I traveled to Washington DC in early March, 2024 to attend the American Library Association’s “Voices for Libraries” day of advocacy, where library leaders from all over the country gathered to meet with their Congressional representatives (or their aides) to convince them of the need for library funding for fiscal year 2025. This was the second year the American Library Association’s Washington office invited me to attend, and like last year’s adventure, it was a great experience. My colleague Erin MacFarlane and I attended training on the first day, and on the second day, we met with representatives from the offices of Senator Kelly, Senator Sinema, Congressman Grijalva, Congressman Gallego and Congressman Ciscomani. We were very warmly welcomed. The aides listened intently, asked great questions and took lots of notes so they could report back to their bosses about our meetings. All agreed that libraries are important and that the funding we asked for should be supported.
This was the second time I had the opportunity to participate in advocating for American libraries. Last year’s event was called the ALA Congressional Fly-In. Erin and I both represented Arizona last year as well, and we were able to meet briefly with Congressman Grijalva. This year we had no such luck. We met with five different congressional aides, but they were very nice to us. Erin MacFarlane and I outside the US Capitol. She works for the Maricopa County Library system in the Phoenix area, and is a wonderful person.VIsiting the different congressional office buildings was very exciting. We even had lunch in one of them and saw Senator Kelly at one point walking into his office. It surprised me to learn that he’s not very tall at all! Senator Kelly and Senator SinemaCongressman Ciscomani, Congressman Gallego, and Congressman GrijalvaOur task was to convince our hosts that federal library funding was badly needed in Arizona. We received training in storytelling the day before our visits and were provided with a bunch of talking points that we could use as we described the various services federal funding helped to provide. Erin and I enjoyed ourselves as we talked our way through each session. I tried to get each assistant to write 232 billion instead of 232 million in their notes. It was fun. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. That same night, President Biden delivered the State of the Union address. It was thrilling to know that I was in a hotel room just about a mile or two away from where the President gave his speech.
I took an extra couple of days to go sightseeing and to buy souvenirs, but my plans were dampened a bit by a day full of cold, rainy weather on one of those days. Oh well. I did manage to visit a museum and to wander around some. Here are some photos I took of the places I stayed at and the buildings I saw. I had a great time.
ALA footed the bill for my stay at the Riggs Hotel, shown here. I later moved to the Hilton Motto Hotel in Chinatown. I went to a few souvenir shops and found a bunch of stuff to bring back, including a Biden for President t-shirt and a decal. Unfortunately, there was a lot more Trump memorabilia available than Biden memorabilia. I think that’s because the Trump garbage doesn’t sell.
The only museum I was able to visit on this particular trip was the National Building Museum. I’m glad I went, even though they didn’t have very many exhibits. The National Building Museum was built in the 1880s and was the former home of the US Pension Bureau. It served a variety of purposes until 1985, when it started a new life as a museum. The terra cotta frieze by sculptor Caspar Buberi in the bottom photo on the left depicts Union veterans from the Civil War, who received benefits from the US government processed by workers housed in this building
The ceramic San Xavier figurine on the right is identical to the one I have at home. It’s really a little coin bank with a slot in the back. I’ve had mine since the 80’s and was quite surprised to see one exactly like it on display in this exhibit of building miniatures from every state.
Here are some of the buildings I saw during the day. The cherry blossoms were just starting to bloom.
Included here are the Supreme Court, Cherry Blossom trees, The US Capitol and the Martin Luther King Library building.I ventured out for a walk one evening along Constitution Avenue. It was a beautiful night. The buildings in the bottom row are the National Archives and the old Post Office, which is now a hotel. The statue is of Benjamin Franklin. The photo on the top left is of the entrance to Chinatown. I stayed at the Hilton Motto Hotel my last couple of days in Washington. The room I stayed in was very small, but the only thing it lacked was a coffee maker. Oh well. The nightly rate wasn’t bad and it was just for a couple of days.
There were other things I got to see and do, like have delicious Chinese food in Chinatown. I also bought myself a new waterproof jacket at Macy’s and took the Metro up to the Dupont Circle area to Second Story Books, where I splurged and bought a few books. I walked around the downtown area a lot too.
I really missed my friends Ron and Jane this time around, however. They moved to New York’s Hudson River Valley last year, so I’ll just have to go there to visit at some point. I also missed seeing my friend Elizabeth Robinson. We’ve been friends since the late 80s and met while working at the University of Michigan. I love her and Ron and Jane dearly. They are wonderful, amazing, beautiful people, and I am very lucky to know them.
Ron and Jane. I’ve known them since I was in high school.
My friend Elizabeth. She’s head of rare book cataloging at the Library Congress and has worked there for many, many years.
Oh well. Maybe next time. Overall, I had a great visit. DC is always a blast!
My last visit to San Francisco took place five years ago when I attended the American Library Association’s annual conference. I stayed at the Hyatt Regency near the Embarcadero Center. While it was a nice location and a very nice hotel, I did have to walk pretty far to get to my meetings. Nevertheless, I had a great time. I spent some time with my friends Mary, Alex and Karen. I also got to see the gay pride parade and Steve Grand, a gay singer whose music I really like. I also visited the Mission District and took pictures of many of the murals. On my last day, I ventured over to the Haight Ashbury neighborhood, where I went record shopping. I went to several conference meetings and saw Nancy Pelosi speak too. I’ll add more later, but for now, here are some of the photos I took during the trip and a few I added from other sources.
I’ve been to Philadelphia several times over the years. My last trip there was for this ALA Midwinter 2014 conference. My partner Ruben and I flew out together. At the time, I was a member of ALA Council and president of the local REFORMA chapter, so I had meetings to attend and other committee obligations, but we found time to venture out and explore the city. We also saw our friends Ricardo, Tracy, Karen and Alex and had a very nice time with them going out to dinner and sightseeing. We stayed at the Doubletree on Broad Street and our room was on one of the upper floors. It had a decent view too. Once the conference ended, Ruben and I took a train up to Montreal for vacation. We went from Philadelphia to New York City, then up to Albany where we took another train to Montreal. I’ll post photos and write more about that leg of our trip later. The attached photos include postcards and other ephemera, photos I took and photos I found on the internet. Overall, this part of our trip was a lot of fun!
The Philadelphia Convention Center, where ALA was held.
We stayed at the Doubletree on Broad Street. Ruben didn’t like it. I did.
I thought we had a great view.
It wasn’t bad at all.
Another view from our room.
This is my favorite place in Philadelphia It’s called the Reading Terminal and It’s jam packed with places to eat, fresh produce and meat counters and lots of people all the time. One must be careful when going, however. Our friend Alex had her wallet snatched by a couple of scam artists. It put a damper on her trip, that’s for sure.
Ruben and I ate an Amish breakfast here one morning. We had scrapple with eggs. It’s an acquired taste. Kind of like meatless Spam but not as salty.
My two partners in crime, Ricardo and Tracy, were at this conference too.
Ruben and I had dinner here with Ricardo and Tracy. The Perch Pub has since closed, I believe.
The Bike Stop is gay men’s bar, but Tracy came with me and Ricardo anyway. She was the only female in the place. She’s an adventurous one, that’s for sure! Ruben stayed in the room at the hotel.
We decided to venture out and go sightseeing. It had just snowed overnight and it was freezing.
I don’t do well in this weather. Ruben loves it.
This place was full of tourists from other countries. American tourists didn’t venture out on this particular day, it seems.
It was colder than it looks.
Benjamin Franklin’s gravestone. The cemetery was closed, so I had to take this photo through the fence.
We toured this place. It was nice, with a lot of very old furnishings.
Betsy Ross’s grave.
Chinatown is right next to the Convention Center and the Reading Terminal. There are many fine restaurants. Unfortunately, we ended up at one that wasn’t all that fine. Oh well.
My friends Karen and Alex came with us to dinner.
The jacket and hat were nice and warm. It was freezing. Karen, who lives in Michigan felt right at home. Not me.
Ruben and I made it over to this gay bookstore. It was going to close for good and we were lucky to go.
After the conference, Ruben and I took a train up to Montreal. This is the train station in Philadelphia.
