J.R. Wagner's Author Blog: PAYA: Bringing YA to PA

Saturday, August 25, 2012

PAYA: Bringing YA to PA

By J. R. Wagner

Hey everyone!

On Saturday, August 25th I'll be at the PAYA festival in West Chester Pennsylvania.

What is PAYA?

From their website:

PAYA is a coalition of Pennsylvania’s young adult authors (over 30), bloggers, librarians, readers, and other book-lovers. Our mission is two-fold (1) To share the love we have for young adult literature with others in our state and (2) To raise money to support Pennsylvania’s libraries, with a focus on helping build Young Adult library collections and Young Adult services

This is a super-cool event with a great collection of YA authors (see them all HERE) dedicated to helping the cause, which is in desperate need here in Pennsylvania.

One of the unique aspects of this festival is the Librarian only workshop, which I will be a part of and the writing workshop, which I will not be a part of.

The Librarian only workshop is from 10-12. I'm very excited about being able to discuss methods of building YA library collections and, most importantly (in my opinion) getting teens into the library.

There will be book signings! (I'll paste the list of times below) The name in Yellow is, of course, the most important.

Signing Schedule:

Signing from 12-1

Susan Shaw
Victoria Schwab
K.M. Walton
Margie Gelbwasser
Charlotte Bennardo
Jackie Kessler
Amalie Howard
Ellen Jensen Abbott

Signing from 1-2

Jennifer Hubbard
Jennifer Murgia
J. R. Wagner
Shannon Delany
Beth Kephart
Brigid Kemmerer
Jaclyn Dolamore
A.S. King
Jessica Spotswood

Signing from 2-3

Jeri Smith-Ready
Maria V. Snyder
Cyn Balog
Josh Berk
Cesya MaRae Cuono
Gwendolyn Heasley
Dianne Salerni

Signing from 3-4

Jennifer Armentrout
Christine Norris
Alissa Grosso
Wendy Higgins
Amy Holder
Elisa LudwigTiffany Schmidt

So, if you are a YA fan, stop in and be overwhelmed by this great collection of authors!
If you love libraries and want to see them continue to grow and adapt, stop in and show your support.

If you fear for the future of your library, now is the time to band together and help create and support cutting edge teen programs that can usher your library into a new era. Getting teens to WANT to come to the library is a challenge -but it is far from insurmountable. I've seen great programs work successfully.

2012 PAYA Festival
August 25 -TODAY

10-12 -Writing Workshop
10-12 -Libriarian Workshop
12-4 -book signings,

1585 Paoli Pike West Chester, PA (Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School Advanced Ideas/University Scholars center in East Goshen Township, right off of Boot Road.)