Sweating It out

The author reports on the 2010 annual conference of the American Library Association (ALA) which was held in Washington, District of Columbia. The Washington Convention Center turned out to be an opportune oasis for librarians to gather and recharge away from the heat, climatological and metaphorical. Though library travel budgets have taken a direct hit, the attendance was a creditable 26,201, with 19,513 attendees and 6,688 exhibitors. The comparable 2009 numbers in Chicago were 22,762 and 6,179, totalling 28,941. The meeting also served as a national launching pad.