Conferences and conventions are expensive things, and it’s all we can do to even break even on some of them. Yet they remain the best way to make contact with existing fans and find new ones. Since our very first show (ALA 2003 in Toronto) we have put out the call for help, and someone has always responded, saving us time, effort, and untold amounts of money. We load them up with free badges and as much of our merchandise as they can carry, but that’s purely a token gesture for a priceless service — I’m not exaggerating when I say Unshelved wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for great volunteers like:

• Katy Manck, who helped me at conferences in Orlando not once but twice in the last year. She received boxes in the mail, stored them, delivered them to the convention center, and then helped me set up and man the booth. Katy is a retired high school librarian with a great book review blog called BooksYALove with recommendations of young adult books from first-time authors, smaller publishing houses, and those gems hidden in the big publishers’ catalogs. No spoilers!

• Prefers-To-Be-Unnamed, formerly of Seattle and now a cataloger in a New Orleans library. She received, stored, and delivered our boxes for ALA, all with a friendly smile despite heat and humidity that punishes even a minor physical effort.

• Drew Senger, who has been our man on the ground in San Diego for years now. At this point I believe he has permanently dedicated part of his garage for boxes of Unshelved books. Drew makes every Comic Con a pleasure, and also helped out at the last Midwinter.

And there have been dozens more over the years - you know who you are. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you for your help.