November 27-30 at the International Book Fair in Guadalajara, Mexico. I was able to attend due to the financial aid of ALA and donating publishers/vendors that give travel grants to members of the American Library Association. I received $200 towards my airfare, three nights hotel, and free registration to the Book Fair.For more information about the Free Pass Program , see the web site for
ALA International Relations Office. Plus the vendors supply a fabulous gala dinner for all ALA participating librarians
In size, FIL can be compared to the Vendor Hall at an ALA Annual Conference. In content, it is all about books. All kinds of books: children's, scholarly, photography, artisan, how-to, popular culture, graphic novels... Many librarians come to FIL with a credit card, collecting book as they travel through the Fair and mailing them back home. Others walk through escorted by a vendor representative that takes notes of desired titles in order to gather and send out later. Many books published in Latin America are limited in number, making it difficult to acquire through a vendor after retruning home.
Many of the ALA Free Pass librarians balance out the book fair with day trips to the nearby artisan towns of Tlaquepaque or Tonala. I have visited these places on previous trips to FIL and they are adorable with good shopping. Lake Chapala is also nearby, full of ex-pats in their retiremment communiities. This trip I spent my extra time working on a revision of my dissertation summary... getting VERY close to being finished..
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