On the Schedule at a Glance in the Symposium’s program, Saturday’s list of events included a “Book Blitz” from 5:00-7:00 p.m. The only information about this event were a few pages in the program dedicated to Book Blitz Author Bios and a small box that stated: Each attendee will receive 6 tickets to exchange with these authors for free signed books!
Symposium veterans knew what to expect from the Blitz, but newcomers could be heard Friday evening and Saturday afternoon pondering, “What is this Book Blitz all about?”
This tweet from attendee Lauren Regenhardt sums up the experience pretty well:
Hunger Games: Librarian style – stick 25 authors, free books, and 300 people in one room. #yalsa15
— Lauren Page | She/Her/Hers (@ItsRavenclawren) November 8, 2015
Before
Tables were set up for all of our awesome Book Blitz authors (there may have been a little bit of friendly competition happening during the set-up to make attractive book stacks):
Authors entered before the doors opened – conversations and hugs were seen all around!
Librarians lined up outside the doors, clutching totes and tiny tickets that would soon be exchanged for signed copies of books.
After
The doors opened and they were off! Even though it was madness, everyone was super kind about making pathways and forgiving people when they were bumped.
At the end of the evening, we all left the ballroom with piles of books, buttons, bookmarks, photos, and awesome memories.
– Jessica Lind, currently reading I Was the Cat by Paul Tobin and Benjamin Dewey (signed by Paul Tobin during the Book Blitz!)