Keeping Up With Publishing, Even When You Aren’t A Librarian At AASL

Reno advertises itself as “The biggest little city in the world” and it certainly does seem big enough to hold—simultaneously—a national conference of school librarians and a cowboy association get-together….along with the requisite slot machine pullers, prospective newly weds, and the “just plain folks” who live here all the time.

Friday evening, Becca Todd, the district librarian from Berkeley schools, and I sought out dinner at Louis’ Basque Corner, which she’d overheard in an elevator (whether from a cowboy or a librarian, I don’t know) is “the best Basque food in town.” In true Basque restaurant style, all the seating is family style, so if your party is less than eight, you become joined with someone else’s undersized “family.”

We were seated as the final two at a table where a foursome in their late seventies and a pair of equally seasoned men were already at table, but hadn’t yet ordered. The two fellows next to us did a superb job of including us in some of their convo. while leaving us to our own between times. They introduced themselves as Reno natives and we allowed as we were visiting librarians. Notably, they snickered only a little when we allowed as we were from Bezerkly.

Some time between the goat soup, tripe, mussels, and main courses, the fellow next to Becca looked us over mildly and asked:

“So, what do you make of this Dumbledore thing?”

Becca, ever the librarian, clarified the question” “You mean his being outed?”

“Yup. Do you think it was necessary?”

“Well, no, and maybe that was Rowling’s point: his sexual orientation isn’t the point of the story.”

“Hm. I have this friend—she’s a witch, you know, a Wiccan? But now she’s mad about this Dumbledore thing. Too bad, huh?”

“Yes, too bad.”

And we finished off the meal (cheese for me, sundaes for Becca and the guys), all contented in our new found shared literary interests.