Past ChLA Conferences 

2022

Atlanta, GA - (June 2-4)
Conference Chair(s):
Paige Gray, Mandy Suhr-Systma
Conference Theme: 
City in a Forest

2021

ChLA Virtual Conference (June 9-13)
Conference chair(s): 
Paige Gray, Rachel Dean-Ruzicka, Michelle Martin
Conference Theme: The Arcade

2020

Bellevue, WA - University of Washington (June 18-20)
Conference chair(s): 
Michelle Martin, Liz Mills
Conference Theme: Sustainability Through Story: Eco-Justice, Children's Literature, and Childhood

The 2020 conference was cancelled due to COVID-19.

2019

Indianapolis, IN - IUPUI and IU East (June 13-15)
Conference chair(s):
Alisa Clapp-Itnyre, Megan Musgrave, Carrie Sickmann
Conference theme: Activisim and Empathy

Dr. Michelle H. Martin Francelia Butler Lecture

2018

San Antonio, TX – Texas State University (June 28-30)
Confernece chair: Marilynn Olson
Conference theme: Refreshing Waters/Turbulent Waters
Dr. Debbie Reese's 2018 Francelia Butler Lecture: Click here Posting the speech enables our organization publicly to acknowledge the purposeful and important content of the presentation and to embrace its circulation. This Butler Lecture reflects on the culture and history of the association itself; by posting the lecture/speech on our website, we hope to make it more widely available and to preserve it for our institutional history.

2017

Tampa, FL – University of South Florida (June 22-24)
Conference chair(s): Melanie Griffin and Jennifer Janinski Schneider
Conference theme: Imagined Futures

2016

Columbus, OH – The Ohio State University (June 9-11)
Conference chair: Michelle Abate
Conference theme: Animation

2015

2015 Richmond, VA – Longwood University (June 18-20)
Conference chair: Jennifer Miskec
Conference theme: "Give me liberty, or give me death!":  The High Stakes and Dark Sides of Children's Literature

2014

Columbia, SC – University of South Carolina (June 18-21)
Conference chair: Michelle Martin and Sara Schwebel
Conference theme: Diverging Diversities:  Plurality in Children’s and Young Adult Literature Then and Now

2013 

Biloxi, MS – University of Southern Mississippi (June 13-16)
Conference chair: Ellen Ruffin and Eric Tribunella
Conference theme: Play and Risk in Children’s Literature

2012 

Boston, MA – Simmons College (June 14-16)
Conference chair: Cathryn Mercier
Conference theme: Literary Slipstreams

2011 

Roanoke, VA – Hollins University (June 23-25)
Conference chair: Amanda Cockrell
Conference theme: Revolt, Rebellion, Protest: Insurrection in Children’s Literature

2010 

Ann Arbor, MI – Eastern Michigan University (June 10-12)
Conference chair: Annette Wannamaker and Ian Wojcik-Andrews
Conference theme: Children’s Literature and Media

2009 

Charlotte, NC – University of North Carolina – Charlotte (June 11-14)
Conference chair: Mark I. West and Paula T. Connolly
Conference theme: The Best of Three

2008 

Normal, IL – Illinois State University-Normal (June 12-14)
Conference chair: Roberta Seelinger Trites
Conference theme: Redefining Normal

2007 

Newport News, VA – Christopher Newport University (June 14-16)
Conference chairs: Kara Keeling and Jennifer Miskec
Conference theme: Anniversaries, Histories, and Colonialisms

2006 

Manhattan Beach, CA – California State University-Northridge (June 8-10)
Conference chairs: Jackie Stallcup and Dorothy G. Clark
Conference theme: Transformations

2005 

Winnipeg, MB – University of Winnipeg (June 9-12)
Conference chair: Mavis Reimer
Conference theme: Performing Childhood

2004 

Fresno, CA – Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature at California State University-Fresno (June 10-12)
Conference chair: Angelica Carpenter
Conference theme: Dreams and Visions

2003 

El Paso, TX – University of Texas-El Paso
Conference chair: Jackie Gmuca
Conference theme: “Of Rainbows and Dream-Catchers”:  Diversity in Children’s Literature

2002 

Kingston, PA – Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School (June 13-16)
Conference chair: Lisa Rowe Fraustino
Conference theme: Education in Children's Literature or School

2001 

Buffalo, NY – Buffalo State College (June 6-10)
Conference chair: Craig Werner
Conference theme: Bridges

2000 

Roanoke, VA – Ferrum College, Hollins University, Randolph-Macon Women’s College, and Virginia Tech University (June 22-25)
Conference chair: J.D. Stahl
Conference theme: Children’s Literature:  Landmarks, Boundaries, and Watersheds

1999 

Calgary, AB – University of Calgary
Conference chair: Roderick McGillis
Conference theme: Children's Literature and the Fin de Siècle

1998 

Paris, France – Institut International Charles Perrault (July 1-5)
Conference chair: Jean Perrot
Conference theme: Children's Literature and the Fine Arts

1997 

Omaha, NB – University of Nebraska-Omaha (June 19-22)
Conference chair: Susan Naremore Maher
Conference theme: The Child and the City

1996 

Charlotte, NC – University of North Carolina-Charlotte (June 6-9)
Conference chair: Mark West
Conference theme: Children's Literature: Then and Now

1995 

Durham, NH – University of New Hampshire (June 1-4)
Conference chair: Claire L. Malarte-Feldman, Janice M. Alberghene
Conference theme: Children’s Literature and the Lore of Childhood

1994 

Springfield, MO – Southwest Missouri State University (June 2-5)
Conference chair: Phyllis Bixler, Joel Chaston, Judith Gero John, Sally Scheid
Conference theme: A Sense of Place

1993 

Fredericton, NB – University of New Brunswick (June 3-5)
Conference chair: Local: Andrew Pope, Russell Hunt, Doris Rauch, Lissa Paul, Eileen Wallace.  Exec. Board: Nancy Huse
Conference theme: Literature for Children in a Post-Literate Age

1992 

Hartford, CT – Trinity College (June 4-7)  Jointly sponsored by Trinity College, University of Connecticut, Eastern Connecticut State University, Hollins College, Yale University Press
Conference chairs: Barbara Rosen (University of Connecticut); Celia Anderson and Shirley Ernst (Eastern Connecticut State University)
Conference theme: The Child in the World
20th anniversary celebration of the founding of the annual.

1991 

Hattiesburg, MI – University of Southern Mississippi (May 30- June 2)
Conference chair: Dee Jones, Anne Lundin, Terry Latour
Conference theme: The Image of the Child

1990 

San Diego, CA – San Diego State University (May 31-June 3)
Conference chair: Lois Kuznets, coordinator; Carole Scott, co-coordinator
Conference theme: Work and Play in Children’s Literature

1989 

Mankato, MN – Mankato State University (May 11-14)
Conference chair: Kathy Piehl
Conference theme: Where Rivers Meet

1988 

Charleston, SC – College of Charleston (May 19-22)
Conference chair: Caroline Hunt
Conference theme: The Child and the Family

1987 

Ottawa, ON – Carleton University (May 14-17)
Conference chairs: Barbara Garner, Alan McLay
Conference theme: Cross-Culturalism in Children’s Literature

1986 

Kansas City, MO – University of Missouri-Kansas City (May 16-18)
Conference chairs: Norma Bagnall (Missouri Western State College), Phyllis Bixler (Kansas State University), Edwyna Gilbert (University of Kansas)
Conference theme: From Hannibal to Oz: Journeys in Children’s Literature

1985 

Ann Arbor, MI – University of Michigan (May 17-19)
Conference chairs: Lois Kuznets, Marcia Shafer
Conference theme: The Fourth Dimension in Children’s Literature: Past, Present, Future, and Other Times

1984 

Charlotte, NC – University of North Carolina-Charlotte (May 24-27)
Conference chair: Anita Moss
Conference theme: The Pride of Place: The Wellspring of Story

1983 

Edmonton, AB – University of Edmonton
Conference chairs: Patricia Demers and Jon C. Stott (co-chairs)
Conference theme: Frontiers in Children’s Literature

1982 

Gainesville, FL – University of Florida (March 26-28)
Conference chairs: Joy Anderson and John Cech
Conference theme: The Child and the Story: An Exploration of Narrative Forms

1981 

Minneapolis, MN- University of Minneapolis (March 27-29)
Conference chair: Karen Hoyle
Conference theme: Children’s Books: From Creation to Criticism

1980 

Waco, TX – Baylor University (March 14-16)
Conference chair: Tom Hanks
Conference theme: Realism and Fantasy in Children’s Literature

1979 

Toronto, ON – University of Toronto (March 30-31, April 1)
Conference chair: Claire England
Conference theme: The World and Its Inhabitants

1978 

Cambridge, MA – Harvard University (March 31- April 2)
Conference chair: [none given on program Xerox; probably Anne Devereaux Jordan]
Conference theme: [none given on program Xerox]

1977 

Ypsilanti, MI – Eastern Michigan University (March 25-27)
Conference chair: Alethea Helbig
Conference theme: What Makes a Good Children’s Book?

1976 

Philadelphia, PA – Temple
Conference chair: Anne Devereaux Jordan
Conference theme: America in Children’s Books: Children’s Books in America

1975 

Williamsburg, VA – William & Mary College (March 7-9)
Conference chairs: Anne Devereaux Jordan, Nancy Matula
Conference theme: Great Writers, Illustrators, and Ages in Children’s Literature

1974 

Storrs, CT – University of Connecticut (March 15-17)
Conference chair: Anne Devereaux Jordan
Conference theme: Cultural and Critical Values in Children’s Literature