hosting a Newbery Award winner

I don't post about work very often - even though it's a huge part of my life and I can't imagine working anywhere other than the library and doing exactly what I do . . . but I wanted to share some pictures from our special event last night - the 11th annual Children's Author Lecture. It began in 1998 and since the first lecture - which Lois Lowry inaugurated, we've hosted Patricia Pollaco, Sharon Creech, Christopher Paul Curtis, Jack Gantos, Richard Peck, Patricia Reilly Giff, Katherine Paterson, Kate DiCamillo, and Avi. This is one of my biggest projects for work each year and I have the lucky job to pick the author, plan the event and work with a really fun committee to pull the event off.
Over 900 kids, parents, teachers and children's lit fans joined us - and I swear nearly all of them came to the book signing as well. We sold SO many books - hardcovers were flying off the booksale table - which thrills me since our program gets a 10% kick-back from the sale towards next year's program.
Lois Lowry is an amazing speaker. She shared photos from her early childhood and showed how she wove in bits of her entire life into her very popular and critically acclaimed books. It really says a lot that on the same night that Steven Sondheim was in town and speaking a block away, we still sold out the house - children's literature is alive in Portland!


And we made Lois's blog. If you double click on the class picture, you'll see me and Marian in the back row - we were desperate to make her blog. Very silly.