My First GLMA Experience

In June 2025, I attended my very first convention as a librarian. It was fantastic and inspiring and chaotic. There was so much going on that I felt like I didn’t take it all in, but I’m really glad that I went. I will definitely do some things differently than I did this year and I’ll do some things the same.

The convention is short; beginning Sunday evening (check in for the hotel was at four and I could go right up and register for the conference) and ending Tuesday afternoon. It actually ended a bit early because the speaker for the last day was delayed and then had his flight canceled so he wasn’t able to make it. Because of that, they moved all the sessions up in the day.

The first day was simply a welcome, keynote, and visiting the vendor room. One thing I will say about the vendors is they bring A LOT of swag. I got bags, stickers, pens, notebooks, so much stuff. And I love that the seller for the event was a local bookstore (which I had actually visited earlier in the day) so I made sure to shop there. I also realized that I really need to attempt to memorize my school phone number because I didn’t want to look it up each time so all the vendors now have my cell phone. (Although I’ll be honest, I rarely get to answer the school phone and then I end up having to return calls.)

I also stood in line for a bit to get a couple of books autographed by Jerry Craft (who was the keynote speaker) and see an actual Newbery Medal in person. He was fantastic, very kind, and hysterical. He hung out for the convention, moving between tables to talk to people when we were in the main hall.

We had beautiful accommodations for the convention and they were great every step of the way.

Day Two started with a keynote by TheNextGen librarian and then she introduced us to Adobe Express. It was mostly a review for me since I’d been up to Atlanta a few months ago to their office to have a kickoff for Adobe. Still, it was interesting to see and I had fun playing with the AI.

One thing I really like about Adobe Express is how contained it is. The students will be able to play on it without worrying about their ideas being used to help AI learn. While I like Canva for myself (and will continue to use it), I like Adobe Express for my students.

After visiting the vendor hall again and the Adobe Express class, I attended three sessions that I chose for myself. At each session, I gained at least one idea that I hope to use in my library. I think my favorite session was the one presented by two members of the GPB (Georgia Public Broadcasting) education department. It was really interesting to find out how PBS can be used to teach literacy in the schools and at home.

Day two ended with a lovely dinner and cruise down the Savannah River. I wasn’t very interested in the dancing after the award ceremony, but I enjoyed sitting and standing outside the cabin and watching the scenery go by.

Unfortunately, Day three started with the information that John Shu, the last author we were supposed to meet (and the one I was most excited about), had been delayed and was not able to make it. The committee shuffled around all the different programs and made the decision to end early.

After a bit of time in the vendor hall again, we gathered in the library for a group photo before heading to our individual sessions. Once again, I got valuable information that I’m hoping to use in my own library (I’m being vague about my sessions because I don’t want to share things that aren’t mine… If I end up using any of them in my library, I’ll share along with who I got the idea/information from.)

After lunch and the door prizes, (I came soooo close to winning one), I headed home.