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Thursday, October 1
 

7:00pm EDT

Opening Keynote with Angie Thomas
Thursday October 1, 2026 7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Grand Ballroom A-G
Angie Thomas is the author of the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling Nic Blake and the Remarkables series, The Hate U Give, On the Come Up, and Concrete Rose as well as Find Your Voice: A Guided Journal for Writing Your Truth. She is also a coauthor of the bestselling collaborative novels Blackout, Whiteout, and Breakout. A former teen rapper who holds a BFA in creative writing, Angie divides her time between her native Mississippi, and Atlanta. You can find her online at angiethomas.com.
Speakers
avatar for Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas

Author
Angie Thomas is the author of the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling Nic Blake and the Remarkables series, The Hate U Give, On the Come Up, and Concrete Rose as well as Find Your Voice: A Guided Journal for Writing Your Truth. She is also a coauthor of the bestselling... Read More →
Sponsors
avatar for HarperCollins Publishers
Thursday October 1, 2026 7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Grand Ballroom A-G 2 Fountain Plaza, Buffalo, NY 14202, USA
  General Session

8:00pm EDT

Book Signing: Angie Thomas
Thursday October 1, 2026 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Regency Ballroom
Angie's books will be available for purchase onsite at the National Institute bookstore, including Nic Blake series, The Hate U Give, and 2026's Breakout (co-authored with Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Ashley Woodfolk and Nicola Yoon).
Speakers
avatar for Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas

Author
Angie Thomas is the author of the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling Nic Blake and the Remarkables series, The Hate U Give, On the Come Up, and Concrete Rose as well as Find Your Voice: A Guided Journal for Writing Your Truth. She is also a coauthor of the bestselling... Read More →
Sponsors
avatar for HarperCollins Publishers
Thursday October 1, 2026 8:00pm - 9:00pm EDT
Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Regency Ballroom 2 Fountain Plaza, Buffalo, NY, USA
  General Session
 
Friday, October 2
 

8:30am EDT

Friday Big Ideas: Creating Reading Rainbow
Friday October 2, 2026 8:30am - 9:30am EDT
Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Grand Ballroom A-D
Join Barbara Irwin, PhD, Tony Buttino Sr, and Pam Johnson, PhD, as they discuss their book, Creating Reading Rainbow: The Untold Story of a Beloved Children’s Series. The story of Reading Rainbow is very much a story of humble beginnings and perseverance. This General Session will focus on this beloved children’s series, including answer the question: “how did a public television station in Buffalo spearhead a movement in education and spark passion for reading in millions of children?”

A book signing with the authors of Creating Reading Rainbow will immediately follow.
Speakers
avatar for Barbara Irwin

Barbara Irwin

Professor Emerita, Department of Communication, Canisius University
Barbara Irwin, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of Communication at Canisius University in Buffalo, New York. Specializing in media studies, she taught courses in media and children, public broadcasting, and media literacy, among many others. Irwin worked as a Reading Rainbow Project Assistant... Read More →
TB

Tony Buttino

Tony Buttino Sr. is best known for his leadership in the creation of the Emmy award-winning Public TV series Reading Rainbow. Most of his forty years of working at WNEDTV (now Buffalo Toronto Public Media) were spent utilizing and marketing instructional television (ITV) as a teaching... Read More →
PJ

Pamela Johnson

Pam Johnson, Ph.D., is the former Executive Director of Ready To Learn at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a school readiness initiative developed in partnership with PBS KIDS, leading children’s content producers, researchers, and America’s public media stations with... Read More →
Sponsors
avatar for West Herr Auto Group
Friday October 2, 2026 8:30am - 9:30am EDT
Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Grand Ballroom A-D 2 Fountain Plaza, Buffalo, NY 14202, USA
  General Session

9:30am EDT

Book Signing: Creating Reading Rainbow
Friday October 2, 2026 9:30am - 10:15am EDT
Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Regency Ballroom
Creating Reading Rainbow will be available for purchase onsite at the National Institute bookstore. Have your copy signed and chat with the creators!
Speakers
avatar for Barbara Irwin

Barbara Irwin

Professor Emerita, Department of Communication, Canisius University
Barbara Irwin, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of Communication at Canisius University in Buffalo, New York. Specializing in media studies, she taught courses in media and children, public broadcasting, and media literacy, among many others. Irwin worked as a Reading Rainbow Project Assistant... Read More →
TB

Tony Buttino

Tony Buttino Sr. is best known for his leadership in the creation of the Emmy award-winning Public TV series Reading Rainbow. Most of his forty years of working at WNEDTV (now Buffalo Toronto Public Media) were spent utilizing and marketing instructional television (ITV) as a teaching... Read More →
PJ

Pamela Johnson

Pam Johnson, Ph.D., is the former Executive Director of Ready To Learn at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a school readiness initiative developed in partnership with PBS KIDS, leading children’s content producers, researchers, and America’s public media stations with... Read More →
Friday October 2, 2026 9:30am - 10:15am EDT
Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Regency Ballroom 2 Fountain Plaza, Buffalo, NY, USA
  General Session
 
Saturday, October 3
 

8:30am EDT

Saturday Big Ideas: Dive Deep Into Discovery - Celebrating Children's Nonfiction
Saturday October 3, 2026 8:30am - 9:30am EDT
Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Grand Ballroom A-D
Join us for a discussion celebrating children's nonfiction with the first Sibert Medalist, Marc Aronson; this year's Excellence in Nonfiction winner, Candace Fleming, and prolific writer of nonfiction for children, Lesa Cline-Ransome. This discussion will be moderated by the Sibert 25th Anniversary Task Force Chair, Judy Ehrenstein (Montgomery County Public Libraries). 

Thank you to Library Advocate Sponsor Scholastic for underwriting this program, along with Holiday House and Macmillan for sponsoring speakers. 
Speakers
avatar for Marc Aronson

Marc Aronson

Associate Professor of Professional Practice, Rutgers University, School of Communication and Information
Marc Aronson won the inaugural Sibert medal for Sir Walter Ralegh and the Quest for El Dorado; he also edited an initial honor book, Judd Winick’s Pedro and Me, and the 10th medal winner, Tanya Lee Stone’s Almost Astronauts. The author or co-author of over 25 highly honored... Read More →
avatar for Lesa Cline-Ransome

Lesa Cline-Ransome

Author
Lesa Cline-Ransome is the Newbery Honor Award author of more than thirty books for young readers including the award-winning Finding Langston trilogy. Her work has received a number of honors, including dozens of starred reviews, NAACP Image Award nominations, a Coretta Scott King honors, the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, a Christopher Award and a Jane Addams Picture Book Award. Her work has been named to... Read More →
avatar for Candace Fleming

Candace Fleming

Author
Candace Fleming is the award-winning and highly acclaimed author of more than twenty books for children and young adults, including Is It Real? The Loch Ness Monster; Crash from Outer Space: Unraveling the Mystery of Flying Saucers, Alien Beings, and Roswell; The Curse of the Mum... Read More →
Sponsors
avatar for Candlewick | Holiday House | Peachtree
avatar for Macmillan Children's Publishing
avatar for Scholastic, Inc.

Scholastic, Inc.

Scholastic, Inc.

Saturday October 3, 2026 8:30am - 9:30am EDT
Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Grand Ballroom A-D 2 Fountain Plaza, Buffalo, NY 14202, USA
  General Session

3:30pm EDT

Saturday Closing Session: Playful Picture Books featuring Kari Lavelle, Deborah Marcero, and Rhode Montijo
Saturday October 3, 2026 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT
Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Grand Ballroom A-D
From optical-illusion nonfiction to the simply, sweetly macabre comics to the layered, poetic beauty of nature - picture books engage the youngest readers in varied and dynamic ways. 

Join Kari Lavelle (Butt or Face Volume 5: Rainbow Butts), Rhode Montijo (Skully's Best Día Ever!) and Deborah Marcero (The Great Escape) for a discussion of what it means to create a playful picture book. How does the concept of "play" influence a picture book, from conception to creation to publication? 
Speakers
avatar for Derek Ivie Reed

Derek Ivie Reed

Youth Services Coordinator, Suffolk Cooperative Library System
Derek Ivie is the Youth Services Coordinator at the Suffolk Cooperative Library System where he works with youth services librarians from across the county. For the American Library Association, Derek has served on YALSA's Quick Picks for Young Adult Reluctant Readers Committee and... Read More →
avatar for Rhode Montijo

Rhode Montijo

Creator
Rhode Montijo is the creator of Sí. ¡No!, Más. ¡Menos!, and Hola. ¡Adiós!, the first three books set in Skeletown, a fun, imaginative world inspired by Día de los Muertos. He is also the author and illustrator of the Gumazing Gum Girl! chapter book series, as well as the p... Read More →
avatar for Kari Lavelle

Kari Lavelle

Creator
KARI LAVELLE is the award-winning author of many children’s books. She has always had a love for words: as a kid reading books, as a speech pathologist helping children communicate, and now as a writer creating stories. Kari lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, their two children, and dogg... Read More →
avatar for Deborah Marcero

Deborah Marcero

Creator
Deborah Marcero is the author and illustrator of the picture books In a Jar, which was called “stunning” in a starred review from Kirkus Reviews and “beguiling” by the Wall Street Journal; Out of a Jar, which was an Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year and an ALA No... Read More →
Sponsors
avatar for Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
avatar for Penguin Young Readers

Penguin Young Readers

Penguin Young Readers

avatar for Sourcebooks
Saturday October 3, 2026 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT
Hyatt Regency Buffalo | Grand Ballroom A-D 2 Fountain Plaza, Buffalo, NY 14202, USA
  General Session
 

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