Austerity and Opportunity.

The author reflects on the 2009 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference held in Chicago, Illinois, and on publishing "American Libraries," the journal from ALA. He relates that despite the poor state of library budgets across the U.S., ALA conference attendance numbers and library usage have increased. He relates the role of the financial crisis in the decision of ALA to combine the August 2009 and September 2009 issues of "American Libraries." He describes the impact of changes in publishing and the demand of readers of the journal.