Adventures in Minneapolis: Wednesday

Welcome to bun-fest! Almost 10,000 librarians attended this conference. There are eleven of us from Indiana. I feel like I am in an intellectual Oz, trying to find my way around downtown Minneapolis and weaving my way through the crowds to the sessions. Thank goodness Ing is here to help me through the first day.

We saw Nancy Pearl, who is famous in the library world, introduce publishers who recommended new cool books. Then we saw John Wood, a dynamic person who left his cushy gig at Microsoft to start his own company called Room to Read, which is a program that helps children worldwide by opening schools and libraries. He inspires me to go out and make a difference somehow.

After the sessions, the exhibits have the grand opening. There's alcohol and food available for librarians, but I did not have any. I walk inside the exhibits and I am completely overwhelmed with all the people. I retreat to the comfort of my hotel room. Ing and I meet up and head out for dinner and pretty much crash the first night.