Early in 2007 I discovered that Julie Andrews was going to speak at that year's ALA Convention, which ran from June 22 to June 26. I happened to be a professional librarian and a long-term member of the American Library Association. For what it was worth, I also had a lot of seniority. Now, if only I could persuade the powers that be to let me go. On paper, you'd think I'd be a shoe-in.

But our library, in a Boston suburb with a little less than 25,000 people, had never had enough frontline staff to be able to spare anybody except the director and maybe assistant director for these conventions. Nevertheless, things began to change with the new century. The professionals started taking turns. In 2002, my seniority counted for something at long last: they let me go to the convention in Georgia. There were five professionals, which meant that in 2007 it would be my turn again. We could spend up to a certain amount and be reimbursed from a special fund. All we had to do was keep all our receipts and take copious notes, so the people who were paying for the trip could be reassured that we were attending as many workshops as possible, even on a Sunday morning. Oh, and it was necessary to get your oar in as early as possible. Fortunately, you could make arrangements for both hotel space and the convention by going to to the ALA website. I received confirmation of my reservation on March 9th. I was booked for a room at Doubletree Crystal City hotel in Arlington, Virginia. I ultimately kept my end of the bargain by taking about 50 pages of notes. (I have written an entry about the whole convention . Warning: they may put you to sleep. This was, after all, a convention of librarians, many of whom never met a piece of data that they didn't want to squeeze until it begged for mercy.) For this account I will keep the travel aspect to a minimum and focus on the golden presentation itself.

Friday, June 22 came, and I was on the 7:25 (a.m.) bus in West Roxbury (a section of Boston) with two pieces of luggage, headed for Forest Hills. I got the orange line subway to South Station, where I got my tickets for the 9:20 Acela train to Washington, D.C. I dozed off many times during the trip. How nice not to have to stay awake to drive! The ride was boring. The Acela had the advantage of being smooth and quiet. When the train stopped at Union Station in Washington, I went down into the subway. Washington, Like Boston, has its subway lines color-coded. I took the red line to Galleria-Chinatown Station, changed to the yellow line, and got off at Crystal City Station. (Thank goodness I had looked up the route before I left Boston!) Unfortunately, even the best planning can't prepare you for the way streets will look when you are on them. 18th Street? St. Eades Street? I was looking for the Double Tree Hotel. Finally I found it (Whew!) I checked in, left my stuff in my room, and went looking for supper. I had passed a four-level urban shopping mall called Fashion Center on my way, so I headed for the food court, which had some good Thai food (Is there any bad Thai food? I haven't ever found any.) Well, if I didn't want to get hopelessly lost in Washington, I would need some street maps. Happily there was a Borders book store on the way. It had a map of Washington. It was 8:30 p.m. when I got back to the hotel. Kind of a long day....

Saturday was a busy day, what with two workshops and a walking tour that brought me past the fence that protected the White House.

On Sunday I was virtuous: from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. I attended a workshop called "10 cool technologies for library PR." This being a library workshop, they had four speakers, and went through 16 technologies. I went to another workshop and took a walk that brought me near the U.S Capitol, where I discovered the pleasures of a botanical garden.

On Monday, there was another walking tour, but I needed to focus on getting into the presentation hall early enough to sit close to the front. The program was called "Presenting Julie Andrews" and took place from 10:30 to 12:00. This is how the American Library Association billed her appearance in its convention brochure:

American Libraries presents Julie Andrews, legendary star of stage, screen, and television. A special centennial program sponsored by HarperCollins. Andrews, who has enchanted generations with her music, film, and television performances, has stepped into the stage of literature. A longtime advocate for children's causes and literacy, Andrews has now focused her talent on children's books; a natural fit for an artist who as left her mark on the childhood of people worldwide. Don't miss the opportunity to hear this extraordinary voice on children's literature, and the stories that help shape our lives as the Association's membership journal celebrates 100 years of publishing.

The advertising worked. There wasn't an empty seat in the house. I sat in the third row. The editor of American Libraries (the monthly magazine published by the ALA) came out to say that this presentation had been arranged in honor of the centennial of the publication. The editor called it the largest and best-attended convention in ALA's history (I bet they always say that). No cell phones and cameras allowed. The editor said that Miss Andrews had tapped into the joy and power of reading as a children's author. A short film was shown, with highlights of Miss Andrews' career.

Then Julie Andrews got up to speak. "I so applaud the work that you do," she told the librarians in attendance. She congratulated "American Libraries" on a hundred years of publication. "This puts me at mid-career," she continued. She explained that she was an immigrant, having lived in the U.S. for 45 years. "I have a tremendous appreciation for libraries." She called the ALA convention the "biggest blasted crackerjack factory." She went on to describe her father as a teacher, though her peripatetic existence as a performer meant that she was "never in one place long enough to attend a regular school." Tutors had to be hired. She got her start as a writer of children's books during a lull in her acting career in the early 1970s. (That was when I had started my career as a librarian, so she had been writing for as long as I had been librarying.) At first she was regarded as a celebrity author, but by 2007 she had been a professional author for more than 30 years. Mandy, her first book, had recently celebrated its 35th anniversary. Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles, her best-selling book, had been published in 1973 and was still a bestseller at Amazon. Instead of having illustrations for that book, she decided to ask readers to draw their own. In 1997, Miss Andrews started a collaborative series with Emma Walton Hamilton, her daughter. She started the Julie Andrews collection, which publishes books by other authors. The series incorporates the arts, in particular the performing arts. Her Great American Mousical was turned into a stage musical at the request of fans.

The ALA asked Julie to be an advocate for literacy by chairing National Library Week in 2008, from April 13-19. Julie's take on literacy was that children run the risk of being spoon-fed rather than being allowed to participate. A library takes the gift of reading one step further. Libraries are an antidote to the isolation of the Internet. Julie said that she would prefer to have her grandchildren learn the meaning of "scrotum" in a library.

And then it was over. I joined a small number of participants who moved to the edge of the stage. Julie lingered a few moments (I was no more than seven feet from her), and then she was gone. If ever there was a time when I wished time could stand still, this was it.

Julie would have been 71 at the time of this presentation. Sixteen years later, she is still moving forward with her life. She has written more books. She has done podcasts and teaching sessions. She recently appeared at Carol Burnett's 90th birthday celebration. She has had a recent TV series and continues to make movies. She is 87 and doesn't seem to plan to retire any time soon. She has come a long way from the days when her fame rested on speaking or singing things other people had written.

I have spent many happy hours watching her movies and television shows. More recently I have enjoyed reading Home Work, her autobiographical book about her early years Hollywood. She seems to inhabit that sweet spot where her presentations are as polished as they can be, yet she is also accessible and funny and warm. I am glad that I had the chance to hear her speak on that day almost 16 years ago. She wouldn't know me from a hole in the ground, but spending two hours listening to her elevated my mood near the end an otherwise humdrum convention. But who am I kidding? She was the reason why I wanted so badly to go to that convention. She was by far my favorite part of that trip, though the botanical garden was awfully nice, too.

Paulh

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