Longwood University's eighth annual Summer Literacy Institute will be held July 14-15.

The Institute is intended primarily for teachers, reading specialists, librarians, and administrators. Participants will enjoy a workshop and a banquet with award-winning children's author Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, a panel and discussions with regional authors (four of whom live in Virginia), and concurrent sessions for all grade levels. Also included with registration are breakfast and lunch both days, a dinner July 14 with Nelson, and a resource CD, as well as vendors and door prizes.

To register or for more information, contact Dr. Jeannine Perry 434-395-2069, perryjr@longwood.edu or Dr. Audrey Church 434-395-2682, churchap@longwood.edu

“It's not a reading conference, it's not a writing conference, and it's not a library conference,” said Church, co-director of the Institute and coordinator of Longwood's School Library Media Program. “It's a literacy conference. Each year we focus on a different facet of literacy. This year's theme is 'The Power of Literacy.'”

The Institute is offered by the Literacy & Culture and the School Library Media programs, both of which are graduate programs in Longwood's College of Education and Human Services. The Institute is offered in conjunction with a hybrid online course, EDUC 595/EDSL 595, The Power of Literacy, worth three graduate credits. Some 175 educators from across the state attended last year's Institute.

Vaunda Nelson, a children's librarian in New Mexico, is the author of several award-winning books for children, including Bad News for Outlaws, Almost to Freedom, Beyond Mayfield, Mayfield Crossing, and Always Gramma. In their presentations, Nelson and the other authors – Gigi Amateau, Kimberly Norman, Lynne Farrell Stover and Francis Wood, all of Virginia, and Alexandria LaFaye of Tennessee and Floyd Cooper of Pennsylvania – will explore the power of literacy in their lives and work.