Celebrating 149 years of library education provided by the American Library Association (ALA)

Scholastic Kid Reporter Sara Adibi at The American Library Association's (ALA) annual conference in Philadelphia

The American Library Association (ALA) hosted its annual conference in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center this summer. Librarians, book lovers, authors, editors and publishers gathered in the convention center to celebrate their shared love of reading and writing.

This year marked the 149th anniversary of the ALA’s creation in 1876. The ALA promotes libraries and library education, and it is the oldest and largest global library association. The ALA hosts numerous events during the year, including events during Banned Books Week, National Library Legislative Day, Youth Media Awards, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Observance, Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R), and many more.

The conference included events advocating against censorship, in which attendees had a chance to publicly speak out about a specific banned book, signings by best-selling authors and panels where authors and speakers shared insights into their books. During the event attendees were also given the opportunity to collect free, new books from stations throughout the venue.

One of the panels, Scholastic Reader’s Theater Returns, was packed. During the event, renowned authors shared excerpts of their upcoming novels. New York Times Bestselling Author Alan Gratz read from his new book War Games; UN advocate for women’s rights and three-time author Ruchira Gupta read from her new book The Freedom Seeker; three-time Newbery Honor recipient Jennifer Holm gave a sneak peak into her upcoming book Outside; New York Times Bestselling and Award Winning Author Ryan La Sala read from his new horror fiction novel The Dead of Summer; and two time Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly read from the The Last Resort. The recitings of the snippets of the stories were dynamic and helped show a key defining moment of the story for the audience to grasp an understanding on what the characters were like and how the plot unfolded.

Attendees got sneak peeks into soon-to-be-published books during the Scholastic Picture Book Event. At this event, authors and illustrators were asked questions such as “Why did you choose to write about this topic?”, “How do the illustrations help bring this novel to life?” and “What inspired you to write this?” There were eight speakers at this event. The first two speakers were Nell Cross Beckerman and Kalen Chock with Forests. Next, Charles R. Smith and Evening Monteiro discussed their book Through the Telescope. After that, Pasha Westbrook and Madelyn Goodnight, the author and illustrator respectively, discussed Braided Roots. Finally, Tami Charles and Bryan Collier spoke about Together United. There were a few interesting moments during this discussion. First, Smith revealed that when he was a kid he was passionate about astronomy, which led him to want to write about Mae Jemison. Also, Charles expressed that the idea for her trilogy of books began during the COVID-19 quarantine when her young son was beginning to ask questions about the Black Lives Matter protests that were happening. Lastly, Westbrook explained that Braided Roots began as a poem for her deceased father and, over time, transformed into her book.

The ALA is a great way for anyone to collect new books as well as learn about the importance and impact books can have on one’s life. The ALA also opened my eyes to important issues across the U.S. related to library education including fighting censorship and the importance of reading books especially in this generation. The ALA provides a great option for both kids and adults to meet well-known authors, get books signed and collect new and upcoming novels.