Events & Pd

The Puyallup Public Library in Washington State celebrated its first annual Festival of Books from September 27-28. In partnership with Fantasium Comics and Valley Arts United, the library hosted a mini-comic convention, the Fandom Dance, an art-inspired poetry contest, and a guest lecture by the acclaimed author Susan Cooper—known for her "Dark is Rising" series and recent Ghost Hawk.

Scenario Learning is offering free bullying prevention resources to every school in October and November. Nominations are open for the American Library Association's Excellence in Library Programming Award until December 1. The Young Adult Library Services Association’s 2014 Young Adult Literature Symposium is now accepting program proposals through November 1. The Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee is looking for new members to participate in various capacities.

Thursday, October 24th, 2013, 2:00-3:00 PM ET Everybody’s talking Common Core. And there’s lots of buzz about the increased focus on nonfiction. But wait, don’t let your eyes glaze over! At National Geographic, we think nonfiction is fun. So get ready for an entertaining discussion about how kids can have fun learning as we cover such informative topics as…What is reading anyway? What makes nonfiction authentic? How can nonfiction engage kids, inspire critical thinking, and spark their curiosity about the world? Archive is now available!

Interest is the engine of intellectual achievement—it’s what drives us to keep learning, keep trying. But how does one generate it in oneself or others? Expanding on her keynote message at the SLJ summit, author Annie Murphy Paul offers three practical ways to use information gaps to stimulate curiosity.

The very limitations of the book are its strengths, according to journalist and author Annie Murphy Paul, speaking at School Library Journal’s 2013 Leadership Summit in Austin, TX.

School librarian leaders from across the country made their way to the Austin, TX, aka the “Live Music Capital of the World,” on September 28–29 to attend SLJ’s annual Leadership Summit, where they discussed the future of libraries and how partnership is a necessary ingredient for stakeholder success. Throughout the weekend, participants—speakers, sponsors, panelists, and attendees—honed their conversations around the transformative power of collaboration.

Impassioned, creative, dynamic, evolving and cool—these are just some of the words that the sponsors of SLJ’s annual Leadership Summit used to describe their companies’ latest developments. Joyce Valenza, SLJ blogger and teacher librarian, lead a panel discussion with the companies to examine the relationships between vendors and schools, the importance of strong content, and the ways that vendors can help educators in support of the Common Core.

Wednesday, October 30th, 2013, 3:00-4:00 PM ET Join Rachel Payne, Coordinator, Early Childhood Services at Brooklyn Public Library for a free webcast with Upstart and Free Spirit Publishing, and discover new resources for early literacy programs and materials for collections serving young children. This live webcast takes place on Wednesday, October 30th at 3:00PM ET / Noon PT. Archive is now available!

The annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is accepting original works in 28 categories. Terri Soutor, former vice president at Lerner Publishing Group, a sister company to Brain Hive and a key player in the formation of the company, has been named Brain Hive’s president. Storybots founders Gregg and Evan Spiridellis launch Educade, a portal of free, ready to use lesson plans paired with learning tools. The International Reading Association has announced some of the renowned authors speaking at its 59th Annual Conference in May. Krup has announced a teacher's lounge makeover contest.