Welcome to School Library Journal’s 2010 Leadership Summit!

This year’s summit will take place on Friday, October 22 and Saturday, October 23 in Chicago. As always, the goal of the summit is to tackle an urgent issue that school librarians and other educators are facing; this year’s topic is “The Future of Reading.” We plan to explore the latest trends and developments in literacy and technology, and identify ways in which librarians can make a genuine difference in their communities.

Why the Future of Reading?

While there’s a lot about books and reading that remains constant, we’re experiencing a sea change. For starters, ebooks and other digital content have challenged the basic notion of what constitutes reading and books. There’s also been a proliferation of handheld reading devices, like the Kindle and iPad; social networking is often the go-to resource for discovering and discussing books; and new formats, like graphic novels, are changing the traditional reading landscape. We’ve invited a number of prominent authors, illustrators, editors, technologists, scholars, reading specialists, librarians, and other educators to weigh in on this rapidly changing world, focusing on the impact these changes will have on school librarians and librarians who work with young people.

Digging Deeper

Some of the themes we’ll explore include:

• The Device in the K-12 World: Research from the Carnegie Corporation of New York
• Libraries and the “New Literacies”: What we know about online reading and emerging technologies
• The Mixed-up World of Mulitimodal Fiction: New formats, new reading experiences
• The Device Debate: Will the iPad become the home of picture books? Will the iPhone be the go-to device for YA fiction?
• The Wired Textbook: A look at nonfiction content and the curriculum
• The Bookless School Library: The debate
• Interventions That Work: The latest report on summer reading research

The Format: Speed It Up!

The bulk of this year’s summit will consist of rapid-fire presentations—to provide attendees with as much information in as lively a fashion as possible. Following these presentations, there will be “Continue the Conversation” sessions, where attendees will have an opportunity to mingle with presenters. In addition, keynote speeches will frame the summit and there will be several panels presentations as well. Also, look for a fun gadget palooza of reading devices, a face-off debate on the iPad and picture books, and much more.