by KateKintail, Member of the 2011 BookCrossing Convention Planning Team

On the weekend of April 15-17, 2011, a hundred BookCrossers attended the 10th Anniversary BookCrossing Convention in Washington, D.C. If you weren’t able to make it (or you want to experience the fun all over again), you can check out: the forum thread, photos on flickr, the Facebook group, and of course the convention website.

1. A birthday party for Bally, with cake and themed games befitting a book-loving ten-year-old.

2. An early bird bus tour leader and Jedi who was swiftly buried beneath books.

3. The Washington Monument to the LEFT, the Capitol Building to the RIGHT, the museums to the LEFT, the Library of Congress to the RIGHT, and books LEFT all over the National Mall despite the rain.

4. Friends from far and wide, many of whom became champions of puzzles and games.

5. Lions, tigers, and books-oh my! BookCrossers invaded the National Zoo, battlefields, Old Town Alexandria, Arlington Cemetery, the Book Thing, and the International Day of the Book Festival.

6. Book-reading duckies, a bagful of beanie babies, Bally Bucks, Barack Obama, the blue line Metro, bribes, and billions of Tim Tams.

7. Pirates engaged in serious competition in front of a hundred diners.

8. Eight Brave Souls with crazy colored hair .

9. Book buffets that seemed to have magnetic powers, drawing us time and time again toward the thousands of books to find one more we wanted, even though our suitcases were already full.

10. Too much chocolate cake and tearful goodbyes at an Irish Pub until we meet again in Dublin in 2012.


We’ve still got Convention Bonus Feature DVDs available for sale at cost. These feature interviews with some fantastic authors, a Markeroni primer for BookCrossers, a look behind the scenes at Northern Virginia libraries, a Ballywood video and more. The fund-raising efforts for the convention are continuing as well. Information about convention items for sale and where to donate money are available on the convention’s How to Help page.