ACL holds an annual one-day professional development institute focused on current trends and topics in the field of youth literature and librarianship. Guest speakers include noted authors, illustrators, publishers, and other experts. Topics are wide-ranging, from preschool books and programming, to feeding children at the library and diversity in collections, to middle schoolers’ development and their books. Institute years and titles are listed below, with bibliographies, resources and additional information included if available.
ACL Institute 2025, We Got the Beat: Music and Movement in Storytime
ACL Institute 2020, Sex Ed for Librarians
ACL Institute 2019, We Are Here: Creating Better Library Services for Immigrant Youth and Families
ACL Institute 2013, We’re History! Finding and Sharing the Voices and Stories of our Past
ACL Institute 2012, Eat The Library: How Libraries and Food Justice Organizations Can Work Together
ACL Institute 2011, Comic Relief: Comics, Cartoons, and Graphic Novels for Children and Tweens
ACL Institute 2010, A Puzzling Day at the Library: Mind-bending Books for Children
ACL Institute 2009, Science is Alive
ACL Institute 2008, Baby Bounces: Books and Music for the very young
ACL Institute 2007, Mythology and Sacred Stories
ACL Institute 2006, A New Chapter: Transitional Books for Children
ACL Institute 2005, Set the Stage for Reading: Theater and Puppetry in the Library
ACL Institute 2004, Real Men Read Books: Boys, Books and the Library
ACL Institute 2003, Caught in the Middle – Serving the Middle School Reader
ACL Institute 2001, The Whole Story: Historical Fiction and Kids
ACL Institute 2000, A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words: The Art of Illustrating Children’s Books. Speakers: Ted and Gloria Rand, K.T. Horning, Melissa Sweet, and Melissa Bay Mathis.
ACL Institute 1999, Carnival Freaks in Wonderland: The Use of the Gross and the Grotesque in Children’s Books
ACL Institute 1998, Finger Painting in the Garden of Good and Evil: Spirituality, Creativity, and the Journey Within in Children’s Literature and Art
ACL Institute 1997, Tickle my Funny Bone: The Anatomy of Humor in Children’s Literature.
ACL Institute 1996, Call It Courage: From Peter Rabbit to Maniac Magee – Survival themes in Literature for Children and Young Adults
ACL Institute 1995, Books on Fire: A Bibliography for Thou Shalt Not Read – Banned and Challenged Books for Children and Young Adults
ACL Institute 1994, Tracking the Dragons: Asian Americans in Children’s Literature
ACL Institute 1993, It is Still that Way: American Indians in Children’s Literature