LOOKING AHEAD AND GETTING INVOLVED

Next Conferences

Attending NCTE in Baltimore? The USBBY session at the National Council of Teachers of English Convention will be held on Friday, November 22 from 11:00-12:15 in Room 307 of the Baltimore Convention Center. The panel presentation “Imagination and Inquiry: Celebrating and Honoring International Stories for Children and Adolescents” will feature authors Rebecca Balcarcel and Alexandria Giardino and illustrator John Parra.

Attending ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia? Make sure to be at the USBBY session on Friday night, Jan 24, from 8:00-10:00 p.m., for the announcement of the 2020 Outstanding International Books list and corresponding book talk.
In addition, authors Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohammed will discuss the forthcoming middle grade graphic novel, When Stars Are Scattered, which describes Mohamed’s experience growing up in a Somali refugee camp.

Sustainable Development Goals Book Club

The list of books recommended for SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation,  is now online at  https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdgbookclub/, which is also provided as a link on the IBBY website.

USBBY members are encouraged to suggest titles dealing with SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, via this Google Form.  Members can also think about and submit suggestions for books for future SDGs, as well. Please note the affiliation with USBBY/IBBY when so doing.

If members have set up book clubs for these SDGs, please let USBBY know, so we can share with the UN on the SDG Book Club blog.   ​​

State Ambassador Opportunities

The State Ambassador meeting at Regional Conference always presents an opportunity to trade ideas, spark conversation, deliberate about best practices and effective next steps, see each other in person - and to welcome new potential ambassadors into the mix. This year was no exception, and we are thrilled to welcome new ambassadors from Connecticut and Alaska (!) into the fold!
State Ambassadors serve as the torchbearers of USBBY, the links to their communities.

There are several states where the ambassador seat is currently open, including Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming. Also, even states that already have one can have more.

Please contact Kathy Short at [email protected] and/or Evelyn Freeman at [email protected] to find out more about serving as a State Ambassador.

37th IBBY World Congress - Call for Papers 

Registration for the 37th IBBY World Congress, September 5-7, 2020 in Moscow, is now open!
One can access information about submissions, topics, and the conference in general via the site, www.ibbycongress2020.org .
Key dates:

• 01.08.2019 Registration/Abstract submission opens
• 01.09.2019 Fee payment begins
• 23.12.2019 Abstract submission deadline
• 27.01.2020 Notification of acceptance
• 30.03.2020 Early Bird deadline
• 10.04.2020 Presenter registration deadline

USBBY in 2021 

USBBY is so happy to report to you that the IBBY Executive Committee voted to approve USBBY as the sponsor for the 2021 International Children's Book Day poster and accompanying information! 

Margarita Engle, and illustrator, Roger Mello will create the poster with the theme "The Music of Words" which is also the theme of our 2021 IBBY Regional Conference in Nashville, October 15-17, 2021!

(Look closely at the flyer, and you’ll see OIB titles on the neck of the guitar.)

There were five application submitted by five national sections. USBBY feels very fortunate to have been selected for a fourth time since the inception of the ICBD and credit the strength of our poster collaborators, Margarita and Roger, as the significant part of our being selected. This adds another bit of excitement leading up to our conference in Nashville, since the poster will be sent out in October 2020 and used throughout the world beginning on Hans Christian Anderson's birthday on April 2, including displays in schools and libraries throughout the U.S. for the following eight months.