ALA 2025: The Greatest Hits

The ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition is a time for joy, learning, and community building. This year’s conference in Philadelphia was no different. Librarians, authors, and publishers from across the globe flocked to the Pennsylvania Convention Center to connect with their peers and share books, programs, and so much more. Lerner was eager to join the conversation! Read on to discover the highlights from the Lerner booth.

The Booth

The Lerner booth had something for everyone, featuring books from all of our imprints as well as several publishing partners. Librarians perused the fiction and nonfiction titles, sharing their favorites with our staff. Especially popular were the graphic novels, the high-low nonfiction, and sports titles. As always, we had lots of pins, bookmarks, catalogs, and flyers to fill totes and rollaway carts. Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth to say hello and browse our upcoming titles!

Author Signings

Every memory at ALA is special, but there’s nothing quite as marvelous as meeting your favorite authors. This year three signings provided librarians with the opportunity to meet these exceptionally talented people and receive a free signed book.

Rebecca E. Hirsch kicked off the excitement on Saturday morning as she signed copies of her young adult nonfiction A Deathly Compendium of Poisonous Plants: Wicked Weeds and Sinister Seeds. This entertaining and informative illustrated compendium delves into nature’s deadliest plants and their fascinating histories as implements of medicine, warfare, and foul play. It received two starred reviews from Kirkus and School Library Journal, and was selected as a YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers Top Ten title.

On Saturday afternoon, Jody Jensen Shaffer stopped by to sign her charming picture book Porcupine Had a Fuzzy Sweater. The interactive story encourages reader participation as Porcupine realizes his favorite sweater, a gift from his grandma, is missing! Porcupine doesn’t want to hurt her feelings by admitting he lost it. Readers must help Porcupine decide what to do with empathy and honesty.

The following day, Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffery Boston Weatherford visited the autographing station to share their nonfiction biography Call Me Miss Hamilton: One Woman’s Case for Equality and Respect. Together they tell the story of Civil Rights activist Mary Hamilton, a Black woman who took a stand for respect—with a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States—and won. This book was selected for the 2022 Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books and 2022 Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature Best Books of the Year List.

APALA Award Banquet

Associate Publisher Carol Hinz attended the APALA Award Banquet Saturday evening to celebrate The Rock in My Throat which won a Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Picture Book Honor. She gave remarks and accepted the plaque on behalf of author Kao Kalia Yang and illustrator Jiemei Lin.

Carol Hinz stated, “The APALA Banquet took place in Chinatown and was catered by not one but two restaurants, so attendees got to enjoy a wide selection of Chinese dishes and Indian dishes. There was a real sense of community and celebration for all the authors and illustrators whose work was being recognized. I was so grateful to be there to accept the APALA honor on behalf of Kao Kalia Yang and Jiemei Lin.”

Legacy Award Celebration Dinner

Folks gathered Newbery-Caldecott-Legacy Awards Banquet on Sunday evening. This event celebrates the year’s Newbery and Caldecott medalists and honorees, and the year’s Legacy awardee, Carole Boston Weatherford. The Children’s Literature Legacy Award “honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to children’s literature through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences.” Committee Chair, Jason Miles Driver, gave a lovely speech about how they selected Carole Boston Weatherford for the honor. In her own speech, Carole shared how she decided to become an author and what the award meant to her.

Pura Belpré Awards Celebración

The party continued on Sunday with the Pura Belpré Awards Celebración. This event celebrates the recipients of the Pura Belpré Awards which recognizes outstanding works by Latinx authors and illustrators. Cruzita and the Mariacheros by Ashely Granillo was selected as a Pura Belpré Children’s Author Honor Book. Ashley accepted this award with her family watching from the front row.

Join us again next year at ALA Annual 2026 in Chicago!