Saratoga

I just returned from a library conference in Saratoga, New York. It is a beautiful little town that was temporarily overrun by librarians who were there for the annual New York Library Association conference and lawyers there for an American Bar Association meeting.

Over the years I have been to many bookseller's conventions. I have gone to the big Book Expos with their numerous vendors and fancy luncheons and noted authors. I have also attended the smaller, regional conferences where you have time to meet other booksellers and learn a little about how they survive the business. It was fun to compare the booksellers to the librarians. The similarities kind of suprised me.

Female booksellers and librarians do not tend to wear really high heels, maybe it is all that time spent walking among shelves of books. Both booksellers and librarians tend to stop in the middle of streets, hotel halls and restaurant lobbies to discuss something that gets them excited. Booksellers and librarians seem to really enjoy complimentary chocolate at display booths (much more than free pencils). Booksellers and librarians also really like free books, although the librarians are much more civilized and even wait to be invited before taking advance reading copies from a publisher.

Mostly, booksellers and librarians love books and people who like books. They get excited about new ways to get information out to people (though booksellers are, in general, not too thrilled about the popularity of the Kindle). Since I am both a bookseller and a librarian, I will admit that we are a quirky bunch of people that value words and knowledge over many other things that normal folks think is important. Oh yeah....it seems that the majority of us wear glasses.