Each year, thousands of literacy educators, professionals, advocates from across the world gather to attend ILA’s annual conference. The event attracts attendees of varying backgrounds, expertise, and experiences, who share and connect over a love of the written word.
Feedback from postconference surveys, #ILAchats, and social media activity consistently indicates that conference attendees value author interactions. As a result, ILA will now offer an entire day of programming dedicated to children’s and young adult literature, to debut at the ILA 2018 Conference, taking place in Austin, TX, from July 20–23.
Children’s Literature Day 2018 will include keynote speeches, educational sessions, book signings and giveaways, and more. Here’s a snapshot of what’s included with registration:
- Keynote speeches by Marley Dias, 13-year-old founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks and the youngest person on Forbes 30 Under 30 list; Colby Sharp, fifth-grade teacher and cofounder of Nerdy Book Club; and Kwame Alexander; poet, educator, and New York Times bestselling author of 24 books.
- A plated lunch during the afternoon keynote (Sharp) and the presentation of ILA’s Children’s and Young Adults’ Book Awards.
- One Author Meetup of your choosing. Four categories (Early Reader, Middle Grade, Early Young Adult, and Older Young Adult) feature a mix of up-and-comers and well-established veterans.
- Free titles from each featured author in the selected Meetup.
- Hands-on workshops (also spanning four age-level categories) where you’ll create title-focused classroom materials alongside the authors who wrote the books and gain practical, teacher-generated ideas for incorporating those books into your curriculum.
Learn more and register for ILA 2018 at ilaconference.org.
Alina O’Donnell is the editor of Literacy Daily.