From the Show Floor

It's true what they say on Cheers: there's nothing like going to a place where everybody knows your name.

The California School Library Association conference began today. I set up our booth and opened for business tonight at the evening exhibits reception. I had been pretty stressed about this conference all week, but now that the first day is over, I'm pretty jazzed despite my fatigue.

I always seem to forget, in the intervening year between conferences, how enthusiastic all these attendees are and how wonderful it is to watch people walk up to the booth, look upward to read the banner, and then exclaim, "Shen's Books! I love Shen's Books!" Most of these librarians already receive our catalog in the mail, and most of them have bought books from us in the past. It's a weird hybrid of pleasure at seeing old friends again with the excitement of meeting new ones.