ABC Children's Institute 2017 Program

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Sessions marked with this symbol require pre-registration.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017  

9:00 am to 7:00 pm

9:45 am to 4:00 pm

Both the Full-Day and Half-Day tours are sold out.  If you would like to be added to a waitlist, please email [email protected].

Attendees of Children's Institute may participate in one of two tours to Portland-area bookstores. Registration closes when the tours reach capacity. Space will be limited and first-come, first-serve. Buses will depart from the Banquet Entrance at the Red Lion Hotel.

Full-day tour – $35 pp - SOLD OUT!
Half-day tour – $25 pp - SOLD OUT!

The Full-Day Tour will depart at 9:45 am from the Red Lion Hotel on the River and will visit the following stores*:

Lunch is not provided on the full-day tour, but there will be an extended stop at one of the stores to allow time for tour registrants to each lunch at an area restaurant. A listing of area-restaurants will be provided on the tour bus.

The Half-Day Tour will depart at 12:45 pm from the Red Lion Hotel on the River and will visit the following stores*:

Lunch is not provided on the half-day tour and there will be no extended stops on the tour, but a listing of places to get a quick bite on each stop of the tour will be provided on the bus.

Both the Full-Day and Half-Day tour will depart the Red Lion Hotel on the River at the appointed times. Boarding will begin 15 minutes prior to the departure time. The last stop on both tours will be at Powell's City of Books. The tour buses are scheduled to arrive at Powell's at approximately 4:15 and you will have a chance to tour the iconic store prior to the Scholarship Meet-and-Greet (5:00 pm if you're a scholarship recipient) and Opening Reception (5:30 pm), both of which will be taking place at the store.

*Listing of stores is in alphabetical order and does not reflect the store tour scheduled order of stops.

Note if registering multiple people in one session: Participants need not go on the same tour; each may choose Tour 1 or Tour 2. The first selection below is for the first person being registered.

10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Registration encouraged; space is limited. Sign up here.
 
IndieCommerce and non-IndieCommerce stores are invited to schedule one-on-one appointments with program specialist Geetha Nathan. Appointments will take place on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Space is limited, but walk-ins are welcome. Ci5 attendance is not required.

5:00 pm to 5:30 pm

Booksellers attending the Children's Institute on scholarship will have an opportunity to meet their publisher sponsors at this informal reception, held at Powell’s City of Books (Burnside) in the Pearl Room (3rd floor), just prior to the official Welcome Reception and Backlist Book Swap Party. 
 

5:30 pm to 7:00 pm

Party with colleagues and booksellers at Powell’s City of Books (Burnside) and enjoy handcrafted brews and bites from Portland's Rogue Brewery. All Ci5 attendees are invited to participate in the fun Backlist Book Swap. Come to Powell's with a copy of your favorite backlist children’s, middle grade, or young adult book and leave with someone else’s favorite. Books should be at least five years old and still in print. Please let us know what book you will be swapping by completing this form, and be sure include a store bookmark so the taker can contact you.
 

9:00 pm to 10:30 pm

If you are a young professional in the book business, this party is for you! Come meet your fellow industry professionals from across the country, make new friends, and experience the Children’s Institute together. This is a great opportunity for fun and engaging conversations about bookselling and our industry. 
 

Thursday, April 6, 2017  

7:00 am to 5:00 pm

7:30 am to 7:45 am

7:45 am to 9:00 am

The benefits of a racially diverse workforce are countless, from more creative problem solving to meeting the needs of diverse customers. However, many well-meaning businesses that recognize the value still struggle to hire and retain employees of color. Ilsa Govan will share strategies to reduce implicit bias and counter systemic racism in order to develop a more equitable hiring process and inclusive work environment.

All mentees will sit with their mentors at tables upfront at the Thursday opening breakfast, and again at the Friday breakfast keynote. Mentors will be holding paddles with their name.

9:00 am to 7:00 pm

The Galley Room will be filled with a plethora of ARCs for upcoming titles from Children’s Institute sponsors. A limited supply of book bags will be on hand. The room will be closed during keynotes and both lunches. The PartnerShip shipping desk will be open during Galley Room hours.

9:00 am to 12:00 pm

9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Registration encouraged; space is limited. Sign up here.
IndieCommerce and non-IndieCommerce stores are invited to schedule one-on-one appointments with program specialist Geetha Nathan. Appointments will take place on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Space is limited, but walk-ins are welcome. Ci5 attendance is not required.

9:20 am to 10:20 am

One day she is a child and the next day an adult: hand-selling to middle-grade and young-adult readers can be a challenge. In this session, a panel of experts will share information about learning styles and cognitive behavioral development to assist booksellers in negotiating the tween and teen brain and recommending appropriate books to create readers for life.

  • Paige Battle, Teacher-Librarian (Grant High School)
  • Carol Moyer, Quail Ridge Books (Raleigh, NC)
  • Katie O'Dell, Special Projects Director (Multnomah County Library)
     

Edelweiss is a multi-publisher catalog service that enables store buyers to manage their orders in one organized place. In this advanced breakout session for buyers, Above the Treeline Education and Outreach Coordinator Joe Foster will give children’s book buyers the tools and tips they need to successfully migrate over to the newly revamped service, Edelweiss+.
 

Tegan Tigani of Queen Anne Book Company (Seattle, WA) will lead a brainstorming session on how booksellers can successfully expand their passion for books to other arenas and add to their personal income without having to give up their day jobs.
 

10:40 am to 11:40 am

Allison Risbridger, client development specialist at NPD Book, will present a review of the most recent data on the U.S. children’s book market with a deep-dive into the latest trends in genres, formats, buyer behavior, and more. Attendees will emerge with plenty of new insights to help them better understand their business in the coming year.

12:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Enjoy lunch and learn about great upcoming titles from Children's Institute publisher sponsors at the Rep Picks Speed Dating Lunch. Seats are assigned; table numbers are printed on booksellers’ badges.

2:00 pm to 5:30 pm

2:20 pm to 3:20 pm

Between numerous social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, developing an effective social media presence can be a bit overwhelming. In this 101 session, bookstore social media managers will teach attendees how to unlock their social media intuition, discover a world of new customers, and even sell in-store stock by organizing creative campaigns and effectively marketing promotions and events.

  • Nicole Brinkley, Oblong Books (Rhinebeck, NY)
  • Sami Thomason, Square Books Jr. (Oxford, MS)
  • Catherine Cusick, American Booksellers Association (Moderator)
     

A panel of independent booksellers and independent publishers will discuss best practices for creating, strengthening, and capitalizing on long-term relationships with one another.

  • Rob Broder, Ripple Grove Press
  • Jessica Salans, Coralstone Press
  • Robert Sindelar, Third Place Books (Lake Forest, WA)
  • Judith Rosen, Publishers Weekly (Moderator)
     

 

The Children’s Book Council (CBC) and Every Child a Reader’s annual Children’s Book Week celebration (this year May 1–7) is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Shaina Birkead, programming and strategic partnership director for CBC, will lead a discussion on the many resources and opportunities available to stores for hosting CBW events, with or without authors.

3:40 pm to 5:10 pm

For the first time at Children’s Institute, booksellers will have the opportunity to meet with Ci5 sponsoring publishers in small groups to discuss issues and concerns, as well as productive and practical ways to work together to improve sales. Booksellers will remain at their assigned table while publishers move from table to table. See your badge for table assignment. A short list of likely topics will be provided ahead of the Institute.

5:30 pm to 7:00 pm

Relax with your colleagues and meet authors from Children’s Institute publisher sponsors. Hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be served. Please click here for a list of authors currently scheduled to appear, as well as upcoming editions of Bookselling This Week for additional authors as they are confirmed.

9:30 pm to 12:00 am

Join Scholastic authors James Nicol (The Apprentice Witch), Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Swing It, Sunny), Daniel José Older (Shadowhouse Fall), and Allen Say (Silent Days, Silent Dreams) for drinks and dessert, sponsored by Scholastic

Friday, April 7, 2017  

7:30 am to 3:00 pm

7:45 am to 8:45 am

Jason Reynolds tells the story of being a reluctant reader as a child, to being a bookseller at Karibu Bookstore, and how all of it helped shape him as a writer.

 

8:45 am to 6:00 pm

The Galley Room will be filled with a plethora of ARCs for upcoming titles from Children’s Institute sponsors. A limited supply of book bags will be on hand. The room will be closed during keynotes and both lunches. The PartnerShip shipping desk will be open during Galley Room hours.

8:45 am to 11:30 am

For the first time at Children’s Institute, booksellers have the opportunity to meet with small publishers for informal conversations. These publishers will be available from 8:45 am to 11:30 am, and again from 12:30 pm to 5:00 pm. See the list of participants here.

8:45 am to 5:00 pm

Registration encouraged; space is limited. Sign up here.
IndieCommerce and non-IndieCommerce stores are invited to schedule one-on-one appointments with program specialist Geetha Nathan. Appointments will take place on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Space is limited, but walk-ins are welcome. Ci5 attendance is not required.

9:00 am to 10:00 am

Creating an inclusive environment is essential to broadening the goodwill and customer base of any bookstore. Panelists will discuss the social and financial reasons for making your store accessible in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, strategies for educating staff, how to make accommodations for staff and customers with disabilities, ideas for special programming and related outreach, and resources to guide such initiatives.

  • Kimberly Cake, Enchanted Passage (Sutton, MA)
  • Drew Sieplinga, Wild Rumpus (Minneapolis, MN)
  • Susan Kusel, [words] Bookstore (Maplewood, NJ) (Moderator)
     

A strong backlist inventory is the cornerstone of book sales. Bookseller panelists who have learned to successfully curate their selections will share their knowledge on the importance of backlist, how to choose and display books, which titles continue to sell well, and which children’s categories to invest in to maintain a robust backlist collection for customers.

  • Karin Schott, Devaney, Doak, & Garrett Booksellers (Farmington, ME)
  • Molly Olivo, Barstons Child's Play (Washington, DC)
  • Erin Barker, Hooray for Books! (Alexandria, VA)
  • Meghan Goel, BookPeople (Austin, TX) (Moderator)
     

 

We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) is a leader in connecting diverse authors with young readers. WNDB author representatives Dhonielle Clyaton and Miranda Paul, along with independent booksellers Summer Dawn Laurie from Books Inc. and Johanna Albrecht from Flyleaf Books, will lead roundtable discussion participants in a brainstorming session on how to partner to coordinate school visits with authors from diverse backgrounds.

10:15 am to 11:15 am

Marley Dias, in conversation with Suzanna Hermans of Oblong Books, will discuss her journey from New Jersey tween to viral activist sensation—and now to author. Marley’s effort to diversify the characters on her bookshelf by collecting #1000BlackGirlBooks was celebrated by thousands of readers, and by booksellers across the country who supported her campaign in their stores and on social media. At this event, Marley will engage in a lively Q&A about reaching young readers who are equally interested in activism, pop culture, and serious news As she said in an Elle.com interview, “My generation feels the pressure to make things better, but we need more spaces to speak our minds and to make a difference.” Marley will encourage booksellers to make their stores a go-to resource for young people and their varied passions.

11:30 am to 12:30 pm

In a series of brief presentations, Ci5 small press sponsors discuss their publishing programs and key upcoming titles. Seating is open for this lunch.

12:30 pm to 5:00 pm

For the first time at Children’s Institute, booksellers have the opportunity to meet with small publishers for informal conversations. These publishers will be available from 8:45 am to 11:30 am, and again from 12:30 pm to 5:00 pm. See the list of participants here.

12:45 pm to 1:45 pm

Owners and managers will have the chance to discuss important issues in confidence with peers; topics will be selected ahead of time. Please note that this session requires pre-registration. Sign-up by submitting this registration form by March 24. Registrants will receive a confirmation email, including the selected topics, the week of March 27th.

Between the burden of student debt and rising cost-of-living expenses, making ends meet may seem like an impossible task. Booksellers who have successfully made bookselling their lifelong career will discuss how to make a budget, how to manage a bookseller salary, and how to make use of personal finance tools.

  • Kim Hooyboer, Third Place Books (Seattle, WA)
  • Justus Joseph, Elliott Bay Book Company (Seattle, WA)
     

Led by Heather Hebert from Children’s Book World in Haverford, Pennsylvania, this roundtable discussion will provide an opportunity for owners and staff from stores of 1,000 square feet or less to share best practices and discuss the specific needs of smaller stores.

2:00 pm to 2:45 pm

This September marks a major publishing event with the release of The Purloining of Price Oleomargarine—a never-before-published, unfinished children’s story by Mark Twain, completed and brought to life by Philip and Erin Stead. Join the author and illustrator of Caldecott Medal-winner A Sick Day for Amos McGee in conversation with their editor, Frances Gilbert, associate publishing director for Random House Books for Young Readers, as they discuss their work on this project by America's most legendary writer, from discovery to the process of adapting and finishing Twain’s story in words and illustrations.
 

3:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Book subscription clubs are an additional way for stores to generate revenue and grow their customer base outside of their immediate communities. Panelists will discuss how to successfully create and promote a book subscription club, what resources and time investment are needed, and how to order, receive, and ship books.

  • Kate Laubernds, Powell’s City of Books (Portland, OR)
  • Amanda Zirn, Bethany Beach Books (Bethany Beach, DE)
  • Sarah Taylor, Bookworm of Edwards (Edwards, CO) (Moderator)
     

Conducting a staff meeting can be a bit like herding cats. Longtime bookstore owners and managers will share expert tips for organizing and running effective staff meetings in which staff set goals and discuss their progress.

  • Kelsy April, Savoy Bookshop & Cafe (Westerly, RI)
  • Laura DeLaney, Rediscovered Books (Boise, ID)
  • Aubrey Nolan, WORD (Brooklyn, NY)
  • Valerie Koehler, Blue Willow Bookshop (Houston, TX) (Moderator)
     

Lauren Savage of The Reading Bug in San Carlos, California, will lead a brainstorming session on which parenting books work best in participants’ bookstores, from the tried-and-true to new releases.

4:15 pm to 5:00 pm

Rachel Ignotofsky is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator based in Kansas City, Missouri. She grew up in New Jersey on a healthy diet of cartoons and pudding and graduated with honors from Tyler School of Art's graphic design program in 2011. Rachel works for herself and spends all day and night drawing, writing, and learning as much as she can. Her work is inspired by history and science. She believes that illustration is a powerful tool that can make learning exciting and has a passion for taking dense information and making it fun and accessible. Rachel hopes to use her work to spread her message about scientific literacy. She is the author of Women in Science, the I Love Science journal, and the forthcoming Women in Sports, which will be published in July 2017 by Ten Speed Press.

5:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Teams will compete for bragging rights at the first-ever Post-Ci5 Trivia Party. Based on the popular event held at the regional trade shows, the Ci5 version will focus on children’s literature so everyone can play!

About ABA

The American Booksellers Association, a national not-for-profit trade organization, works with booksellers and industry partners to ensure the success and profitability of independently owned book retailers, and to assist in expanding the community of the book.

Independent bookstores act as community anchors; they serve a unique role in promoting the open exchange of ideas, enriching the cultural life of communities, and creating economically vibrant neighborhoods.

Contact

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ALL OTHER INQUIRIES: [email protected]

 

 

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