LJ's Day of Dialog: A Conversation Among Publishers, Authors, and Librarians

PANEL: INTERVIEWING AUTHORS

Moderator:
Barbara Hoffert, Editor, Book Review, Library Journal

Panelists:
John Scalzi, author, Zoe's Tale, Old Man's War, and The Ghost Brigade
Thrity Umrigar, author, The Space Between Us, and First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood

John Scalzi

John Scalzi's novels include the acclaimed debut Old Man's War and its sequel The Ghost Brigades, as well as Agent to the Stars and The Android's Dream. His nonfiction runs the gamut from humor (The Book of the Dumb) to finance (The Rough Guide to Money Online) to how-to (the recent You're Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop: Scalzi on Writing).

Scalzi won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2006, while his first novel, Old Man's War, was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel. It was only the second time an author had been nominated for both the Campbell and the Hugo Award on the same ballot. He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter.

David Giffels (*please note change in panelist)

All the Way Home author David Giffels is an award-winning columnist for the Akron Beacon Journal, a contributing commentator and essayist on NPR station WKSU in Kent, Ohio, and a former writer for the MTV hit Beavis and Butt-Head. In his 18-year career he has won dozens of journalism awards; this summer the National Society of Newspaper Columnists honored him as one of the top three columnists in American journalism. He is the co-author of two previous books: Wheels of Fortune (with Steve Love; Univ. of Akron Press) and a biography of the band Devo (with Jade Dellinger; SAF Publishing). He is at work on another book for William Morrow/HarperCollins and next fall will join the faculty of the University of Akron as a professor of creative writing.

PRESENTATION: On Display

Nancy Pearl and Cindy Orr will share their collective wisdom on the topic of merchandising a library collection. They will discuss why merchandising has such a positive impact on circulation as well as best practices and trends from across the country. Learn how to utilize the latest trends in visual merchandising. Cuyahoga County Public Library Deputy Director, Tracy Strobel will talk about the "Berea Experiment,” a radical rearrangement of the collection and furnishings at the Berea Branch set to debut in March 2009. She will also share preliminary results of a ethnographic study performed by OrangeBoy, independent market strategists for the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

PRESENTATION: BOOK TALKING IN THE STACKS AND BEYOND

led by Nancy Pearl

Everywhere we go we have the opportunity to share our love for good books to read. Learn how to booktalk with your library users, whether it's a presentation for a community group or talking one on one to an individual in the library stacks. Or while you're working out at the gym, waiting in the grocery line, or having lunch with friends.

Enthusiasm for books is contagious - pass it on!

Nancy Pearl, the former executive director of the Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library, now speaks about the pleasures of reading to library and community groups throughout the world and comments on books regularly on NPR's Morning Edition. She’s the author of Book Crush: For Kids and Teens—Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Interest; Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason; and More Book Lust: 1,000 New Reading Recommendations for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason, all published by Sasquatch Books. In 2004 she was awarded the Women's National Book Association Award, given to "a living American woman who…has done meritorious work in the world of books beyond the duties or responsibilities of her profession or occupation."