Happy School Library Month! It is hard to believe we are already in April for our school year, I feel like it was just October and we were all together in St. Louis and now we are looking forward to our Annual conference in Chicago in a few short months. The spring semester is always incredibly busy, so I am excited to share an event at ALA Annual in Chicago that I hope you will all add to your conference calendar.

As a librarian and Indigenous person living and teaching in Oklahoma, I have long been passionate about accurate Indigenous representation that truly showcases Native cultures and traditions and integrates representation from all tribes into both fiction and non-fiction. While school librarianship certainly has its obstacles and challenges, a point of celebration is the presence of high quality, accurate Indigenous representation currently available in children and young adult literature.  As I began thinking about the topic for my AASL President’s Program at ALA Annual in Chicago, I wanted something that filled a need for school libraries across the country. Partnering with the amazing Levine Querido team, my President’s Program is titled “Telling Our Stories: Native Voices in Children’s Literature.” A panel discussion with three Native authors/illustrators: Anton Treuer, Andrea L. Rogers and Rebecca Lee Kunz.

The session will feature acclaimed Ojibwe scholar and author Anton Treuer, Professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University and author of more than twenty books, including Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask and Where Wolves Don’t Die. Treuer is widely recognized for his work advancing Indigenous language revitalization, cultural understanding, and educational equity.

Joining him will be Cherokee Nation author Andrea L. Rogers, whose work for young readers has received national acclaim. Rogers is the author of the Walter Award–winning collection Man Made Monsters and the Caldecott Medal–winning picture book Chooch Helped, celebrated for its humor, warmth, and authentic portrayal of contemporary Cherokee family life.

Artist and illustrator Rebecca Lee Kunz will also participate in the conversation. Kunz illustrated Chooch Helped and is known for visual storytelling inspired by traditional iconography and mythic symbolism. Her upcoming picture book project, Ruth Muskrat and the So-Called Indian Problem, created in collaboration with Levine Querido, explores Native history and resilience through powerful imagery.

Together, Treuer, Rogers, and Kunz will discuss the importance of authentic Native representation in literature for young people, the role of language and culture in storytelling, and how librarians and educators can better support Indigenous voices in their classrooms and collections. The program will also explore the intersections of writing, illustration, and cultural knowledge in creating meaningful books for young readers.

Designed especially for school librarians and educators, the session will offer insight into Cherokee and Ojibwe perspectives while highlighting the growing impact of Native creators in children’s publishing. Native voices are needed in every school library, whether you have a population of Indigenous learners or not, but selecting quality titles can be a daunting task when you don’t have tribal knowledge to evaluate for accuracy. This panel discussion can highlight areas to investigate and address common issues in Indigenous literature.

AASL’s President Program will be held during ALA’s Annual Conference, June 25-29, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois, on Saturday, June 27, 2026, from 10:00 am- 11:30 am. I hope to see you there in a few short months!

For more information about this and other AASL programs at the 2026 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, visit www.ala.org/aasl/annual.