On October 27-29th, CountryReports attended the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our staff looks forward to this conference over all others in part because it is held every two years, but also because so many of our members from around the nation attend. It is a great opportunity to visit, catch up on local developments and to solicit feedback for future product development.

This year the conference did not disappoint. Numerous school librarians came to visit our booth, some from as far away as Alaska, Hawaii and even Poland. While economic circumstances have impacted both schools and vendors, the conference was still a great success. It was noticeable that vendors gave less away in the form of books and attendees had less money to spend. This is just the way it is at this time in American history. Several thanked us for keeping our prices affordable. CountryReports has not increased membership costs for over three years.

Minneapolis was a great city. It was most interesting to see how the city makes use of a network of skybridges. One can walk the entire city without ever leaving the skybridges that run throughout the city. This system combined with public transit and a subway system impressed our staff. The downtown district, unlike many other US cities, was full of activity as a combination of retail, residential and commercial made for an interesting mix of people. The locals that our staff interacted with were most friendly.

Our United States Edition, which is written for a younger audience, profiles Minnesota should one want to explore Minnesota further.  Just click here.