American Association of School Librarians National Conference, Reno, Nevada

Tuesday, October 23, 2007
It snowed in the Rockies this past weekend. The snowcaps were still evident as we flew over Colorado to Reno, Nevada. [I recollected John Denver.] The snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains creates the crystal clear Truckee River, which flows through downtown Reno. The American Association of School Librarians national conference is being held here this week.
Reno is a gambler’s paradise and a place devoted to separating you from your money. You can play slots in the supermarket. You never have to leave your hotel because you sleep in the rooms on the upper floors where you can view a television station devoted to people engaged in the act of gambling. You can play the machines on the bottom floors, as well as eat good food at reasonable prices in the hotel restaurants and use the restrooms, right there. Neither day nor night exists in the casinos. It is always flashing neon time. If you win money, you can spend it at the jeweler’s store in the casino. If you hit it really big, you can get married at the Antique Angel Wedding Chapel, just one of several available within walking distance of the casinos. I surmise that drug dealers can’t make a living in Reno, because the slots get the money first! The streets of downtown Reno are relatively empty in the evening. One can only guess where everyone is!
The card dealers that I saw at the Silver Legacy Casino deal the cards with great style and finesse, shooting the cards out from the pack, shuffling and stacking them neatly, flipping them over and fanning them out precisely. Card dealing here is an art, very interesting to watch.
There is a huge model of a silver mining machine in the Circus, Circus Casino area, under a domed ceiling much like a planetarium, painted to look like the sky. It is probably three or four stories tall. The machine is illuminated with colored lights, the sky lit by artificial lightening with rolling thunder. It is reminiscent of a setting for a Series of Unfortunate Events movie; I expect the Baudelaire children to appear at any moment.
The automobile license plates out here are different, as is the terrain. From a large picture window at the end of the flight gate concourse in Denver, I saw what I thought were the Rockies, so close you could almost reach out to touch them. Turns out that those were the foothills of the Rockies, 45 miles from the airport. In Pennsylvania you don’t get 45 miles of flat in any direction, ever!
From the airplane window, I saw the lines of pressure exerted on the Earth’s crust causing mountain peaks and valleys. I saw multicolored layers of ancient sediment uplifted and turned sideways so that mountains appeared striped from top to bottom, as well as striped horizontally. I saw tan desert as far as the eye could see. I wondered how the large green circles were formed, as if they were companions to the Nasca lines, until I realized that they were irrigated crop circles!
The weather is balmy. Locals are saying that September has returned. It doesn’t rain that often, so there is little need for deep curbs in the sidewalks—very welcoming to people in electric go-carts. There also are no curb cuts because the pavements are newer. Buildings are basically newer. There is little that is old.
It’s about a mile walk out to a real grocery store. Reno is located at the crook of California’s elbow, so that it is further west than Los Angeles. That translates into very fresh California produce at the supermarket. We selected fruit, including strawberries, a California brand that is available in Philadelphia. I noted that the strawberries here were smaller. However, when bitten into, they were the sweetest strawberries I had ever eaten! The really big ones must be packed for the East coast because they will travel with less damage due to their size. They are tasteless, as well. I also picked out a citrus fruit that I have not seen in Philadelphia called a pummelo. It is described as being sweeter than a red grapefruit. What I can tell you is that it is the size of a small basketball. Incredible!
We are in a tower hotel room. Initially, the idea of escaping safely in time of fire crossed my mind. However, I realize now why so many rooms are in towers. Reno sits in a geologic basin surrounded by mountains in the Sierra Nevada range. From our hotel window we see a panorama of the Sierra Nevadas, in the evening the landscape illuminated with the lights of the city.
I inquired about the quality of the schools. The resident grimaced. Apparently the Reno revenue goes to the state and not that much comes back for the school system.
Reno also is taking a hit due to Indian casinos nearby.
More to come…