July 1, 2025

A Weekend of Firsts in Philadelphia

four jam-packed days and a whole lot of books!

Hello there! Happy Tuesday!

Well, I made it home from Philadelphia on Sunday night, and am heading out again on Wednesday for my annual sibling gathering in northern Wisconsin ~ summer fun doesn’t stop!

I’m excited to share about my trip to Philadelphia today ~ it was hard to put it together, though, because really I just want to sit down and tell you all the things about all the things and show you all the pictures … and well, you certainly don’t have time for that! So, I’m paring it down to the highlights and vibes … which is perhaps what this entire publication should actually be called? Those highlights and vibes are STILL long, though!

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This trip was my first time attending the American Library Association Annual Conference AND my first time visiting Philadelphia ~ that’s a lot all at once!

I’ll take you through the whirlwind trip highlights, and I guess you can decide for yourself whether my recent realization is valid: I’m good at traveling for conferences but not good at actually GOING to conferences.

If your email cuts this off, please do click through to read the rest on the web!

The Transportation

My goal when flying somewhere is to have the shortest drive possible to an airport, and then use zero cars when I arrive in my destination. Obviously not always possible, but I did well on this trip!

I left my house at 3:30 a.m. last Thursday to drive to a tiny regional airport 90 minutes from home. When I fly, I check EVERY airport within three hours to find the best times and prices, and this one was wildly cheaper than anywhere else. Local folks ~ I didn’t even know Eau Claire had an airport! Turns out they do, and it all went well there.

I had a 40 minute layover in Chicago, which is never ideal, but I made my flight to Philadelphia with time to spare. I dozed and read until we arrived in Philadelphia and then hopped on the SEPTA Airport train line. I LOVE being able to take public transport ~ it doesn’t really exist where I live, which is such a shame. I rode the train to Suburban Station, and then walked about three blocks to my hotel. It was SO smooth! And so worth mapping out ahead of time.

I was able to walk everywhere else I went when in the city* and the return journey to the airport via train on Sunday was just as easy. Highly recommend!

*except for a few rides on the conference shuttle due to heavy bags, and my school tour which was on a bus. But NO cars!

The Hotel and Food

I chose my hotel from the conference hotel list based on 1) proximity to the convention center and 2) price. The Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square ended up being such a perfect choice, with a delightful rooftop pool bonus. The location was everything I love when staying in a city: walking distance to everything, walkable and interesting neighborhood, and close to places to eat and grocery options.

Until planning the trip, I had never heard of Rittenhouse Square or the surrounding district, but my friends, staying in this area checked ALL of my boxes. A gorgeous park, a bustling people-watching-shopping-dining district, and blocks and blocks of historic buildings and homes to explore and gawk at.

The only truly local dining I partook in was a phenomenal lunch at The Dandelion ~ this elevated British pub is SUCH in such a neat building, and their signature fish & chips was exactly as promised. I also went to Reading Terminal Market right before closing one evening and got some crepes since I was close to perishing after my three hour chapter assembly meeting. The market is right across the street from the convention center and on my way to my hotel and I definitely did not do it justice by only going once and so close to closing.

Otherwise, I stocked up at Trader Joe’s my first night in town as it was right across from the convention center, and ate in my hotel room with evening excursions out for ice cream. To the bafflement of most everyone I know, I care very little about culinary tourism and want to cry about spending a lot of my travel money on food when I’d be just as happy with a $6 ice cream (or PB & crackers & an apple in my room) as a $50 meal. I know I’m weird.

The Adventures

As I mentioned, actually attending conferences is … not my favorite thing. I get extremely overwhelmed, overstimulated, and overall just cranky that I have to be inside and sitting when I could be outside and exploring cool places. My self-awareness allowed me to plan for this, and I’m pretty impressed with how I did!

My planning allowed me to spend ample time exploring the Rittenhouse Square area, visit the Parkway Central branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, tour the Mütter Museum at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and make an early morning trip to climb the Rocky steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I highly recommend all of those things, and there was so very much more in walking distance that I wished I could have spent time exploring.

I never had Philadelphia on my travel wishlist, and now I know just how ridiculous that was ~ I would go back in a heartbeat!

The Conference

Oh right, the reason I went to Philadelphia - ha! First of all, you need to know that the ALA Annual Conference is massive, bringing in around 25,000 library, publishing, and technology professionals from all over the world. Registration started Thursday afternoon, with pre-conference events on Friday, Opening Session and Library Marketplace opening Friday night, and conference programming Saturday - Monday.

I arrived in Philadelphia late Thursday morning, so I was able to get my badge that afternoon. Leaving time for lots of exploring and rooftop pool lounging that day!

For Friday, I had already purchased a pre-conference ticket for a full-day bus tour of independent school libraries in the area, with the intent to FOCUS for a full day. After an early morning walk to climb the Rocky steps, of course.

This school tour was a truly excellent decision. We visited three private schools, and I spent the day seeing much more of the city, talking with librarians, and gasping (mostly inwardly) at how disparate education is in our country. Also … trying but failing to brush my public-school-kid class chip off my shoulder. If anything, this cemented it even further?

Here are the three schools we visited:

• The Miquon School

• Germantown Friends School

• Community Partnership School

I have so very much to say about this experience, but I’m holding onto it for now to allow more processing.

What you need to know immediately, though, is that there are only the equivalent of THREE school librarians in the entire PUBLIC School District of Philadelphia.

“For its 220 district-operated schools and 117,907 students, SDP currently has only the equivalent of THREE full-time librarians. Most schools do not have a functioning library.” (PARSL)

To learn more about this absolute tragedy, please see these organizations:

• Philadelphia Alliance to Restore School Librarians

• West Philadelphia Alliance for Children

After we got back from the tour, I had just enough time to walk to take a quick peek at the Parkway Central branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia before it closed, and then rushed back to the opening of the conference Library Marketplace.

The Library Marketplace has been something I have been hearing about and salivating over for years and years now ~ vendor booths as far as the eye can see, most of them for publishers, and most of them handing out free books (and swag) to conference attendees.

There are also a gazillion author talks and signings (all with free books!) but I missed (almost) all of those. I made the rookie mistake of loading up right before the Marketplace closed for the night, so I had to lug all the bags of books back to the hotel, and then BACK to the conference the next day to mail home.

Yes, there is an on-site USPS post office right in the expo hall for all of us book-happy librarians to ship our free books home via media mail rates. Truly amazing.

Saturday was the last day I had for conference stuff, but also the last day I had for exploring ~ what to do!? I decided to split the day.

I pre-purchased tickets the night before for the Mütter Museum at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia right when they opened at 10:00 a.m., and spent an absolutely amazing hour+ there. Read this article to learn all about this museum and its recent ethics reckoning.

After fulfilling my medical history dreams, I ate a quick lunch in my hotel room and then shuttled my super heavy bags BACK to the conference center and spent more time exploring the Marketplace and collected more books and packed them all up to mail home.

I took a quick break then, and you guys! I ran into the lovely author Laura Piper Lee! I recognized her in the hall just walking past because I interviewed her for my newsletter back in early 2024 ~ I was brave enough to stop her to chat and what a treat that was! Hi, Laura, if you’re reading ~ THANK YOU for taking the time to talk to awkward little me!

I then realized I had 15 minutes before having to be at the long meeting that was the entire purpose of me being at the conference AND the reason I was being reimbursed for (most) of the travel expenses ~ so I went back for MORE free books. I’m a dork. BUT, I walked right by Tiffany D. Jackson signing ARCs and got one signed for my youngest - eeeeek! Worth having to try to figure out how to get more books home in my “just a backpack” luggage.

And then … the three hour meeting. No notes for you on that ~ it was a meeting where meeting-y stuff happened and I was racing to write my report to submit throughout ~ I hit send on my submission as the meeting ended so I feel very successful.

And friends, that closed out my conference attendance, although I did manage to still squeeze in another rooftop pool session and an ice cream walk that evening!

I missed the last two full days of the conference, but that’s mostly because my reimbursement amount ran out and I wasn’t willing to cover the cost of the additional hotel nights AND I wanted to be home for a bit before heading up north.

What’s the verdict??? Am I bad at going to conferences?

I mean, I did do a full day bus tour of school libraries and attended a three hour meeting and went to a gazillion vendors, BUT went to zero sessions. Do those balance out? I honestly think that the day of tours and the conversations I had with librarians that entire day was more than worth it, and worth more than many conference sessions I have attended in the past.

Next year the conference is in Chicago, and I’m toying with the idea of buying just a Marketplace pass (cheaper!) and taking Amtrak down to do all of the free books and authors and such and not even feeling a tiny bit obligated to go to sessions! Please support me in this - ha.

The Philadelphia Books

I always love to read about the place I’m visiting while I’m there, and I did so well this time! I did some research ahead of time, and was delighted to find a new book from a YA author I just recently discovered, as well as an adult title on Kindle Unlimited.

I read BOTH of these books while traveling - what a win!

While We’re Young by K.L. Walther was an absolute perfect pick, since while the story is marketed as a modern gender-swapped Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, really it’s a love letter to the city of Philadelphia. I mean, I was lying on a bench IN Rittenhouse Square reading a scene SET in Rittenhouse Square. Perfection.

Children of Ever After by Avery Yearwood is less about the city itself, but the city really did shine through the heartbreaks of a nuanced tale about Child Protective Services, loss of children to the system, fostering and adoption.

Miscellania

• This dress from Target was the hero of the trip ~ I wore it three of the four days with different t-shirts on top, tied in a knot at my natural waist. Perfect weight, perfect length, and the slit was a godsend in the soupy high heat.

• This dress (yes, I’ve shared it before) is what I wore the traveling-the-city-on-a-bus-and-by-feet day and I still love it!

• My slip shorts kept me super cool & happy in the heat, and are the reason I chose to wear dresses rather than pants/shorts!

• These sandals (as always and forever) took me across the country and city and everywhere in between. I’ll keep linking them in perpetuity.

• This backpack (yet again) was my sole luggage. I adore the internal zipper pockets for packing it like a suitcase and the external laptop pocket. The ONLY downside is no external water bottle pocket. Mine is black with multicolor straps and zippers.

WHEW! There you have it, my loyal readers who ACTUALLY made it to the end! Did I sell you on Philadelphia yet???

Thanks for stopping by!