2016 ANNUAL MEETING

The 2016 EBMA Annual Meeting was held on February 2-5, 2016 at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, AZ. The meeting attracted 127 Publisher Members and 57 Wholesaler Members. The theme for the 2016 Annual Meeting was Diversity in Action.

Over the three days, publisher and wholesalers met over one-on-one sessions which are designed to facilitate business discussions. The one-on-one sessions have proven to be invaluable to our membership. One wholesaler said about the one-on-one sessions, "The one-on-ones are the core reason we attend, and we took full advantage of every opportunity for discussion."

On the opening night, members enjoyed a cocktail reception, dinner and an award presentation that included the 37th Ludington Award Presentation to Ms. Pam Muñoz Ryan. Born and raised in Bakersfield, California, Ms. Ryan has received many additional awards, such as the PEN USA Award, the Américas Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, and the Orbis Pictus Award. When asked, “What is your motivation to write?” She replied, “The answer is simple. I want the reader to turn the page.” Ms. Ryan is published by Scholastic, Inc.To learn more about the Ludington Award, Pam Muñoz Ryan or past receipients, click here.

The 2016 program brought together authors and industry professionals to explore the most widely discussed topic in education today - diversity - while at the same time spending focused time on the membership and action plans that can be developed in order to better serve the readers of today and tomorrow. Presenters included:

• Dr. Sharroky Hollie, Executive Director and Author, Center for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning; Shell Education
• Louis Sachar, Author, Random House Children’s Books 
• Beverly Horowitz, Vice President & Publisher, Delacorte Press
  
• Tim McHugh, Vice President of Sales, Saddleback Educational Publishing 
• Judy Chiasson, Ph.D., Los Angeles Unified School District Human Relations, Diversity & Equity
• Andrew Medlar, Commissioner of Collections, Chicago Public Library
• Troy Fresch, Assistant Principal, Pioneer Middle School, Tustin, CA
  
• Doreen Rappaport, Author, Disney Publishing Worldwide
• Kadir Nelson, Author and Illustrator, HarperCollins Children’s Books
  
• Kwame Alexander, Author, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  

In addition to these presentations, Jill Faherty, EBMA Incoming President, updated the association on current EBMA business,  and how it can best continue to serve its members.  

Presentations were made available, to view these click here.