Hello all!  I had the privilege of attending the Virginia Association of School Librarian’s annual conference last week, which was held in Chantilly, VA.  This was my first VAASL Conference, but it will definitely not be my last!  Before the conference even began, I was able to plan out the sessions that I wanted to attend.  I had such a good time reading about all of the sessions and choosing which ones really struck my fancy.  During my sessions, I was educated on various topics, such as problem based learning, the Virginia 529 plan, coding (which was new to me), and ways to implement the Virginia Reader’s Choice nominee books in our libraries.  As you can see from my picture, we were able to actually complete a project in our PBL session.  So fun!  All of these sessions gave me ample “take-aways” that I have actually already started using in my school library.  This week, I am using some of the VA Reader’s Choice lesson plan ideas with my students.  So far, they are loving the activities!  An aspect that I also enjoyed was getting to visit the library vendors during our break times.  There were vendors from several book companies, which allowed me to peruse books in person, that I normally would only have been able to see in print or online.  Also, some of the book companies were giving away books, which I am now able to add to my school library collection.  All in all, I had a fabulous time at the VAASL Conference.  I was able to take away physical items to add to my library collection and also use for my library programs; as well as getting intellectual take-aways that I can use to enhance my current library management and facilitation.