Here at Combined Book Exhibit, our fearless leaders have been in the game for a long time. So, when they describe it as “the best Annual I’ve ever been too,” that’s got to mean something, because over the course of the years, each ALA has garnered more and more competition. It probably didn’t hurt that this year’s show took place in Chicago, the previous attendance record holder. Attendance this year topped 28 thousand, and traffic was high right through the very end of the last day of the show (note: starting next year, the trade show is cutting the final day). 

 

Adding to the success of the overall show, and to Combined Book Exhibit’s success, we’re very happy to report that in our first attempt, “What’s Cooking @ ALA”—The American Library Association Cookbook Pavilion was a hugely popular and plans are already in place to make next year’s pavilion bigger and better! With 2-3 cooking demonstrations each of the first three days of the conference, traffic was high at the back of the hall where the pavilion was located. Accompanying the demonstrations were about 250 cooking and food titles on display, and sales from some of the larger participating publishers, all which helped “What’s Cooking @ ALA” contribute to what was one of the best ALA Annual Conferences in many years. To see all of the titles on display, head over to www.thebookcheckout.com/alacookbookexhibit.