Dr. Joni Richards Bodart, SLIS assistant professor, spoke at the annual Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the NCTE (ALAN) workshop in San Antonio, Texas on November 24-25, 2008. The theme of the two-day workshop was “Negotiations and Love Songs: The Literature of Young Adults.” Bordart presented a breakout session on “Using and Defending Controversial YA Novels in the Classroom and the Library.”

In October, Bodart spoke at the Bookleggers meeting and graduation ceremony presenting “A Concert of Booktalks.” The Bookleggers, the first organization established for volunteer booktalkers, is sponsored by the Pleasanton Public Library. During the ceremony, Bodart was made an Honorary Booktalker.

Also in October, Bodart spoke on reader’s advisory work with teens at a meeting of the Bay Area Young Adult Librarians (BAYA). At the meeting, she was presented with an Honorary Lifetime Membership to BAYA for her many years of participation in the organization.

On October 14, Dr. Bodart was the keynote speaker and conference leader at the annual 2008 Teen Volume Conference, sponsored by the Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Public Schools. Held since 1999, the conference has featured such YA luminaries as Michael Cart, Chris Crutcher, and Justina Chen Headley. The invitation noted that Bodart was chosen for her ability to provide the attendees with the “tools to promote teen books in the best possible way.” Additionally, the invitation described her as an “eloquent, interesting, informed and intelligent” speaker and an “expert on young adult books.”

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