I hope that you had a chance to attend today’s School Library Journal’s Teen Live. The all-day virtual
summit is one of my favorite annual events and this year’s workshop – with the
theme of knocking down doors - was no exception. The opening keynote from Samira
Ahmed, author of INTERNMENT,
was fabulous. She spoke about librarians as curators of culture and lifters of
democracy – encouraging her audience by saying, “don’t be a by-stander, be an
upstander.” The closing keynote from author and poet Nikki Grimes was very
moving – look for her memoir in verse, ORDINARY HAZARDS, coming in October.
In between there were sessions on the family, the power of love, writing
non-fiction, choosing graphic novels for teens, and on partnering and
collaboration.
I found myself bouncing back and forth between concurrent
sessions on Mental Health and Woke Collections – both echoed the importance of
knowing your community. I loved the idea of librarians using our voices for
kindness and the practical examples of programs and sources for data were very
helpful. I know that with our emphasis on diversity and empathy this year that
we will definitely be exploring resources like Diversity Talks and Racial Equity Institute which
were recommended by Cassy Lee, Chinese American International School and Angel
Tucker, Johnson County Library in Kansas in their presentation on activating
empathy. There were plenty of other
opportunities to visit vendor booths and chat with authors, too. More
information on SLJTeen Live!, including a list of presenters and book titles, is available at the
link above or click on the logo image. 
