YLG & CBN Great Northern Meet-up 2021

 The Great Northern Meet-up 2021

YLG and CBN hosts and panellists

On Saturday 15th May, Children's Books North and the Youth Libraries Group hosted our first virtual conference - 'The Great Northern Meet-up 2021'. The conference brought together YLG members from the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside, North East and Scotland, and all CBN members, for a morning of exclusive panels, presentations and networking opportunities.

Chris Newton from Scottish Book Trust opened the conference with a fabulous keynote speech sharing SBT's commitment to creating a vibrant reading culture in every school in Scotland. Chris' encouragement for delegates to share their children's book recommendations set the tone for a lively, interactive morning.


Delegates were treated to a series of inspiring, creative and practical top tips from illustrator Helen Stephens, poet Tony Walsh, YLG chair and librarian Alison Brumwell, and author Phil Earle.


Tweet from Sheryl Webster
Tweet from Lostock Library

In celebration of the new Manchester Poetry Library, the conference included an exclusive behind the scenes tour of the new children's collection, curated by Manchester poet Mandy Coe and introduced by the library director, Becky Swain. 

Continuing with the poetry focus, Becky chaired a truly inspiring panel - 'Children's Poetry Chapter and Verse' - with readings and discussions from poets Ruth Awolola, Rachel Plummer, Louisa Reid and Dom Conlan which left the audience with goosebumps and lit up social media. 


Tweet from Anna Gamble

Tweet from Laura J

The conference was brought to a fitting close with a YLG librarian panel - 'Libraries Fact and Fiction' - chaired by Amy McKay and in conversation with Anne Burns, William Plain and Angela Foster. Discussions included the evolving role of librarians and opportunities in the north and Scotland which left no one in any doubt as to the passion and commitment of librarians! 


Tweet from Samantha Cardigan

Tweet from Jennifer Horan

A HUGE thank you goes to all of our speakers and panellists who donated their time and made the conference such a great success, and to all the CBN and YLG members for their support and enthusiasm for 'The Great Northern Meet-up'. 

If you were inspired by any of the talks and discussions, books from all of our contributors are available to buy from independent bookshop Darling Reads, on their bookshop.org page.








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