Dominican University presents children’s literature conference

Dominican University's Butler Children's Literature Center will present "The Truth About Discovery," a day-long literature conference on books for children and teens. The conference will be held on Saturday, October 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Crown Library on the main campus, 7900 W. Division Street, River Forest.

The conference is designed for teachers, librarians, parents and graduate students with an interest in children's and young adult literature. Speakers will include Candace Fleming, award-winning biographer, who will give the keynote address on "Tales from the Truth: The Story in the Facts;" Sujin Huggins, instructor of library science at Dominican, who will present a talk on "Discovering Cultures through International Literature for Young People;" and Janice Del Negro, assistant professor of library science at Dominican as well as an award-winning author and storyteller, who will lead a discussion on "Poetry in Prose: Novels in Verse for Young Adults."

Thom Barthelmess, curator of the Butler Center, will present a sampling of some of the best new beginning reader titles of 2010. He will also introduce "Reading 101," the Butler Center's countdown of the 101 best books for children and teens. In a panel presentation titled "Personal Discoveries," panelists will share the ways in which books have helped them learn about themselves and the world. Panel members will include Jill Bambenek, public services librarian at Dominican's Rebecca Crown Library, and Melanie Walski and Rachel Weiss, current graduate students at Dominican.

The cost for the conference is $75, and includes six continuing education credits, snacks and a box lunch. To register, visit the website at www.dom.edu/butler. For more information, contact Thom Barthelmess, curator of the Butler Children's Literature Center, at (708) 524-6861 or butler@dom.edu

Established in 2009, the Butler Children's Literature Center at Dominican University is one of the nation's premier centers for the study of children's and young adult literature in the services of literacy, learning and a life-long love of reading. The center is a partnership of the Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences, the School of Education, the Rebecca Crown Library, and the Butler Family Foundation.