FINDLAY, OH (WLIO) - The University of Findlay's Mazza Museum is hosting its annual summer conference. Our GraciAnn Hicks has the story.
Award-winning authors and illustrators, librarians, teachers, and more have gathered for the love of books at the Mazza Museum, which contains the world's largest collection of artwork by children's illustrators. The summer conference features presentations from keynote speakers, daily breakout sessions with professionals from the picture book industry, and a concert with John McCutcheon, who has had three songs turned into illustrated children's books.
"The authors and illustrators are coming from all over the United States. We're picking the top, award-winning authors and illustrators to then showcase and share those award-winning books with teachers and librarians and then, in the end, the children that they work with," said Ben Sapp, director of Mazza Museum.
All of this year's authors and illustrators were originally scheduled for 2020 and are just now able to make their appearance at the Mazza Museum, such as author-illustrator Kathryn Otoshi.
"One of the things that I did want to talk about is character building and using books in a way to help children address some kind of layered and complex subject matters," said Kathryn Otoshi, author.
Otoshi believes the event helps teachers and librarians find new books to engage students in a meaningful way, and it helps authors and illustrators learn what issues educators and students are currently facing, so they can use it to inform their work.
"All these teachers and librarians, they go back to their school, and then they're sharing with, you know, 20, 50, 100, 1,000 kids some of the messages in these books. I'm just sharing the love of reading. I do see books and reading like doors that can open up kids' minds into learning about new cultures, understanding what it is to walk in somebody else's shoes. So it's a really great way to be able to have a question-and-answer and get to find out where the kids are at just emotionally, too," added Otoshi.
The speakers and attendees traveled from near and far, such as library volunteer sarah magan who lives in Rochester, New York.
"It's a smaller conference, but there's such a personal connection that you can build with the people that attend, with the illustrators. And there are just some unique aspects that you don't really see a lot of other places or anywhere else. I don't often hear illustrators talking about, you know, their work process, sharing their, you know, 'This is my studio space. This is what it looks like.' And you don't see it anywhere else, so this is a really unique opportunity," said Sarah Mangan, library volunteer.
Closing in on nearly 30 years, the Mazza summer conference has become like home to some participants who return year after year.
"It's truly a place where, it's almost like coming to a summer camp, and we have people that have attended every year. They come back almost in a reunion type format to see friends that they, they only get to see once a year, and that makes it very special, as well," said Sapp.
