Institute Offers Full-Day of Kids-Centric Programming

The American Booksellers Association’s ABC Children’s Institute [1], on Wednesday, June 6, at BookExpo America [2], is a daylong program of learning, networking, and special events focusing on children’s books and bookselling. It combines ABA’s in-depth education sessions and roundtable discussions, which are free and open to all ABA member booksellers, with a specially priced package of popular author events.

Children’s Institute registration, at the discounted price of $99 for ABC Group member booksellers and $149 for all other ABA member booksellers, includes:

• A table seat at the BEA Children’s Breakfast
• The Speed Dating Lunch With Children’s Authors
• The ABA/CBC Tea With Children’s Authors and Illustrators
• A ticket to the Annual Children’s Art Auction and Reception, presented by the ABC Group and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression [3]; and,
• Priority seating at ABA’s Wednesday education sessions

Below is a preview of the Children’s Institute schedule to date. Watch for an announcement about the authors participating in the Speed Dating Lunch and the ABA/CBC Tea in next week’s BTW.

8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

BEA Children’s Breakfast in the Javits Convention Center’s Special Events Hall

10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.

Opening Plenary: 2012 Bowker – PubTrack Children’s Books Study, presented by Kelly Gallagher, Bowker Vice President of Publishing Services(Room 1E12/13)

11:00 a.m. - Noon

BEA Middle Grade Buzz(Room 1E12/13)

12:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

Speed Dating Lunch With Children’s Authors(Room 1E14/15)

2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

Reaching the “Middle Grade Reader” (Room 1E09)
With the help of a group of industry professionals, this session will present an overview of the developmental stages of middle grade readers — detailing the issues and conflicts they are facing — and provide ideas about how independent booksellers can curate and promote a collection that addresses these issues effectively.

Meeting the Literacy Needs in Your Community (Room 1E10)
This session will detail how booksellers can begin to examine the literacy needs and efforts in their own communities and bring books and literacy to the children who need them the most.

3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.

ABA/CBC Tea With Children’s Authors and Illustrators (Room 1E12/13)

5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Some of Our Favorite Things: Booksellers Share Best Practices (Room 1E06)
At this informal, knowledge-sharing poster fair, booksellers will discover the secrets behind their colleagues’ store specialties and initiatives. A select group of booksellers will share best practices through creative poster displays. Participants in the Institute can sign up to consult with them one-on-one during the session to learn more.

Focused Roundtables (Room 1E09/10)
Discussion group topics include “Building Relationships with Teen Bloggers,” “How to Grow Your Graphic Novel Collection,” and more. Roundtable participants will be asked to sign up prior to the Children’s Institute.

6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Annual Children’s Art Auction and Reception, presented by the ABC Group and American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (Javits South Concourse)

Children’s Institute registration is limited to 150 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. The deadline to register is May 1. Register now [1].

ABA member booksellers who only want to attend the day’s education programming do not need to register for the Institute.

Registration for BEA and all other show events is via BookExpoAmerica.com. [2]

Booksellers who are not participating in the Children’s Institute can purchase tickets to the Children’s Breakfast directly through BEA [4] and will be able to purchase tickets to the Art Auction through ABFFE [5].

For more information about the ABC Group at ABA [6], or to become a member of ABA [7], visit BookWeb.org [8].