Thanks for the American Library Association Conference memories!

Posted on June 30, 2017 at 12:00 am by Gene Ambaum

A big thanks to all of you who stopped by the Library Comic booth at the American Library Association conference last weekend. Our first conference appearance was a huge success, and I hope you all had a chance to meet some of the other comics folks in the Graphic Novel Pavilion, too.

Special thanks to everyone who volunteered their time to help me out in the booth:

Laura Keys and her husband Robert Kaplafka helped me move in and set up. Laura does live performances as historic women including Mary Todd Lincoln and Laura Ingalls Wilder. She introduced me to the fantastic Kevin Wood aka Abe Lincoln (pictured above), who joined me at the booth on Friday night. They both do school visits — check out their websites at www.laurafkeyes.com and www.mrlincoln.com if you’re looking to book a great program.

I also owe a big shout out to retired speech professor Marlene Atkins, librarian / MLIS student Samantha Mairson, and my gaming buddy Ryan Nolet for going above and beyond the call of duty. Without your help at the booth folding T-shirts, providing caffeine infusions, and giving me time to run to the men’s room, it would have been a tough show.

Personal highlights of the show for me included meeting several French graphic novelists, short conversations with Owly creator Andy Runton and Drama / Ghosts creator Raina Telgemeier, and seeing Lynda Barry give the most amazing and indescribable speech ever at Saturday’s Eisner party. Holy crap and wow!

Hope you had a great time, too, and that I’ll see you all again at ALA Midwinter in Denver.

-Gene