As Annual Conference draws near, I invite you to the 2018 ALSC Charlemae Rollins President’s Program, “Considering All Children: A New Ideal in Evaluating and Engaging around Books for Youth” on Monday, June 25 2018, from 1pm-2:30pm at the Ernest Morial Convention Center Rm 260-262, or on Twitter at #ALSCAllKids.
The canon of American literature for children upholds “quality” and “excellence,” emphasizing that young readers deserve the very best. But who is deciding which books stand out? How are some critics and some children privileged in our field’s thinking? How are some dismissed or made invisible?
Join us for discussion with a distinguished panel that will challenge us all to confront our biases as they explore common assumptions and current discourse, and consider what it would look like if we truly considered all children as we evaluate books and single out titles for distinction both within and beyond ALSC.
Panelists are:
- Margarita Engle, the current National Young People’s Poet Laureate and award-winning author
- Debbie Reese, PhD, educator and advocate for Native representation
- Jason Reynolds, 2018 National School Library Month spokesperson and award-winning author
- Ebony Thomas, PhD, assistant professor, University of Pennsylvania.
The session will be moderated by Edith Campbell, Associate Librarian, Reference/Instruction, Indiana State University.
The program is sponsored in-part by the Charlemae Hill Rollins endowment. During her distinguished career in librarianship (including serving as the first African American president of the Children’s Services Division of ALA), Rollins was a critical voice in expanding materials that accurately addressed the black experience. Among her numerous awards, she became the first black woman to receive an honorary membership in ALA, an honor bestowed upon her in 1972.
You can find descriptions all of ALSC’s sponsored and co-sponsored programs for Annual 2018 at http://www.ala.org/alsc/confevents/annual.