The American Booksellers Association is launching a Virtual Children’s Institute on July 13. The daylong digital event includes online education sessions and bookseller idea exchanges covering best practices for authorless events and conducting inventory. In addition, the event will have selected features from the in-person Children's Institute that will take place June 20-22 in Phoenix. A virtual galley room will also be available.
The opening keynote will be given by activist and author Karen Walrond, author of The Lightmaker's Manifesto, who will discuss how to stay inspired. The closing keynote will be given by award-winning author Charlie Jane Anders.
The event follows the blueprint ABA drew up for Winter Institute 17, which was to follow the in-person February 13–16 show in Cincinnati with a two-day virtual conference called Snow Days three weeks later. However, the rise in Covid cases forced the ABA to cancel the in-person show, and the ABA converted Snow Days to a three-day online event, held March 8-10, which attracted 800 booksellers, the same number attending the last in-person institute.
