As promised here yesterday, today's post is all about my personal schedule at ALA. Please note, this is not complete. I am not including a few panels I hope to make it to, rather I will only include places I KNOW I will be at during specific times.
Please though, if you see me, stop me. No matter how busy I look. I want to meet you if you want to meet me. I will have RA for All pens and stickers for anyone who asks. And, since I will go home every night, I will not run out!
I have highlighted the 2 events where I am the presenter.
Friday, June 26, 2026:
8:30 am- 3:30 pm
This is a ticketed event which I wrote about in detail in this post. I will be in that room most of the day, but as soon as it is over, I will head to registration.
McCormick Place W375 CDE Skyline
4-5:30pm
I will be outside mingling with people before it begins. I will also be sitting close to the front because my dear friend Carolyn Ciesla is the current President of ILA and she will be on stage to welcome you all.
After the opening session, I will probably skip the exhibit open since I will have been there all day and I have a dinner to get to.
Saturday, June 27, 2026:
Location: McCormick Place, W 375 A Skyline
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
After that I will be in the Exhibit Hall visiting vendors and publishers until MY SIGNING.
Location: Booth 3112
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Becky will be signing copies of her Bram Stoker award-winning horror anthology, "Why I Love Horror". Come grab a complimentary copy, get it signed, and meet Becky!
Also I will have the QR code to buy my shirt (which I will be wearing for the signing) from Greg's Threads of Dread.
Please note: this is your only chance to get a free copy of WHY I LOVE HORROR but it is not your only chance to get your copy signed. If you have your copy, I will sign it at any time. I have different stickers for that.
After the signing, I am heading a few blocks away to do to the celebration of the Life and Legacy of Fobazi Ettarh. I wrote about that event here including all the location and time details. I hope to see many of you there.
When I return from the memorial, I will be around for a few more hours. I am keeping my options open though, especially because I don't know who I will be catching up with from that event.
But later that night I will be at the off site ticketed event--
Location: Off Site, American Writers Museum, 180 N. Michigan Ave., 2nd Fl
8:00 PM - 10:00 PM
The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction are celebrated every year at ALA's Annual Conference, this year held in Chicago. Join us for a literary night on Saturday, June 27 from 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. CT at the American Writers Museum as we honor this year's winners: A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar and Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li. The award ceremony will conclude with a light reception and book signing.
I will be there as a former committee members for this award to celebrate the work of my colleagues.
Sunday, June 28, 2026:
Isn't it romantic? Meet bestselling authors of romance and other love stories at this popular program moderated by Melissa DeWild, Reviews Director, Library Journal. A panel of four writers from a variety of publishers will discuss their writing lives, their inspirations and processes, and their forthcoming titles. Advance copies will be provided to attendees (subject to availability). A book signing will follow. Authors include Emily Rath ("Devour Me" | Avon/HarperCollins), Cara Tanamachi ("Kiss, Marry, Kill" | Forever/Hachette), Iman Hariri-Kia ("Once in a Timeline" | Cosmo Reads/Sourcebooks), and Lauren Rowe ("Chasing the Rush" | Kensington Publishing).
This panel is moderated by my editor at LJ, Melissa DeWild. I will be there to support her.
Connect Lounge Huddle: To facilitate discovery and circulation, how can libraries make their reading collection displays more engaging?
Location: McCormick Place, ALA Connect Lounge, Hall F2 Lobby
11:00 AM - 11:20 AM
The humble book display is often not used to its fullest as the discovery tool it can be. And we often forget how much it can drive increased circulation. But in a world where patrons use the library as both a physical and digital space, and with an understanding that patrons crave interactive experiences, discussion leaders Becky Spratford and Lila Denning will share their decades of experience as librarians and trainers to help huddle participants break down how to create displays that spark conversation, bring patrons of all ages into the library, and have them leave not only with a few good books to read but also a plan to return soon to get some more.
My colleague (and house guest for ALA Annual) Lila Denning and I will be hosting this conversation about how to make your book displays more effective and we don't mean by adding decorations. Come chat with us. We can even stick around for a bit after if you want to keep chatting, but we do have to get to the next panel before it ends at Noon...
Location: McCormick Place, W 193 B
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
This program will present bestselling authors of mysteries and thrillers moderated by Susan Maguire, Senior Editor, Collection Management and Library Outreach, Booklist. A panel of four writers from a variety of publishers will discuss their writing lives, their inspirations and processes, and their forthcoming titles. Advance copies will be provided to attendees (subject to availability). A book signing will follow. Authors include Daniel Kraus ("The Sixth Nik" | Saga Press/Simon & Schuster), Nina Simon ("My Sister Is Going to Kill Me" | William Morrow/HarperCollins), Cynthia Pelayo ("Something Followed Us Home: Tales of Latiné Horror" | Primero Sueno Press/Simon & Schuster), and Sara Paretsky ("Bad Company" | Minotaur Books/Macmillan Publishers).
Not only is this panel being moderated by my Booklist Editor Susan Maguire, but it features two of my real life friends, Cynthia Pelayo and Daniel Kraus. I will be there before it ends.
Location: McCormick Place, W 195
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Collection development and readers' advisory specialists from across the country will RAVE about their favorite forthcoming READS in this lively presentation brought to you by LibraryReads and Booklist. Join us and find your patrons' next favorite reads or add to that ever-growing TBR pile. List of books will be available on booklistonline.com after the event.
This is a NOT TO MISS event every single year. Also Susan again! I have done this more than once myself. It is a gauntlet, but super fun. I am very excited to be in the audience these days. Please note, it used to always be on Monday but it was moved to Sunday this year. Please mark your schedules.
I will also be stopping by the booth signings of friends Maurice Broaddus (Booth 2521 between 12 and 1) and Grace Daly (booth 3226E between 2:30 and 3).
Like the other days, I have some panels marked to attend, but I cannot 100% promise I will be at those and I don't want to disappoint someone who make a point to go there to see me.
Monday, June 29, 2026:
Last day!!! And again, one of the primer events for the conference in my opinion...
Location: McCormick Place, W 181 A B C
8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
Join the Adult Library Marketing Association and LibraryReads for their annual adult author panel. You'll hear 5 top authors talk about their upcoming releases, and get print galleys. Please find the RSVP link on our website at at LibraryReads.org/events, so we can make sure we have galleys and swag on hand.
Featured Authors:
Featured Authors:
- Meg Anderson, The Memory of Borrowed Books, Sourcebooks
- Bonnie Jo Campbell, The Spirits, W. W. Norton & Company
- Tananarive Due, Mazywood, Simon & Schuster
- Laleh Khadivi, Female Life on Planet Earth, HarperCollins
- Jeneva Rose, Sometimes I Scare Myself , Blackstone Publishing
You do not want to miss this early morning start as Tananarive Due and I are reunited after we both won the Bram Stoker Award for my book. We will have a mini celebratory victory dance. But seriously, this is always great panel and you can get ARCs for all of the authors. And I am not just saying this because I am a LibraryReads Ambassador. Hosted by Rebecca Vnuk, LibraryReds Executive Director.
After this, I will be around. I will probably be spending the time after this panel in the exhibit hall before it closes. And after that, panels.
Finally, yesterday, it was announced that Wayne Brady had to cancel for the closing session, but they did add this (which I will be at):
Closing General Session: 250/150: Intellectual Freedom, Public Engagement, and the Infrastructure of Democracy
Location: McCormick Place, W 375 C D E Skyline
4:00 PM- 5:00 PM
As the United States celebrates 250 years of democracy, ALA leadership – current President Sam Helmick, President Elect Maria McCauley, Director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom Sarah Lamdan, and Executive Director Dan Montgomery – will discuss the issues at the heart of the profession: librarians as vanguards of intellectual freedom, information literacy and civic engagement, and libraries as welcoming spaces that provide a sense of community and belonging for patrons.
I am intrigued by what they plan to talk about. With the awful former director of OIF finally retired (she was never strong enough fighting against censorship in my opinion and I have not hidden that opinion from her), I am hoping to hear some stronger language. I have no hopes though. I will come with an open mind, but know that FOR SURE, I will report on this one.
Okay so that is the bare bones schedule of where I will be over the next few days. Again, come say hello and I will give you a pen and a sticker. Put a copy of my book in your face and I will sign it. Just find me and say hi.
And those of you not attending...I've got you. Reports will follow. In fact, here is a reminder of my upcoming blogging schedule:
- 6/26 and 29: Blog is off while I attend ALA but check bluesky for updates
- 6/30 (later in the day though, not AM) and 7/1: Detailed recaps of what I saw and learned plus links to reports others on things I missed.
- 7/2: Come back before the July 4th holiday because I will be linking to my LJ Horror Genre Preview in the July issue and I will have a giveaway of the upcoming second Never Whistle at Night anthology (on both blogs).
- 7/3: That is the July 4th Holiday observed so RA for All is off
- 7/6: This one is exciting-- I will be posting and writing about NoveList's brand new RA Competencies. They were released last week, but I want to give it the eyes it deserves and that means waiting until AFTER ALA Annual and the July 4th Holiday.
Back Tuesday afternoon with some recaps.
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