Promoting Genre Blends for Children at Your Library

Children’s literature is constantly evolving as authors, educators, and psychologists increase our understanding of how children learn and read. The emergence of genre blends, or hybrid novels, has opened the door to new possibilities and ideas and has led to books that appeal to broader audiences.

This webinar will help library staff who work with children's collections become familiar with this new type of literature so that they can better serve their young patrons. Librarians Pauline Dewan and Meagan Lacy will introduce the emergence of genre blends, their appeal, and the special considerations that come when working with literature that spans multiple categories. Participants will be introduced to the most in-demand genre blends for children and gain a working knowledge of this new type of book.

After this presentation, participants will be able to:

• Define genre blends
• Identify major works and writers associated with each genre blend 
• Assess both the reader-driven and book-related appeal elements of different genre blends to enhance readers’ advisory services to children

Pauline Dewan is a liaison librarian at the Brantford, Ontario campus of Wilfrid Laurier University. Co-author of Connecting Children with Classics: A Reader-Centered Approach to Selecting and Promoting Great Literature, she has also written two books about children’s literature and a number of articles about reading for pleasure. Dewan served for five years on the Reader’s Advisory Committee of the Ontario Library Association. She won the 2015 RUSA Press Award for her article “Reading Matters in the Academic Library: Taking the Lead from Public Librarians.” She received her MLIS from the University of Western Ontario and her doctorate in English from York University (Toronto).

Meagan Lacy is Chief Librarian at Guttman Community College, CUNY. She writes about information literacy, reading literacy, and children’s literature. She co-authored Connecting Children with Classics and wrote and edited Slow Book Revolution, a book about promoting reading in the Age of Digital Distraction. Her article “Portraits of Children of Alcoholics,” published in Children’s Literature in Education, earned the 2015 Emerging Scholar Award. She holds an MLIS from the University of Washington (Seattle) and an MA in English from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis.

**NOTE**: Access information for this learning event will be sent to all registrants by American Library Association before the start of the event. In order to take this course/attend this webinar you will need to create (or use an existing) ALA account to proceed. It is free to create an account and you do not need to be an ALA member. If you do not wish to create an ALA account please cancel your registration.

CALL Training Partner for this Event: American Library Association