It has become an annual rite for ALA Midwinter: Getting slammed by a winter storm. Despite being book-ended by two winter storms, more than 10,000 people made it to Chicago for the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits, which ran from January 30 to February 3, 2015.
In all, 10,637 attended (including exhibitors), the lowest attendance since 2012, when 9,929 gathered in Dallas. Still, the turnout was impressive considering that a blizzard hit the northeast just before the start of the show. The storm dashed travel plans for thousands of librarians and publishers. Adding to the weather woes, another blizzard slammed Chicago, and other parts of the Midwest, during the meeting, stranding many attendees, and discouraging on-site registrants.
A winter storm also hit the 2014 Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, which drew 11,854 attendees. The 2013 conference in Seattle drew 10,731.
This year's storm, according to the Chicago Tribune, is the fifth largest blizzard to ever hit the area, leaving approximately 1,500 flights in and out of O’Hare and Midway airports cancelled. Still, librarians largely rolled with the punches, by now used to winter weather complicating ALA Midwinter travel.
Next year’s Midwinter Meeting is set for Boston.
