the Miami Ink-inspired "Books & Authors" t-shirt from Gale and the World Book sporty t-shirt! The most wonderful thing about all of these winners is that each exhibitor offered a truly great product to back a really great t-shirt! Congratulations to the t-shirt winners!

Best tote Award: Let's continue the swag awards by looking at the Conference's best totes. The totes play a very key role in librarian conferences. We, of course, want a strong, sturdy tote that will support and hold as much free stuff as possible--more stuff than we could ever possibly use, but can take back to our library and share with co-workers, right? At the same time, we want a tote that looks great, maybe one that is colorful and fun too! Or, a tote that we can use after conference in our daily life. So, with that said, here are your best tote award winners:

1st Place: Penguin's small tote bag is stylish, colorful and offers cover shots of great pieces of literature, which promotes the new line of inexpensive classics. The tote was extremely limited and only a very few attendees actually received one. Fortunately, one of the ladies at the exhibit booth had one for picture-taking purposes!

2nd Place: HarperCollins
offered one of the most popular totes of the conference. It is bright, colorful, fun and holds many things!
3rd Place: The Ingram Library Services purse tote is small but ladies can most definitely use it after conference.
4th Place: Merriam-Webster has offered this canvas tote at previous conferences, but just like it's product, it is durable, solid and reliable (to hold lots of freebies)! Again, congrautlations winners!

[Pictured top row: 3M, Diamond Book Publishers, Redbox Workshop]
[Pictured bottom row: Redbox Workshop, Gaylord/Gale in the Exhibits Hall]

Wow, what a special book Award: Upon visiting the U.S. Census Bureau's exhibit booth and seeing the brand new release Census Atlas of the United States, this librarian was overcome by excitement! Thrilled by her excitement, the two gentleman in the booth, one who spearheaded the project, asked, "Do you want the book?" Thinking, yeah, right, I said, "of course." And, low and behold, they gave me the book! A comprehensive, historical collection of maps and statistics, this is truly a substantial reference work and a very special book! And you know what? The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) also thought it was a very special book, so much so, that they inspected it in the checked luggage. Mmm, let's see, a government agency, whose role is national security at the nation's airports, checking bagged luggage to inspect a government document. I feel safe, in saying that, government documents librarians will sleep a little better tonight! And thanks to the two gentlemen in the Bureau's exhibit booth for your kindness and generosity!

Best presentor Award: While there were a number of great presentors, from John Wood, to Technozoo's Leonard Souza to Gamer consultant Beth Gallaway, this award goes to two ladies who gave encore performances and provided us with laughter, insight and heartfelt moments. First, Karen Hyman's 12-step program to reinventing your library was entertaining, engaging and filled with her sharp wit and observations. At the close of her presentation, she paid loving tribute to both of her daughters as she explained how one of them recently passed away. The library community extends our deepest sympathy.

And second, Sandra Nelson shared her keen insight and laughter into our busy lives and bouts of crabbiness as well as her joy of becoming a great grandmother during the PLA conference! We congratulate her on the new addition to her family! Through their presentations, they remind us that while work is important, challenging and meaningful, the cherished time with our loved ones, family and friends, is what truly matters most, as reflected by their own life-changing events! Thank you ladies, for making us laugh, cry, and laugh again!

Best character promotion Award! This award goes to Scaredy Squirrel at the Kids Can Press exhibit booth! Interesting choice, huh? Homeowners everywhere are shouting, "What the? How can you make a squirrel, that pesty little creature that chews on wires and causes havoc for us homeowners, a best character?" Oh yes, that pesty little creature attempts to redeem itself as a cute, little Children's book character that goes outside of his comfort zone, meets new and different creatures, faces life-changing adventures and expands his horizon. This award also pays special tribute to all the Children's book publishers that continue to create fresh, new characters to help open and expand the minds and imagination of children everywhere.

Most joyful moments Award: Some people call this networking, but it really is so much more. These are the special moments when you meet some really cool, interesting librarians, from all parts of the country, and hear about what they do and the things their libraries offer. It is also a time that we may run into co-workers from our own library (such as my colleague Logan Ragsdale, pictured right) to hear about their experiences and learn about the programs they attended. And, it can also be a time when you reunite with colleagues from the past to catch up on what's been happening. There is a sense of joy and comfort in knowing that there are others with whom you share a commonality and passion.

Best mini swag Award: We continue the swag awards with the best mini swag award. The rigid, grueling criteria for this award is that the swag must be small, exceptionally "cute" and makes you smile when you see it! Here they are:
1st Place: Equinox Software's Evergreen Smiley Guy pen who gives two thumbs up even with a bad hair day!
2nd place: Kids Can Press Scaredy Squirrel layard filled with images of all the cute characters from the book..
3rd place: The fun mousepad by Scholastic, highlighting real life pictures of animals and their animated counterpart!

Most practical, "I will totally use this stuff" swag Award: There were many great candidates for this award, and here are your winners:
1st place: Brodart's Post-it dispenser! Who knew that they had a dispenser for post-its?
2nd place: Gaylord's orange globe paper clip holder that defies gravity
3rd place: ProQuest's Smiley Dude pen can be used at your reference desk to draw customers to you

Best in Show Swag Award: And now, for our Best in Show winners:
1st Place: Plunkett's "Librarians Rock" t-shirt
2nd Place: Equinox Software's Evergreen Smiley Guy pen
3rd Place: Book on Tape's multi-purpose lunch/swagbox

Congratulations to all of the exhibitors, presentators and PLA members who worked so hard to make this a great conference for the librarians! The PLA conference is now over and we have all returned to our daily routines. Hopefully, we took with us some great experiences; new ideas to help reshape our libraries and share with colleagues; and perhaps make our communities, both physical and virtual, a better place for all of us!

[Pictured left: Basilica of Saint Mary]
[Pictured above: Artwork at the Emerson Elementary School]
[Pictured bottom row: Octopus and Hare on Bell on Portland Stone outdoor sculptures at the Walker Art Center and Baker & Taylor cats at exhibits]

New York Anime Festival highlights

2007-12-09T09:07:00.001-08:00

New York Anime Festival, New York City, December 7-9, 2007

The first New York Anime Festival was held at the Javits Center in New York City, from December 7-9, 2007. Here are some of the best exhibitors from the festival:

Anime Castle (http://www.animecastle.com/)
anime shop in Mineola, NY

Aranzi Aronzo (http://english.aranziaronzo.com/)
books, cute characters and other fun stuff

Aurora Publishing, Inc http://www.aurora-publishing.com
manga books

Dragon's Lair http://www.shopnh.com/dragons/index.asp
fantasy, celtic, science fiction merchandise, including dragons, gargoyles, mermaids, unicorns, wizards and more

Domonation at http://www.domonation.com/
Domo rocks, official website of this beloved character

Funimation http://www.funimation.com/
nation's largest independent home video entertainment companies, which carries wide selection of anime

ImaginAsian (http://www.theimaginasian.com/index3.php)
NYC's premier Asian American theater for first-run Asian and Asian American movies, appetizing Asian snacks and drinks, film festivals, cultural performances & more

jlist http://www.jlist.com/
thousands of rare items from Japan

Katsucon http://www.katsucon.org/
the premiere 3-day Japanese anime & manga festival held every year in Washington DC, scheduled for February 15-17, 2008

Lil Hevn http://www.zazzle.com/littleheaven
clothing, jewelry & accessories from this lil shop in Brooklyn, NY

Manga http://www.manga.com/
the ultimate website for manga entertainment, along with an online catalog of its extensive anime library

Maruione http://maruione.jp
new pop fashion, traditional Japanese items, Japanese art and more

Mimobot (http://www.mimobot.com/)
flash drives for anime fans (see website for new Star Wars and Halo characters)

Moon Costumes http://www.mooncostumes.com/
anime character costumes

Onmyodo (http://www.onmyodo.com/)
footwear for the anime generation

Pawstar (http://www.pawstar.com/)
kitty anime company started by a young couple (one loves kitties and the other loves astronomy, hence the name Pawstar)

VooDoo Babies (http://www.vdbaby.com/)
each VooDooBaby is hand-writhed with great artisanship from single strings of cotton or linen threads, with no wire supporting the structure. They are NOT for real and possess no curse effect whatsoever, just cute little guys!

WowMax Media (http://wowmaxmedia.com/animenewtype/)
add popular anime & manga images from Japan onto your phone

March of the Librarians

2007-10-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

A clever and funny parody...

O Shakespeare bobblehead, wherefore art thou?

2007-08-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

Come hither bobblehead!

Greenwood Press, the all-time leader of swag, has given away bobbleheads to promote the release of their "All Things" book series. The Shakespeare bobblehead was given away at the 2003 ALA Conference in Toronto to coincide with the release of "All Things Shakespeare!"

The Chaucer, Jane Austen and Charles Darwin bobbleheads are great in their own, but the group would like to be joined by the Shakespeare bobblehead to feel a sense of wholeness!

Please e-mail me at kittylady5@gmail.com, if you or anyone you know might have a Shakespeare bobblehead and is willing to part with it!

Thanks to Betty at Greenwood Heinemann for helping us add Jane Austen to our family of Greenwood bobbleheads! And to Greenwood Press, we love the bobbleheads, so please keep them coming! And for your next "All Things" book, we hope that you consider an author from the "Lost Generation," perhaps Ernest Hemingway, or F. Scott Fitzgerald!!!

1st ALA Conference 2007 Awards!

2007-06-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

Washington, DC welcomes the Librarians

(Photos: National Archives (top left), Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (top right), Chinatown pailou (right)

(Photos: Vietnam War Memorial (top left), Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum (bottom left), Lincoln Memorial (right)

Yes, I know that the ALA conference is all about the programs and networking and professional development, but it's also about all the wonderful freebies as well. So, to start off our first ever ALA conference awards, we'll start with the exhibitor tote bags. The tote bags play an important role because they help us to hold all the free stuff that we get from our exhibitors. Oh yeah, they also promote and publicize the vendor and their products. That's very important too. There were so many wonderful tote bags to choose from, but the top 3 totes are:

Best tote bag award

1st place: Demco gave away this sharp-looking, multicolored tote. Participants got this tote after spinning an enormous game wheel offering selected prizes. Kudos to Demco for offering a fun way to score a terrific tote and possibly other prizes (Pictured bottom row)
2nd place: Henry Holt Books for Young Readers celebrating 40 years of Brown Bear. It's colorful, fun and holds lots of swag stuff. A very popular choice among conference attendees (Pictured top row, left)
3rd Place: Kids Can Press--The art work from their children's books is just great and features Chester. It's colorful, nicely designed and fun! (Pictured top row, right)

"Let's make the Librarians happy and give them a steady stream of caffeine" award

Oh yeah, this award goes to Proquest, who provided a coffee bar at the top of a spiral staircase. So, not only did you get a great panorama view of the exhibitors' hall (see picture) but also a really great latte (yum).

Wow, he sounds like a Kennedy, he looks like a Kennedy, hey, he must be a Kennedy award:

Yes, this award goes to Robert J. Kennedy, Jr.. Mr. Kennedy, the guest speaker for the ALA President's Program, gave a pertinent, reverent, and passionate speech entitled "A Contract with our Future."

He began his speech with a childhood story about his grandmother Rose and her love of books, and later mentioned his uncle Jack. It is exciting, yet strange and unusual, to hear such casual mention of these iconic figures, who are part of our American fabric. Despite your political affiliation or lack thereof, the Kennedys have a special place in our hearts through celebration and loss and tragedy as well as their unwaivering fight for social justice throughout the last 5 decades.

His speech presented an important argument for our environment, information on testing your personal mercury level from Waterkeeper Alliance at http://www.waterkeeper.org/mainarticledetails.aspx?articleid=172 and a great quote,

"I've always believed that 80% of republicans are really Democrats that don't know what's going on." --Robert J. Kennedy, Jr. at the 2007 ALA Conference

Thanks to Leslie Burger for inviting Mr. Kennedy!

"We love the environment so lets give away a tree" award

Yes, EBSCO gave away the most environmentally-friendly swag, a starter Colorado Blue Spruce tree plant. In conjuction with the National Arbor Day Foundation at http://www.arborday.org/, we give ESBCO Information Services a big "green thumbs up" for their swag. Perhaps Mr. Kennedy's favorite swag as well!

Most friendliest greeter at the ALA Conference award

This award goes to the super nice lady at the 2008 ALA Conference in Anaheim booth! She always greeted you with a huge smile, a sunny disposition and free surf board keychains! So, you can attend the 2008 ALA Conference in Anaheim, meet up with colleagues, surf a little and soak up the California rays!

I feel like I just entered the "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" award

This award clearly goes to the Randolph Rose Collection exhibit featuring bronze statues. It had that reminiscent feeling like you just stepped into the backdrop of eccentric Savannah, Georgia and onto the pages of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." All of the statues were intricate and beautiful, yet a little eery.

Best thing about having the ALA conference in Washington, DC award

This award goes to the opportunity to visit the national monuments and memorials which represents our history, culture and heritage. By having the conference in Washington, DC, the librarians had the chance to visit these sites as well as take tours of the Library of Congress, the Capitol, the Holocaust Museum, plus many, many more...

Photos: The U.S. Capitol (above), Lincoln Memorial (right), Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool (upper right)

Best national monument to visit at night award

What the? Hey, I thought this was the ALA conference awards? Yes, but since many librarians visit the monuments and memorials during off conference time, this is a bonus award! So, for informational purposes only, this award goes to no other than the FDR memorial. This is a great memorial in itself. However, if you visit it during the evening, you will have a uniquely different experience than the daytime. It may be the maze-like design, along with the haunting look of the three dimensional human sculptures that lend itself to making this memorial kind of spooky, but cool at night.

It's a bird...It's a plane...It's a blimp award

This award goes to the Queens Library, which promoted itself by anchoring a large blimp to the Carnegie building across from the Convention Center. Could this award be a conflict of interest? Not so much, but sort of...however, there were no other libraries which promoted itself on a blimp, a plane or a bird, that I saw!

Best way to meet librarians from all over the world award

This award goes to the many programs on international libraries and cooperation, the International Librarians reception, and the International Poster Session. These events allow you to meet, exchange information and share experiences with colleagues from other countries as well as with U.S. librarians who have library experiences abroad.

Photos: IRRT Chair's Program "International Library Partnerships: Walking Side by Side," (pictured above), International Poster Session: National Central Library in Taiwan (bottom left) and Dr. Trishanjit Kaur, Punjabi University (bottom right)

Most rewarding ALA Conference experience award

This award goes to the experience of meeting up with or encountering colleagues, both past and present!

Photos: Esther Lee and her friend. Happy retirement, Esther! (pictured above) and up-and-coming librarian Margaret Gibson (pictured right)

Best exhibitor award

This award is given to the exhibitor who makes a lasting impression with their product. This award has 2 winners:

1st place: Creative Arts Unlimited Inc. for it's creative, artistic, and imaginative designs (pictured left)

1st place: Polaris Library Systems which offered attendees a fun way to become a "Read" poster! (pictured right: Queens Library's Edith Capellan)

And now, the moment that we've been waiting for, the top swag awards! Are you ready?

First, thanks to all of
the exhibitors! So, let's start with honorable mention:

Honorable mention: The "Love your Librarian" and "Penguin" placards, the Tech Logic soft eyeglass case and of course, the Skippyjon Jones oval promo card...and now, the winners are:

Best swag award

1st place: Hands down, it's the Charles Darwin bobblehead from Greenwood Press. For swag collectors, you may remember that Greenwood gave away a Chaucer bobblehead at the PLA conference in Boston. Thanks Greenwood Press--we love the bobbleheads, so keep them coming!!!
2nd place: Commemorative t-shirt featuring the Lincoln Memorial from Brodart Co. This swag pays tribute to our hosting city and we like that! Plus, the back of this t-shirt lists the ALA conferences for the next 10 or some years, which is a useful reference and especially helpful for those of us with lapsing memory.
3rd place: Atlas, the plush dog from World Book. Why? Because he's cute! And if you look closely at Atlas' spots, they're shaped like the different continents of the world--very, very clever World Book! So this makes Atlas cute and educational...

Pictured above: Charles Darwin bobblehead (left), Brodart Co. t-shirt (center), Atlas the dog (right)

Photos: Artwork, Washington Convention Center (left), Navy Memorial (lower left), WWII Memorial (below)

Photos: Vietnam War memorial (left), Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (right), R2D2 mailbox near the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum (upper right), The White House (bottom left)

All photos by Char Gwizdala, except Read Poster by Edith Capellan and FDR Memorial by img.groundspeak.com

Book Expo NYC 2007: Char's Annual Awards

2007-06-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, it's time for my annual BookExpo awards, which some of you might remember from last year. Here goes:

the kindest, sweetest and most patient author award: okay, technically he's an illustrator, but Matthew Reinhart wins this distinction hands down. He did 4 signings for different pop-up books and even stayed after the alotted time to make sure everyone got their books signed. He even signed multiple books (we lost count after 8) for a woman who kept pulling out different pop-up books that he had illustrated. He was so kind, patient and sweet with her and never rushed her or anyone else. And besides, his work totally rocks!!!

yummiest give-away award: The Snoopy dog bone shaped rice krispies treat

coolest picture taking moment award: there are 2 winners, having your picture taken with Dora the Explorer and her friend Diego; or putting on pig ears and having your picture taken with a statue of Olivia

most socially conscious exhibitor, with a creative way to express your conviction award: so, what do BookExpoers feel is the most important issue facing America today? By placing a marble in one of the five jars at the Brookings Institution Press exhibit, you could express the issue most important to you. At the time that we visited, Iraq and Climate Change were tied, with Health Care a comfortable third and Homeland Security and Immigration coming in fourth and fifth.

only one regret, but it's okay award: that BookExpo is in Los Angeles next year. But good news, it returns to NYC in 2009

the coolest and most unassuming couple award: Sometimes you see many couples (both married and partners) at BookExpo, especially from small, independent bookstores or the exhibitors themselves. The best couple award goes to the friendly guy and his wife and her bird. We were warmly greeted by the gentleman (pictured left) who was promoting the new Merck Manual for Pet Health. He said make sure that you go visit my wife and her bird, who were next to him. So, we stepped over to his wife and the beautiful toucan bird. Oh my gosh, it's Joan Embry! So we said to the husband, "hey, you didn't tell us your wife was famous!" And Joan said, "I'm not famous, the animals are famous." Wow, she knows so much about animals. We learned all of these facts about the Amazon Rainforest toucan in only a few minutes. So, for their hospitality, humility and for being really cool people, and of course, unassuming, Joan Embry and her husband get this award

best swag award:
Yes, I know that the expo is all about the books, but let's be honest, who doesn't like all the free swag stuff. Okay, so we'll start with the tote bags. There were so many to choose from and many runner-ups, but the top 5 tote bags are, drum roll please:

1st Place: Ingram--The Ingram tote bag has the Brooklyn Bridge on either side and is the only tote that I saw that paid tribute to NYC. So, we appreciate that and give them 1st place
2nd Place: Good Books--This publisher gave away a beautiful canvas, zipped tote which has the book cover art work from two of their children's books. This is the 2nd year that they placed in this category because they gave away a similar bag last year. It is just beautiful, thanks Good Books! (Pictured top row, left)
3rd Place:Kids Can Press--The art work from their children's books is just great. It's fun, colorful and a practical tote! (Pictured top row, right)
4th Place: Viz still has the best overall design, which is the same from last year! If it's ain't broke, why fix it, right?
5th Place: Penguin Classic--Who doesn't love penguins....everyone, right?

the best swag, other than a tote bag award:
Outside of tote bags, the best swag award goes to the Bad Kitty clip-on given out by MerryMakers Inc. We give honorable mention to the "Want a Poogle" pin, the highlighter/post-it pen, and the apple shape cookie cutter

the most often heard phrase award:
"Hey, the lightsabers light up, cool!"
Repeated continuously and sometimes in unison by those who got a copy of Matthew Reinhart's Star Wars Pop-up Guide to the Galaxy, or to anyone who had a copy and showed it to someone. This pop-up book so totally rocks. If you know a Star Wars fan, this is a must purchase. Due out October 2007.

I didn't take a picture, what was I thinking :( award: Sandra Boynton sitting on the carpeted floor in her publishers' booth, using a wooden block as a table. I'm not sure you can get more down to earth than that...

you paid how much for that? award: Carving chef extraordinaire, pictured below, is sculpturing a swan out of a watermelon (notice the beautiful lotus flowers carved from onions in front of the watermelon). The chef forgot to bring a watermelon to the expo so he had to buy one in the city. Guess how much he paid for that watermelon? Yup, $20.00! He said that he won't forget to bring his watermelon next time :)

most imaginative, yet kind-of-creepy promotion for a book award:
A live Statue of Liberty to promo John Keatt's Tales of New York. It really looked like a statue until she opened her eyes and her eyes followed you without any other part of her body moving (that's the creepy part)

one of the best ways to meet your colleagues award:

the autograph lines waiting to get that book that you really want signed by one of your favorite authors.

the best experience that I wouldn't change for a million dollars award: attending BookExpo with my friend Lisa, who I met in library school and also lives in NYC. She's in knowledge management now, so she doesn't attend many of these public functions. It was such a great time to spend the day with her and to add another experience to our 20+ year friendship.

I will tell you that, as a book lover and librarian, there is no greater experience than BookExpo. You have a chance to meet and talk with some really great authors (new and seasoned); visit and talk with the publishers and learn about new titles and product; and meet some wonderful colleagues and people from all over the country and around the world. The following 3 posts are pictures that Lisa and I took at BookExpo, enjoy!

Images from BookExpo NYC 2007:
top left: Feelings to Share A to Z, 2007,Carrie Hartman, Illustration; top middle: Street Dogs by Traer Scott due out October 2007; bottom left: Maurice Sendak's Mommy Pop-up book by Arthur Yorkins and Matthew Reinhart; bottom left: ABC - NYC: A Manhattan Alphabet Book, Travel Guide and Souvenir by Matthew G. Rosenberger

Book Expo NYC 2007: Introduction

2007-06-03T15:24:00.000-07:00

BookExpo NYC 2007: The Authors

2007-06-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

Book Expo NYC 2007: The Exhibits

2007-06-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

20 years!!!

2007-05-01T13:21:00.000-07:00