Conference on the Ice | ALA Midwinter 2015

While the American Library Association (ALA) conferences held in Chicago commonly see some of the highest attendance thanks to the association's hometown's central location, winter weather hitting Sunday of this year's Midwinter made that something of a mixed blessing—more than 19 inches of snow between Saturday night and Monday morning. While many locals stayed home (and perhaps watched the Super Bowl) and a few out-of-towners were able to beat the storm by departing early, many librarians and vendors were snowed in. Some 1,500 flights were cancelled arriving and departing Chicago's airports on Sunday and Monday, forcing them to stay one, two, or even three days longer than originally intended—including much of the LJ staff.