Friday Keynote

Stephen Abram

Stephen Abram, MLS, is the President for Strategic Partnerships and Markets for Gale Cengage. He has served as Vice President of Innovation for SirsiDynix, Chief Strategist for the SirsiDynix Institute; Vice President of Corporate Development for Micromedia ProQuest; and Publisher Electronic Information for Thomson. Abram was one of Library Journal’s inaugural "Movers and Shakers,” an annual cover issue that recognizes the 'key' people influencing the future of libraries and librarianship. He has been awarded SLA's John Cotton Dana Award and is a Fellow of the SLA. Abram delivers over 90 international keynote talks annually to library and information industry conferences and writes articles and columns for Information Outlook, Feliciter, Access, Multimedia & Internet @ Schools, and Library Journal. He is the author of ALA Editions' best-selling Out Front with Stephen Abram. His blog, Stephen's Lighthouse, is a popular blog in the library sector. http://stephenslighthouse.com/

Friday Plenary Speaker

Don Leu

Donald J. Leu is the John and Maria Neag Endowed Chair in Literacy and Technology at the University of Connecticut and directs The New Literacies Research Lab at the University of Connecticut. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association and was elected to the Reading Hall of Fame. Leu is an international authority on the new forms of reading comprehension the Internet requires and how best to prepare students for reading and learning in an online age of information. A graduate of Michigan State, Harvard, and Berkeley, he is a former ESL teacher, elementary teacher, and reading specialist. Leu is the former President of the National Reading Conference, the largest organization devoted solely to reading research. He has more than 100 publications and twenty books and has given keynote addresses in Europe, Australia, Asia, South America, and North America. He is an editor of the recent publication, Handbook of Research on New Literacies.

Saturday Breakfast Speaker

Chuck Follett

Chuck Follett is president and Chief Executive Officer of Follett Corporation. From 2005 until he was named President and CEO in June of 2010, Chuck served as the President of the Follett Technology Solutions and International Group.  Between 2000 and 2005, he served as Executive Vice President of Follett Library and School Group.  Prior to 2000, he was President of Follett Software Company and Vice President of Technology for Follett Corporation.  In 1985, Chuck founded Follett Software Company and served as its President for nearly 15 years. Under his leadership, Follett Software Company grew into the nation’s largest provider of library automation software and services.

Saturday Lunch Speaker

Karen Cator

Karen Cator is the Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education. She has devoted her career to creating the best possible learning environments for this generation of students. Prior to joining the department, Cator directed Apple's leadership and advocacy efforts in education. In this role, she focused on the intersection of education policy and research, emerging technologies, and the reality faced by teachers, students and administrators. Cator moved to Apple in 1997 from the public education sector, most recently leading technology planning and implementation in Juneau, Alaska. She also served as Special Assistant for Telecommunications for the Lieutenant Governor of Alaska. Cator holds a Masters in school administration from the University of Oregon and Bachelors in early childhood education from Springfield College. She is the past chair of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and has served on the several boards including the Software & Information Industry Association Education.

Saturday Plenary Speaker

Paul Zelinsky

Paul O. Zelinsky is one of the most highly acclaimed illustrators working today. He has received a Caldecott Medal for his telling of Rapunzel, and three Caldecott Honors, for Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, and Swamp Angel, which the New York Times Book Review called “in all ways superb.” The illustrator of Emily Jenkins’s popular Toys Go Out and its sequel, Toy Dance Party, Mr. Zelinsky is also the creator of the bestselling book The Wheels on the Bus. Zelinsky’s latest book is DUST DEVIL, a companion to Swamp Angel, that will be published in September 2010. Paul O. Zelinsky lives in Brooklyn, New York. Learn more about him at www.paulozelinsky.com.

Saturday Plenary Speaker

Patrick Carman

Patrick Carman is the award-winning author of many books, including the Land of Elyon and Atherton series. His books have been translated into approximately two dozen languages. He is breaking new ground with his latest series—a multimedia ghost story entitled Skeleton Creek, which engages readers in a gripping, spooky adventure told in episodes that alternate between chapters in the books and online videos produced by Carman’s own PC Studios. An entrepreneur like his father, Carman can’t remember a time when he wasn’t searching for a way to creatively express himself, an urge that led him to start an advertising agency, then create board games, and finally develop and sell a “dotcom” before finding the thing he was obviously meant to do: write youth fiction.