Join your youth services colleagues from around the state for a day full of learning, inspiration, and connections at Joy in the Library.

Current schedule is tentative and subject to change. 

TIME PROGRAM/SESSION
THURSDAY, APRIL 16TH
 5 PM - 7 PM

Explore & More: The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Children's Museum

130 Main Street, Buffalo NY 14202

Join us for a night at the museum with an after-hours tour, exploration time, and dinner at Explore & More in Buffalo!  Tour their interactive exhibits and get some great ideas for incorporating play into your library. 
Network with colleagues over dinner catered by Pizza Plant and get excited for the conference!  
$45 per ticket
*This event has a 50 ticket capacity 
FRIDAY, APRIL 17TH
8 AM - 9 AM
 Registration Opens
Breakfast
9 AM -  9:30 AM  Welcome from Conference Committee and YSS President
9:30 AM -  10:30 AM  Author Presentation with Matt de la Pena
10:40 AM - 11:30 AM

WORKSHOP SESSION 1

Celebrating Diversity Through Children’s Multilingual Story-time

Presenters Eba Klindt, Elizabeth Rosales

Program Description The audience will identify initial steps to implement a DEI approach in their own rural libraries through learning about the children's Multilingual Story-Time, a program celebrating language and cultural exchange.
 
Lemonade Stand 101: Teaching Children Entrepreneurship in the Library

Presenter Joan Stoltman

Program Description Kids often want to make money in the summer, so why not offer a program teaching the basics of running a business? I did, and you can too! The program for ages 5+ is presented in two parts: first, a brainstorming session on business names, pricing, marketing strategies, customers, and more; second, a DIY bank craft. You’ll learn just how easy this successful one-off program will be to add to your summer programming schedule!
 
Little Grants Matter

Presenter Corinne Tatavitto

Program Description Grants are intimidating and can feel like a lot of work for some small amounts but as a library we can make magic with pennies. We will be looking at tips and tricks to grant writing for libraries, what you can do with small amounts and where to find grants.
 
Moving From Conflict to Collaboration: Using Talking Circles with Teens to Build Joyous Communities

Presenters Harmony Birch, Israt Abedin, Emaliy Jones

Program Description What makes the library a safe and welcoming environment for all? Using peer counseling training, talking circles, and restorative justice principles, a small-urban library staff and 12 teens reduced safety incidents by 20 percent, increased program attendance across all age groups, and created a community where patrons of all ages and staff alike felt safe, heard and recognized. Learn how to start your own talking circles, work with community members rather than against them, and increase participation and joyfulness for the entire library community.
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM Book signing/Vendors/Networking
12 PM - 1 PM  LUNCH
12:45 PM - 1:30 PM Author Presentation with Rachel DiNunzio
1:40 PM - 2:30 PM

WORKSHOP SESSION 2

Don’t Make Me Read Another Picture Book! Genre-fying Diverse Children’s Collections

Presenters Hannah Krull, Heather Bermingham

Program Description Considering “genre-fying” a diverse juvenile collection, but you’re not sure where to start? This presentation will highlight the cultural, social, political, and educational dynamics to consider when “genre-fying” juvenile collections and will provide an overview of the process used at the Frank E. Merriweather library to make this massive undertaking more manageable. The resulting collection is easy-to-browse, pairs well with front-facing display methods, meets the needs of children and adults alike, and lends itself well to the curation of themed displays.


Nature Literacy is Early Literacy: Battling Biophobia with Fun Library Programming

Presenter Hannah Bewsher

Program Description In Spring 2025, I developed and presented a series of hands-on interactive programs introducing children ages birth - 11 to basic concepts of Nature Literacy. These games and programs spanned topics of food webs, resource competition, morphology / adaptation, animal artifact identification, storytelling, art, role playing and music.


Literacy Plans for Public Libraries

Presenter Chelsey Lonberger

Program Description A Literacy Plan is most often seen in schools as a directive on how the school will move towards improving literacy levels as a whole. The same concept can be applied to Public Libraries with alterations. This presentation will go through the creation of such a plan by Buffalo & Erie County Public Library and how others can use it as a jumping off point. 

Teen Volunteer Programs: Working Smarter

Presenter Colin Russell

Program Description Are you running a teen volunteer program that feels like a job on top of your librarian job? In this program, learn some tips and tricks for making teen volunteer management run smoother and take some of the load off your already crowded to-do list.
 
2:35 PM - 3:15 PM

WORKSHOP SESSION 3

Table Talks

New and Upcoming Elementary Books Winter/Spring 2026 Charlie Kelly

Art Club Kelly Povero 

Game On: Win With D&D and Pokemon Kasey Mack, Tim Allman

Storytime Kits for Everyone Max Brousseau

Reshape Your S(h)elves: Building Culturally Responsive Collections

Presenters Angelina Brodie, Matt Harvey

Program Description Culturally responsive library collections evolve to reflect the diversity of our students and our global community. The books on our shelves, intentionally or unintentionally, impact our students' perception of themselves. Diversity audits are an essential part of collection development, adding quality diverse books and subtracting dated problematic ones. Our time today will focus on the strategies that can be used to assess a collection and provide resources for selecting diverse titles.
 
Emerging from Youth Services to Supervisor

Presenter Dania Souid

Program Description This program prepares experienced youth services staff to step confidently into a supervisory role. The session will highlight how to prepare and gain supervisory skills and what to expect in the first year as supervisor.
 
Catching Up: Summer Reading Buddies at Your Library

Presenter Joe Burke

Program Description Learn more about how your library can team up with literacy instructors in your local school district to support struggling readers over the summer! Summer Reading Buddies (SRB) pairs rising first grade students who struggle with literacy skills with high school students who have been trained in early literacy instruction skills for fun weekly tutoring sessions. SRB is a low-cost, high-impact program that can work in nearly any library.
3:15 PM - 3:30 PM Closing Remarks