The general theme of “Child and Youth Reading in the Transition to a Digital Culture: Emerging Perspectives on the Role of Libraries” will likely lead to three panels for the daylong conference, and one luncheon speaker. The organizers hope to have papers for three panels:

  1. Deciding between promoting digital or print for children and youth reading: Parameters of the decision and would involve researchers and practitioners discussing the difficult choices that libraries face about budgetary and manpower tradeoffs between developing and promoting digital versus print resources. Included in this discussion are cost issues as well as impact (on reading practices and effects)
  2. Library impact on children’s and young adult literature would stimulate discussion of how specialized libraries for children and youth are shaping the decisions of publishers and authors. For example, the decisions of libraries to deliberately build collections that include much diversity of reading material may support publications and publishers that might not survive in a purely household market for digital and print reading resources.
  3. How do library spaces promote children and youth reading in an increasingly digital world would generate discussion of the design criteria (from best practices to cost-effective practices) that are being used to promote reading amongst the target population.

Satellite meeting announcement

Call for papers