Free Local Conference on Children's Literature

Here's a press release I received about Broward County Library's annual children's literature conference. I hope to see many of you at the event!

For Immediate Release

Broward County Library invites you to attend its
22nd Annual Conference on Children’s Literature:

JUBILEE! A CELEBRATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE AND THEIR BOOKS

Friday, April 24, 2009
8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

For information contact:
Lucia Gonzalez
954-357-7501
Lgonzalez@browardlibrary.org

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE ON CHILDRENS LITERATURE

Broward County Library’s Conference on Children’s Literature will be held Friday, April 24, in conjunction with the Ashley Bryan Art Series, and the Children’s BookFest, a weeklong celebration of Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros…Children’s Day/Book Day. The purpose of the Conference is to offer a learning experience for those who select and provide books for youth: teachers, librarians, media specialists, childcare providers, and parents. The theme: “Jubilee, a Celebration of Young People and Their Books” will focus on teen books that engage and inform as they ignite teens’ interest in community, culture, and the world. All who attend will gain skills and knowledge applicable to working with youth in today’s classrooms and libraries.

The conference is offered completely free of charge. Advanced registration is strongly suggested, as seating is limited.

SPEAKERS

• TONYA BOLDEN is the author of more than twenty books for the young. Among them are Tell All the Children Our Story: Memories and Mementos of Being Young and Black in America, The Champ: The Story of Muhammad Ali, and Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl. Bolden’s latest book is UpClose: W.E.B. Du Bois

• DONNA GEPHART has been writing humor for twenty years, as an editor at a greeting card company and has sold stories, poems and essays to a number of magazines, including: Family Circle, Parents and Highlights for Children. As If Being 12 ¾ Isn’t Bad Enough, My Mother Is Running for President! is her first novel. She lives in South Florida with her husband and two teenage sons.
  
  
• MEGAN HONIG is the Teen Collection Specialist for New York Public Library. She is well known as a presenter at state and national Conferences. Her latest article, in VOYA August 2008, discusses “street lit” and teens.

• G. NERI has been a filmmaker, interactive media producer and illustrator. He has taught animation to inner-city teens in Los Angeles. His book, Chess Rumble, was listed on the ALA Notable Booklist. He now lives in Tampa, where he writes urban teen fiction, especially for boys.

• JAMES E. RANSOME is a renowned children’s book illustrator and painter. The Children’s Book Council named him one of “seventy-five authors and illustrators everyone should know”. Ransome has received both the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration and the IBBY Honor Award for his book, The Creation. He has illustrated more than 40 books, including Sky Boys (the 2006 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book and ALA Notable Book), Major Taylor and many other highly acclaimed titles.

REGISTRATION

There is no registration fee but seating is limited. After April 10, please call to check on seating availability

To confirm e-mail Annie Smith at asmith@browardlibrary.org

For conference information please call Nancy Murray at (954) 357-7336

LUNCH

Lunch is not provided. Please bring lunch or a list of area restaurants will be provided.

LOCATION

African-American Research Library and Cultural Center
2650 Sistrunk Boulevard
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33311
954-625-2823

GENERAL LOCATION

The branch is located on West Sistrunk Boulevard (6th Street) between NW 31st Street on the west, I-95 on the east, Sunrise Boulevard on the north, and Broward Boulevard on the south.