At the Association of Jewish Libraries Convention in Chicago, the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee presented Adventures in Book Reviewing which included recommended books, “hot and not” selections, and previews of new books for the coming year. The audience was enthralled with presentations by this year’s Gold Medal winners, Richard Michelson and Raul Colon, the author and illustrator of AS GOOD AS ANYBODY, and Karen Hesse, author of BROOKLYN BRIDGE.

After a delicious meal at a star-studded Authors Brunch and book signing event, I attended a session called How I learned about Amazing Jewish Books through Social Media, featuring Mark Blevis, host of Just One More Book, a podcast about children’s literature. He and Heidi Estrin, host of the Book of Life pod cast, introduced us to the various social networking options available for librarians to learn about new books and more, including blogs, Facebook, and Twitter.

The Awards Banquet was the perfect event for our final evening together. The honorees including the Gold Medal winners, and the Silver Medal Winners – Richard Michelson, Arunka Siegel, and Anna Levine gave heartfelt, emotional speeches. It was an honor to share in the celebration.