Newbery Award Winner Avi to Headline AASL President’s Program
CHICAGO, IL – Award winning author Avi will headline the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) President’s Program taking place at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 25, as part of the 2016 ALA Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. During his presentation, Avi will speak of his work and his connection to readers and librarians.
Having been born into a literary family, Avi knew at a young age he would become a writer. He started his career as a playwright and worked for many years as a librarian at the New York Public Library. His first book, “Things That Sometimes Happen,” was published in 1970 when he was inspired to write books for young people after the birth of his first child. Since then, Avi has published over seventy books spanning different age levels and encompassing several different genres.
“I never studied writing in any formal sense. I taught myself to write by reading, and by imitating what I was reading,” Avi says. “That’s how I learned that writers don’t write writing. They write reading. When I write my goal is to create, share, and support the gift of reading and literature, so as to give young people the gift of many worlds, within and without.”
Avi is the recipient of many awards, including the 2003 Newbery Award for “Crispin: the Cross of Lead,” two Newbery Honors, two Horn Book awards and an O’Dell award, as well as many children’s choice awards. He frequently travels to schools around the country to talk to his readers.
“I cannot express how pleased I am to have Avi speak at my president’s program,” said AASL President Leslie Preddy. “For years I have utilized his writings to inspire teachers and students to think about topics in a complex manner. His writing for adolescents contains power, voice and integrity. I have also heard him speak to youth, school librarians and as part of his readers theater troupe. His relatable and passionate manner never fails to move an audience.”
The AASL President’s Program is an annual event featuring prominent experts on issues relevant to school librarianship and is open to all registered conference attendees. For more information about this and other AASL programs at the 2016 ALA Annual Conference in Orlando, visit www.ala.org/aasl/annual.
The American Association of School Librarians www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.
