When: Sunday, 11/22 & Monday, 11/23
- Sunday, November 22nd from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm, immediately followed by the ALAN Reception Author Meet & Greet 6:00-7:30pm.
- Monday, November 23rd from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Where: Pennsylvania Convention Center at 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
About The Workshop & 2026 Theme
The highlight of each year is the annual ALAN Workshop. At this gathering, you will meet with colleagues from across the country, receive copies of some of the best and latest young adult titles and hear from a host of young adult authors. The workshop is held each year in conjunction with the Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). We will converge in Philadelphia, PA this year.
The 2026 ALAN Workshop theme, “Forging New Futures,” invites youth librarians, teachers, teacher educators, and researchers to dream up vibrant new futures with, for, and about young people. Young adult literature has been instrumental in expanding our collective imagination about youth–their lived experiences, their identities, and the roles they (could) play in society. In recent years, however, a resurgence of anti-immigrant, anti-Black, anti-Asian, and anti-LGBTQ sentiments, to name a few, alongside widespread censorship, has threatened the stories and practices that help us cultivate an all-embracing understanding of human experiences. However, as Maxine Greene (1995) reminds us, “We also have our social imagination: the capacity to invent visions of what should be and what might be in our deficient society, in the streets where we live, in our schools” (p. 5). So, which YA books might help readers (re)imagine who they can be in the world and what that world could look like? What paths can we forge to lead us to futures where educators and youth alike can thrive?
Registration
The ALAN leadership team has been hard at work to keep registration costs from increasing this year. We made some changes to meet this goal:
- Registration for the Workshop will no longer include a box lunch. The Workshop will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, right next to the Reading Terminal Market which has over 75 family-owned eateries and craft stores.
- Registration will not include a membership. Instead, ALAN members will receive a discount code for the Early Bird registration price. Don’t know when your membership expires? Click here to check and renew!
- Book boxes will be limited to the first 250 people who register. There will be book giveaways at ALAN events at the NCTE Convention (e.g. the ALAN Breakfast, the ALAN Booth, and more) as well as during the Workshop.
Please email ALANYAmembership@gmail.com if you haven’t received your membership discount link.
Early Bird rates are valid until October 7.
Members – Early Bird : $285
Members – Regular: $325
Student Members – Early Bird: $130
Student Members – Regular: $150
Nonmembers – Early Bird: $350
Nonmembers – Regular $390
Workshop Schedule At A Glance
ALAN @ NCTE
Friday, November 20 – ALAN Roundtable Session
12:30 – 1:45 pm – Current Conversations about Young Adult Literature in the Classroom
Saturday, November 21 – ALAN Breakfast
7:00 – 9:15 am
We are excited to announce that Elizabeth Acevedo, winner of multiple awards including the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the Carnegie medal, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and the Walter Award, will be speaking at this year’s ALAN Breakfast on Saturday. Book signing to immediately follow at the ALAN Booth in the Exhibit Hall. Register here: https://convention.ncte.org/registration
Saturday, November 21 – ALAN SIG Meeting
5:45 – 7:00 pm – Craft & Creativity with Daniel Nayeri
Micheal L. Printz Award, and the National Book Award will be attending the workshop and lead a Craft & Creativity workshop on writing at the ALAN Special Interest Group meeting.
Cost: Free!
Opening Workshop Panel
IT DOES COUNT! The Power of the Audiobook
Sunday, November 22, 2:10 – 2:30 pm
The 2026 ALAN Workshop will launch with a conversation between award-winning authors Jacqueline Woodson (Brown Girl Dreaming), and Joy McCullough (Suffer a Witch), joined by Rebecca Waugh, editorial director of Listening Library. The authors will discuss their experiences narrating autobiographical works and the many ways audiobooks inspire readers.
Closing Workshop Keynote Speaker
Closing Keynote: A.S. King
Monday, November 23 at 4:35 PM.
Beloved author A.S. King, winner of multiple awards including the Michael L. Printz Award and the Margaret A. Edwards award, will be the closing Keynote
Speaker.
