The 2023 Keynote Speaker

Nancy Pearl

We are delighted to announce that author, literary critic, and “America’s librarian,” Nancy Pearl, will be the keynote speaker for the 2023 Long Island Library Conference.

Nancy Pearl regularly speaks about the importance and pleasure of reading at libraries, literacy organizations, and community groups around the world.  She can be found on NPR’s Morning Edition and other news outlets talking about her favorite books.  Among her many honors are the 2011 Librarian of the Year Award from Library Journal, the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Foundation (2021 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community) where they named her “Literarian.”

Nancy is the creator of the internationally-recognized program If All of Seattle Read the Same Book, and was the inspiration for the Archie McPhee “Librarian Action Figure.”

Nancy is, first and foremost, a reader and has spent her life promoting reading as one of the most beneficial and joyful experiences anyone can have. You can visit her website to learn more: https://www.nancypearl.com/.

Past Keynote Speakers

Year
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000		 Speaker
Dave Isay
Emily Esfahani Smith
K.C. Boyd
Tad Hills
Jadeep Mansour
Sarah Vowel
Jack Gantos
Nancy Pearl
Andrew Xia Fukuda
Richard Paul Evans
Adriana Trigiani
Ellen Meister
Susan Isaacs
Chris Crutcher
Mike Lupica
Roger Rosenblatt
Mick Foley
David Baldacci
Sarah Long
M.E. Kerr