SLA conference: inside the 2026 programme
The 2026 School Library Association annual conference has a theme of ‘changing narratives’…
The 2026 School Library Association annual conference has a theme of ‘changing narratives’…
In June, school librarians, teachers and school leaders from across the country will come together at the University of Winchester for the School Library Association’s Annual Conference. This year’s event is themed around Changing Narratives and will explore how school libraries and school librarians have the power to change the often negative narratives surrounding children and young people’s reading, learning and wellbeing. Here’s a look at what’s on the programme, with some highlights for Primary librarians and teachers:
Supported by headline sponsor AccessIt, the School Library Association conference brings together school staff from across primary and secondary, and state and independent schools.
The two-day event offers an opportunity to be inspired by some of the most exciting voices in children’s reading and literacy, and with Puffin joining this year’s conference as publisher sponsor, there are some unmissable moments on the programme focused on middle-grade authors and maintaining reading engagement in the crucial upper primary phase.
As well as author events, the conference programme includes interactive workshops and opportunities for skills development, alongside exploration of new research and strategies to help elevate your professional practice.
- To book tickets or explore the full programme, visit sla.org.uk/conference
What’s on?
Friday opens with a keynote from Jonathan Douglas OBE, CEO of the National Literacy Trust, who will share critical insights into the current reading landscape, as well as his reflections on the first half of the National Year of Reading campaign.
The afternoon brings a deep dive into reading engagement through graphic novels, with bestselling comic book creator Jamie Smart leading a live Bunny vs Monkey draw-along and sharing his insights into the enormous rise in popularity of comic books and graphic novels, following his recent stratospheric World Book Day success and publication of the first title in a brand new series, Megalomaniacs.
A panel discussion chaired by Comics Laureate Bobby Joseph will follow, exploring how librarians, teachers and parents can harness children’s enthusiasm for these titles to boost reading engagement and enjoyment.
Saturday’s programme opens with a keynote from multi-award-winning author Patrice Lawrence, before a panel discussion on issue-led fiction with Nicola Garrard and Tasneem Abdur-Rashid.
Workshops across both days cover everything from supporting SEND and wellbeing through the library, to media literacy, empathy, censorship, the power of storytelling and building reading communities, in which Verity Robinson, librarian at the 2025 Peter Usborne Primary School Library of the Year Award-winning school, will share her experience of creating a school literature festival to boost reading enthusiasm.
The Puffin strand of the programme brings some more brilliant sessions for primary librarians and teachers. Puffin’s commitment to connecting children and young people with books they love makes them a perfect partner for this event and they are bringing some headline authors to the conference. The closing keynote alone will make attending worth it for many children’s book lovers.
Award-winning headliners
Dame Jacqueline Wilson will close the conference on Saturday afternoon, discussing her career writing for children, including creating some of the best-loved children’s books ever published, with over 40 million copies sold in the UK alone.
This is an opportunity for delegates to hear from a legendary figure in children’s literature, as Dame Jacqueline reflects on a body of work that has spanned decades and shaped the reading lives of generations. There will also be a chance to meet Dame Jacqueline in person at a book signing following the keynote.
- Invite one of the UK’s best-known children’s writers into your classroom and motivate pupils to consider how characters transform when they’re transported into unfamiliar worlds.
- In this episode of Author In Your Classroom, Jacqueline Wilson – writer of The Primrose Railway Children, Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather – reveals how she reworks well-loved characters by placing them in new and unexpected settings. Reflecting on her reimagining of E. Nesbit’s The Railway Children, she explores how setting influences character development, mood and storyline.
Debut Puffin author Iqbal Hussain will also join the programme, in an in-conversation event with SLA CEO Victoria Dilly on Friday afternoon. Equal parts funny, uplifting and heart-breaking, Iqbal’s middle-grade novel The Night I Borrowed Time follows 11-year-old Zubair -a seventh son who inherits the power of time travel and uses it to try to save his parents’ marriage. Waterstones’ Children’s Book of the Month on publication, it has been widely praised by reviewers, librarians and young readers and is ideal for upper primary and beyond.
As well as the packed programme of speaker sessions, there will be an exhibition hall featuring some of the very best children’s publishers, including Puffin and parent company Penguin Books, who will be sharing information about how teachers and schools can get involved with social impact initiatives such as Libraries for Primaries and Lit in Colour. Opportunities for networking, sharing best practice and meeting exhibitors will be on the agenda throughout.
The conference is open to school librarians, teachers and school leaders, as well as parents who homeschool or who have a particular interest in literacy and their children’s reading engagement.
To book tickets or explore the full programme, visit sla.org.uk/conference
