The highlight of each year is the annual ALAN Workshop. At this gathering, you’ll meet with colleagues from across the country, receive copies of some of the best and most popular young adult titles, and get to hear from a host of young adult authors. The workshop is held each year in conjunction with the NCTE Annual Convention.
Let Them Read
ALAN Workshop – Boston, Massachusetts
November 25-26, 2024
As our nation experiences the highest number of book challenges and bannings it has faced in recent history, those of us who work with young people continue to fight to let them read books that are “windows, mirrors, sliding glass doors” (Sims-Bishop, 1990) and “telescopes” (Toliver, 2021).
It is through books that readers can relate and connect to each other and to the world around them, making our world a better place. We know that the best way to plant the seed for the inclusive and understanding future that we strive for is by giving readers options to read about those different from themselves; that the best way to reduce the mental health crisis in our young people and to empower all of our students, specifically our historically marginalized students, to be their true, authentic selves is to let readers feel seen by reading about others like themselves; that the best way to learn about our world is to delve into narratives and information about it; and that it is through speculative stories that readers’ brains soar and see that possibilities are endless. It is for these reasons, and more, that we must continue to fight to LET THEM READ.
To promote these goals, the 2024 ALAN Workshop will aim to grow our defenses, knowledge, and reach by featuring authors, illustrators, narrators, and editors who write for a variety of readers; are bold in their writing; and that want to cultivate a better future for young people.
- Sims-Bishop, Rudine. “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors.” Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, vol. 6, no. 3, 1990, scenicregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mirrors-Windows-and-Sliding-Glass-Doors.pdf.
- Toliver, S R. “On Mirrors, Windows, and Telescopes.” Council Chronicle, vol. 31, no. 1, 1 Sept. 2021, pp. 29–30, https://doi.org/10.58680/cc202131377.