Wisconsin Chapter Conference October 13, 2017

The Annual Fall Conference sponsored by the Wisconsin Chapter of CLA (WCLA) is scheduled for Friday, October 13, 2017, at Saint Cecelia Parish Center in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Merri Lindgren, librarian at the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), a library of the School of Education at UW-Madison, will speak at 9 a.m. She will share a sneak peek at some of the books published in 2017 for birth through high school that will likely be recommended by the CCBC professional staff for inclusion in the 2018 issue of CCBC Choices.

CCBC Choices is a best-of-the-year list created annually by the librarians of the CCBC and published by the Friends of the CCBC, Inc. Next, conference participants will break into small groups according to subject area and discuss timely topics from their individual libraries. The WCLA Annual Meeting will complete the morning itinerary.

Following lunch, Carmela Martino, an author, speaker, and writing teacher, will share her newly-released debut young adult novel, Playing by Heart (Vinspire Publishing), a historical romance inspired by the lives of two amazing eighteenth-century sisters: one a linguist and mathematician, and the other, one of the first Italian women to compose a serious opera.

Martino's middle-grade novel, Rosa, Sola (Candlewick Press), was inspired by her experiences growing up in an Italian-American family. The novel was named a Booklist “Top Ten First Novel for Youth” and received the Catholic Writer’s Guild Seal of Approval. Martino’s credits for teens and tweens also include short stories and poems in magazines and anthologies. Her articles for adults have appeared in such publications as the Chicago Tribune, Catholic Parent, Catholic Library World, New Catholic Explorer, and the Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market. She has taught writing workshops for children and adults since 1998, and she blogs about teaching and writing at TeachingAuthors.com.

WCLA was established in 1936 and is one of the longest continuously active chapters of Catholic Library Association. The Fall Conference is open to all interested librarians. For information, contact Deb Gilkes at [email protected].