ALSC press release
Contact: Aimee Strittmatter
ALSC Deputy Director
(312)280-2164
astrittmatter@ala.org
For Immediate Release
March 18, 2008
ALSC heads west for 2008 National Institute
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, is pleased to announce housing reservations are now available for the 2008 National Institute, Sept. 18-20, at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center, Utah. Institute registration will open on May 1 with special early bird pricing for ALSC members through June 30.
The Institute is a two-and-a-half day intensive learning opportunity with a youth services focus and is designed for youth library staff, children’s literature experts, education and library school faculty members and other interested adults. Attendees will participate in two of three exciting program tracks on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. The tracks are “Technology and Children’s Services;” “Programming in the New Millennium” and “Inspiring Lifelong Reading.” The Institute dinner and Opening General Session, featuring 2008 Caldecott Honor and Geisel Honor winning author for “First the Egg”, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, will take place Thursday evening
The first ever “Breakfast for Bill,” funded by the William C. Morris Endowment, will be held Friday morning and feature children’s book author/editor teams of Sharon Creech and Joanna Cotler and William Joyce and Laura Geringer. The breakfast will honor the memory of Morris by bringing librarians together with children’s book creators. Morris was a long time ALSC member and friend, recipient of the first ALSC Distinguished Service Award and an advocate for children’s librarians and literature.
Christopher Paul Curtis, author of the 2008 Newbery Honor book “Elijah of Buxton,” 2000 Newbery Medal book “Bud, Not Buddy” and 1996 Newbery Honor book “The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963,” will present the keynote during the Friday lunch. An evening reception at the Salt Lake City Public Library will feature local authors and allow ample time for networking and socializing.
Three separate Saturday half-day workshops will focus on: “Blogging the Best Books,” “Nuts and Bolts of Author Visits” and “Programming for English Language Learners: outreach, programming and best practices for serving young children and their families.”
Three optional tours will be available on Saturday afternoon, including a special tour of the Family History Library, a trip to the Springville Museum of Art featuring a Utah Children’s Illustrators exhibit and a trip to historic Park City, site of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Registration materials will be mailed to all ALSC members in early April. For more details about events, presenters, registration and hotel information, please visit the ALSC Institute Web site at www.ala.org/alscinstitute.
