Children's Institute 2020

If you’d like to share questions and feedback about your POS system representatives will be present for a discussion. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and gain insight into maximizing the use of your POS system.

In 2019, the global temperature averaged 1.71 degrees higher than the prior year. In this idea exchange, booksellers will share actionable items they have implemented to reduce their carbon footprint as well as children’s events they have organized to inspire young people to take action.

An independent bookstore’s backlist exemplifies the independence of the store as an institution, as well as the creators of the book space and its customers. Through this curation, experiences and learning opportunities are created that reflect a bookstore’s community and propel the business and its community forward. This session will provide insight into how to serve a community by going beyond the classics as well as the methods and challenges faced in curating a backlist representative of the bookstore’s culture and community.

For neurodivergent children, a story time experience can be extremely overwhelming. In this session, booksellers who host sensory story times will share the value of sensory story times, how to accommodate neurodivergent families, and best practices for outreach to customers seeking an adjusted story time experience.

Selling gently used books in a kids’ book space can be a challenge when books are often purchased as gifts, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. A panel of booksellers with curated gently used children’s book sections will share their best practices on how to acquire, market, and sell previously owned books.

Graphic novels are essential for the developmental growth of a reader as well as for entertainment and experiencing the breadth of what reading has to offer. Still, booksellers are met with resistance toward the format. In this session, attendees will learn a brief history of the evolution of the graphic novel, market research on the genre, and how to talk to customers and schools in need of convincing that reading a graphic novel is, indeed, reading.

Booksellers have the opportunity to meet with small and mid-size publishers for more formal conversations. These publishers, many of which are first-time ABA event sponsors, will have sample copies of their books, as well as additional copies for giveaway at their discretion.