Win the KASL $1000 grant and attend the AASL conference in Hartford next year. This is a review of the AASL conference in Minneapolis held in Oct. 2011 by the previous grant winner.

1. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF
SCHOOL LIBRARIANS
CONFERENCE
MINNEAPOLIS
OCT. 26-30, 2011
Presented by Sherry Turnbull
Library Media Specialist, Pittsburg
sturnbull@usd250.org

2. THEME: “TURNING THE PAGE”

3. HELD AT THE
MINNEAPOLIS CONVENTION CENTER

4. MINNEAPOLIS: BEAUTIFUL CITY IN THE
FALL

5. THE EXPLORATORIUM—MEETING
COLLEAGUES WHO SHARE THEIR
IDEAS
 44 different presenters share handouts and great teaching ideas
during this 2 hour event

6. LEARNING AT THE
EXPLORATORIUM

7. OPENING KEYNOTE SPEAKER: NICHOLAS
CARR
Speaking about
his book The
Shallows: What
the Internet is
Doing to Our
Brains

8. TOO MANY SESSIONS TO
CHOOSE!
 Common Core
Standards
 Technology
 Assessment
 Budgets
 Information Literacy
 Building Partnerships
 Reading Promotions
 AND MANY MORE!

9. OVERWHELMED BY EXHIBITS WITH
VENDORS

10. AND BOOKS GALORE—FREE AND FOR
SALE!

11. AUTHORS—SO MANY TO MEET,
SO LITTLE TIME!
Dianne Des Las Cases, author
of House that Witchy Built
Marci Peshke, author of Kylie
Jean Drama Queen

12. MACKIN BOOK COMPANY HOSTS AN
EVENING EVENT

13. MACKIN TOUR
 We tour their
warehouse and view
employees filling book
orders, placing spine
labels, and putting mylar
on jackets
 OH, so precise!

14. MACKIN HOSTS AN AUTHOR
RECEPTION
 Authors sign and give copies
of their books—from Tony
Buzzeo to Nancy Carlson to
David LaRochelle to Tomie
dePaola!

15. TOURING THE CITY
 Finding a little free time to
tour Como Park with friends
and colleagues

16. BEAUTIFUL BOTANICAL GARDENS

17. CATHEDRAL OF ST. PAUL
 100 years old; built in the
style of French and Italian
cathedrals

18. BACK TO THE MANY SESSIONS

19. AND OF COURSE TRYING OUT THE
LOCAL FLAVORS
 Pumpkin cheesecake,
barbeque, and omelets
among others!

20. MEETING STRANGE CHARACTERS AT
THE EXHIBITS

21. AS WELL AS GREAT AUTHORS
 Like Mike Thaler  And Andrea Pinkney

22. AND MORE GREAT AUTHORS AND
ILLUSTRATORS!
Derek Anderson
Roland Smith

23. EVEN KAREEM ABDUL-JABAR
Signing copies of his book, On the Shoulders of Giants

24. BELLWETHER MEDIA HOSTS A
RECEPTION
 Great place to network with
colleagues and view books

25. MAKING A SCHOOL TUBE VIDEO…AND
COLLECTING MORE BAGS OF BOOKS!

26. VISITING THE MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC
LIBRARY

27. WHERE PATRONS USE SELF-
CHECKOUT

28. CLOSING GENERAL SESSION—MIMI
ITO
 Spoke about her book:
Hanging Out, Messing
Around, and Geeking
Out: Kids Living and
Learning with New
Media
 An advocate of using
new media in education

29. CLOSING CELEBRATION AT NICOLLET
PAVILION—A REALLY COOL PLACE

30. A GREAT DINNER AND TIME TO
NETWORK WITH NEW FRIENDS FROM
ACROSS THE US

31. AND EVEN A LITTLE DANCING

32. A GRACIOUS HOST CITY

33. THANK YOU AASL FOR A GREAT
CONFERENCE!

34. TIME TO HEAD HOME—FILLED WITH A
PLETHORA OF NEW IDEAS…AND TOO
MANY BOOKS TO CARRY!