One of my favorite parts of attending ALA’s LibLearnX 2025 in Phoenix, AZ last month was attending the “I Love My Librarian” Award Ceremony where 10 librarians from around the country were introduced and gave an acceptance speech. I was happy to see that I had met one of the honorees at a previous ALA Conference who, despite working in Hawaii, has ties to Rhode Island! (Jessica Gleason visited me at the Pawtucket Library when she was in the state visiting her in-laws after we met at that event!)

There were other great talks given by librarians from around the country along with some great authors including the very well-known graphic novel-creators Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud who are teaming up with “The Cartoonists Club,” which comes out in April! I also heard a debut novelist, Kyle Edwards, talk about his forthcoming book, “Small Ceremonies.” He is Canadian and Anishanaabe so his coming of age novel focuses on a group of Native hockey-playing high school students in Manitoba, Winnipeg.

Other favorite moments included the tour of the rare book collection of the Burton-Barr Phoenix Central Library, having lunch with an Air Force Base librarian from Oklahoma and meeting a young librarian from Washington state. Libraries all over the country are looking for ways to foster wellness among staff members, searching for new programming ideas for adults and supporting those experiencing dementia or Alzheimer’s.

– Robin Nyzio, Cranston Public Library, Adult Services Librarian