Reading Agency roadshow

You probably don't know this but I volunteer at my local library with Chatterbooks, a children's reading group. I've been doing this since last December, it is really fun, the kids are awesome and the other volunteers and librarians are really friendly. Anyway, the main organiser Lynne works for the Reading Agency, a charity that helps with children reading and promoting new children's books, stuff like that. She invited me to their roadshow, this time in Cardiff, where librarians and publishers meet to discuss upcoming children's releases and how to best promote reading in libraries, etc.

So what happened? Well, first I took over the front desk, helping the last few people sign in and take their badge and direct them to the presentation and coffee. Then I followed them upstairs where we then spent the morning listening to publisher's presentations where they detailed upcoming releases. We had Macmillan, Hot Key, Bloomsbury and Oxford University Press, to name but a few. I didn't have a lot to do in this part, but I did get some good book recommendations! Next up was lunch, where I mingled with publishers and librarians, and got some really good advice on getting into the industry.

The afternoon was organised for speed-meeting where the librarians got ten minutes with each publisher to chat about books and promotion. Because I was "time keeper", I was able to wander between the tables, picking up on conversations about new books and school/library events. And I also got some swanky leaflets - Goth Girl from Macmillan, new-kid-on-the-block Curious Fox bookmark and sample chapter from "the new Harry Potter" Oksa Pollock, published by Pushkin, translated from French. Looks cool, right?

It kind of ran over time, so I had to leave before it finished to catch my train home. But it was a lot of fun and rather enlightening as I had no idea that these events even happened!