#alaac25 Peer Support, Carla Hayden, Maker Therapy, and Banned Together

The 2025 ALA Annual conference is in full swing, and I am excited to be attending for my first year! It is larger than and unlike any other library conference I have attended — here are some highlights from my day!

I started at the Library Workers Peer Support Network session. It was wonderful to learn more about the work Urban Librarians Network has done to help library staff process, connect over, and discuss solutions to some of the very real challenges from the public we face daily. Presenters mentioned vicarious trauma, while something we don’t really like to acknowledge, is something seen in youth services regularly, and emphasized the importance of finding adequate support among peers, even if that is virtually in ULC’s Library Worker Support Network.

I also saw Kwame Alexander’s passionate and bold interview with our beloved former Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden. It was interesting to hear more about Dr. Hayden’s beginnings in youth services at the Chicago Public Library. Kwame Alexander gave a standing ovation of applause to Dr. Carla upon their entrance, thanking her for all of her impact in the literary field, including helping to give a platform to his own writing as an up and coming YA author at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. To be physically in such a historically significant city in our nation (birthplace of not only the Declaration of Independence & The Constitution, but also the very first ever ALA Annual conference!), at such a volatile but critical point in our own history, was a powerful experience I don’t think I will ever forget.

Another highlight of #alaac25 day 2 was a session I attended about Makerspaces as Therapeutic Spaces, which explored the ways in which licensed therapists and counselors are able to address the mental challenges of today’s youth through maker programming. Presenters emphasized the importance of youth having nonjudgemental areas in which they are able to flourish at their own pace for the sake of their mental health, and how the open ended nature of maker programming fits perfectly with these needs.

Finally, another highlight of the day was going to the screening of Banned Together (available on Kanopy!) followed by a panel discussion with the film’s creators and also a few of its stars. This movie follows three teens, and their efforts to reinstate 97 titles back into their school district through organizing, advocacy, attending school board meetings, taking their fight for the right to read all the way to the national level.

ALA Annual has been an absolutely phenomenal conference so far — tomorrow’s sessions look excellent, and I still have yet to explore all of the exhibits floor — will there be enough time? Stay tuned!

(All images taken by D.Sotomayor, 6/28/2025 ALA Annual Conference)

Desireé Sotomayor (she/her) is a Teen Librarian for the Central Library of Denver Public Library, and has been passionate about library youth library service ever since her AmeriCorps National Service term working with the Reach Out and Read program in Sunset Park, Brooklyn 19 years ago. She has a Masters in Library and Information Studies from the University of Oklahoma, served on the ALSC National Institute Taskforce in 2024, and was chair of the Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy annual conference in 2021. She is passionate about innovation in community outreach and partnerships, and is excited to both learn more from & share her nearly two decades of experience with attendees at her first ALA annual conference.

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 The 2025 ALA Annual conference is in full swing, and I am excited to be attending for my first year! It is larger than and unlike any other library conference I have attended — here are some highlights from my day! I started at the Library Workers Peer Support Network session. It was wonderful to learn more about the work Urban Librarians Network has done to help library staff process, connect over, and discuss solutions to some of the very real challenges from the public we face daily. Presenters mentioned vicarious trauma, while something we don’t really like to acknowledge, is something seen in youth services regularly, and emphasized the importance of finding adequate support among peers, even if that is virtually in ULC’s Library Worker Support Network. I also saw Kwame Alexander’s passionate and bold interview with our beloved former Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden. It was interesting…
The post #alaac25 Peer Support, Carla Hayden, Maker Therapy, and Banned Together appeared first on ALSC Blog.  Read More

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