More info on ALA 2010 Conference

It turns out that the American Library Association (ALA) 2010 Annual Conference has quite a bit of comic book/graphic novel content this year. Their Exhibitor Search function has a specific category for "Graphic Novels/Comic Books" under the "Books Periodicals Documents" (I suspect someone left off some punctuation there!) Product Category. These include:

ABDO Publishing - Spotlight - Magic Wagon - ABDO iBooks (Booth #3109)
Albert Whitman & Company (Booth #2616)
Alexander Street Press (Booth #3813)
Beijing Chinese Book Trading Co. (Booth #830)
BOOM! Studios (Booth #2359)
Brodart Co. (Booth #3225)
BWI (Booth #3231)
Capstone Press (Booth #2609)
Cinco Puntos Press (Booth #2833)
Classical Comics Ltd. (dist. in US by Publishers Group West) (Booth #2740)
Consortium Book Sales (Booth #2833)
Dark Horse Books (Booth #2453)
Diamond Book Distributors (Booth #2453)
Diversity Foundation (Booth #2464)
Feiwel and Friends (Booth #2813)
First Second Books (Booth #2813)
Gareth Stevens Publishing (Booth #2856)
Henry Holt for Young Readers (Booth #2817)
Hermes Press (Booth #2453)
IDW Publishing (Booth #2453)
Image Comics (Booth #2453)
Ingram Library Services (Booth #1942)
Junior Library Guild - Media Source Inc. (Booth #2959)
Kids Can Press (Booth #2852)
Lerner Publishing Group (Booth #2311)
NBM Publishing, Inc./Papercutz (Booth #2465)
Penguin Group (USA) (Booth #2506)
Roaring Brook Press (Booth #2812)
Rouke Publishing LLC (Booth #4136)
Scholastic (Booth #2624)
Sterling Publishing (Children`s Books) (Booth #2739)
Stone Arch Books (Booth #2609)
Top Shelf Productions (Booth #2466)
University of Nebraska State Museum (Booth #4233)
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. (Booth #2415)

That's a pretty impressive list of publishers! If you follow the links, you will find that some are very niche publishers, and others are very generic. Either way, we are well-represented. Top Shelf will have Andy Runton (Owly) and James Kochalka (Johnny Boo) signing at their booth. Additionally, perusing the Author Signing listings, I noticed names like Gene Yang (American Born Chinese), David Small (Stitches), Matt Phelan (The Storm in the Barn), Tony DiTerlizzi (Nodwick), and Mo Willems (Bizarro World), and I'm sure there are others that are either outside of my paradigm or are new and upcoming. I also noticed that Bill Galvan (Archie) and Fred Mausser (Archie Comics Co-President / Director of Circulation, or at least he was at one point) will be at the Diversity Foundation booth.

The show is June 24th-June 29th. Registration can be done on-line. If you are up for it, there is some interesting programming, though I'm not clear whether the $25 Exhibits Only pass buys you into these or if you have to go to Exhibits Supreme ($100) or actually join ALA ($170 for a day, $260 for the year):

Friday, 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Comic World: Graphic Novels Come of Age ALA - PUBLISHING Washington Convention Center -144A-C Booklist magazine's Books for Youth Annual Forum celebrates graphic novels with a program featuring comics creators and publishers Francoise Mouly, Gene Luen Yang, Mark Siegel, and Matt Phelan. Moderator: Ian Chipman, Booklist magazine, Associate Editor Speakers: Francoise Mouly, Toon Books, Editorial Director; Matt Phelan, Candlewick Press, author; Mark Siegel, First Second, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, Editorial Director; Gene Luen Yang, First Second, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, author

Saturday, 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Back to the Future: Comics and Graphic Novels in Special Collections ALSC Washington Convention Center -145B Children & Young Adults; Literature & Collection Development This program will present the value of collecting and maintaining comics and graphic novels as a special collection. Françoise Mouly, Editorial Director of Toon Books, will consider the genre’s historic and contemporary impact within juvenile publishing. Georgia Higley, Newspaper Section Head, will describe the evolution of these collections and use by researchers within the Library of Congress. Janet Weber, Youth Services Librarian, Tigard Public Library (OR) will serve as moderator. Speakers: Georgia Higley, Library of Congress, Head, Newspaper Section, Serial & Government Publications; Françoise Mouly, Toon Books, Editorial Director; Janet Weber, Tigard Public Library, Youth Services Librarian

Sunday, 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Good Comics for Kids: Building a Collection of Graphic Novels for Young Readers ALSC Washington Convention Center -152A Children & Young Adults; Collection Development Graphic novels are moving out of the teen section and into the rest of the library. With so many new titles released every month, building a graphic novel collection for kids can be a daunting task. Join comics experts from School Library Journal's Good Comics for Kids blog as they discuss what comics and graphic novels are, why they are important to include in children's libraries, where to find them, and how to evaluate them. Speakers: Brigid Alverson, Good Comics for Kids, Contributing Writer; Robin Brenner, Brookline Public Library, Reference and Teen Librarian; Esther Keller, Marine Park Intermediate School, School Media Specialist; Scott Robins, Good Comics for Kids, Contributing Writer; Eva Volin, Alameda Free Library, Supervising Children's Librarian; Snow Wildsmith, Good Comics for Kids, Contributing Writer

Monday, 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. AUDITORIUM SPEAKER SERIES - Graphic Novel Panel ALA Washington Convention Center -Ballroom C

It all sounds very interesting!