About Us | Contact Us | Print Page | Sign In | Join now
Journeys into reading- YLG One Day Conference at the Seaside 2025
Tell a Friend About This EventTell a Friend
Journeys into reading- YLG One Day Conference at the Seaside 2025

Journeys Into Reading: YLG One Day Conference At The Seaside 2025

06/09/2025
When: Saturday 6th September 2025
09:00
Where: The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne
King Edward's Parade
Eastbourne BN21 4EQ
United Kingdom
Contact: Maura Farrelly
events.ylg@cilip.org.uk


Online registration is closed.
« Go to Upcoming Event List  

Journeys Into Reading: YLG One Day Conference at the Seaside 2025

Saturday 6th September 2025

9am till 5.30pm, The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne

We are excited to announce that our next CILIP Youth Libraries Group conference will be held at The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne and the theme will be 'Journeys Into Reading'.

 

Sunday 7th September 2025

10am till 2pm, Meads Hall, Eastbourne

There will be an additional free Unconference Day on Sunday 7th September at a Meads Hall in Eastbourne, a short walk from The Grand Hotel. All tickets for the Conference include free entry to the Unconference. Further details about the Unconference will be announced in due course but for now we can confirm that our speakers will include Nick Sharratt and Michaela Morgan! 

 

PROGRAMME

The programme of events for the Conference day on the Saturday can be found below:

9.00-9.30

Registration: Celebrating the launch of Harriet Muncaster's The Diary of Wiska Wildflower with OUP

9.30-9.45

Conference welcome from YLG Chair Jenny Hawke, and Stephen Mitchell from Askews and Holts, our conference sponsor.

9.45-10.30

Keynote address from Kate Mosse: Putting women back into history, one day at a time (Macmillan Books)

10.30-11.15

The Klaus Flugge Prize: Julia Eccleshare in conversation with 2025 judges, Bruce Ingman and Kate Winter

11.15-11.45

Tea break- Celebrating 10 years of The Bear and the Piano with Quarto

Exhibition opens

11.45-12.45

Morning breakout sessions (choose 1)

  1. Mousehole to the Centre of the Earth: Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve (David Fickling Books)
  2. Journey of a Library Book: from data to delivery with Adrian Warner (Askews & Holts)
  3. Read for Empathy: Celebrating Empathy Lab with Sarah Mears, Sarah Smith and Rashmi Sirdeshpande (Andersen Press)
  4. Journeys through Middle Grade with Patrice Lawrence (Scholastic), Jack Mackay (Rock the Boat), Sophie Kirtley (Bloomsbury) and A M Dassu (Zephyr)

12.45-1.30

Lunch followed by Sweet Cherry ice-cream with Gyasi Sheppy

1.30-2.30

Afternoon breakout sessions (choose 1)

  1. Journeys into Writing with the GLL Literary Foundation: Sharada Keats (Scholastic) and Marcela Ferreira (OUP) and Jack Meggitt-Phillips (Farshore) and chaired by Rebecca Gediking (GLL Literary Foundation)
  2. Books in Translation with Outside In World with Ed Zanghini.
  3. Exhibition browsing time
  4. Publishing Perspectives: Sumana Seeboruth (Barefoot Books) and Abiola Bello (Hashtag)

2.30-3.15

Beyond the Secret Garden with Darren Chetty and Karen Sands-O’Connor

3.15-3.45

Tea break- Celebrating 10 years of Rock the Boat

3.45-4.30

Publishers’ Roadshow

4.30-5.30

Celebrating Novels in Verse with Tia Fisher (Hot Key Books), Dean Atta (Hachette) and Manjeet Mann (Penguin Random House).

Followed by YLG Awards and Carnegies 2025 Celebration

 

Unconference Day- Sunday 7th September, Meads Hall in Eastbourne

9:45-10:00 Registration

10:00-10:45 Louis Coiffait-Gunn, CILIP CEO

10:45-11:15 Discussion time

11:15-11:30 Break

11.30-12:00 Discussion time

12:00-13:00 Nick Sharratt and Michaela Morgan

13:00-13:15 Break

13:15-14:00 Discussion time

 

 This programme is subject to change. Instructions on how to book breakout sessions will be sent directly to delegates soon.

 

PRICING--- booking open until 31st August 2025!

Early Bird Ticket (EXTENDED: available until 31st July) 

Includes:

  • Access to all events throughout Saturday

  • Morning and afternoon breakout sessions

  • Entry to our exhibition hall

  • Refreshments and lunch

  • Free entry to the Unconference Day on the Sunday

  • Accommodation is not included in this ticket.


CILIP members: £150 (inc. VAT)

Non-CILIP members: £183 (inc. VAT)

Students: £48 (inc. VAT)

Standard Ticket (tickets purchased after 31st July)

Includes:

  • Access to all events throughout Saturday

  • Morning and afternoon breakout sessions

  • Entry to our exhibition hall

  • Refreshments and lunch

  • Free entry to the Unconference Day on the Sunday

  • Accommodation is not included in this ticket.

 

CILIP members: £175 (inc. VAT)

Non-CILIP members: £200 (inc. VAT)

Students: £48 (inc. VAT)


Please note, our conference this year does not include accommodation or a Gala Dinner and evening celebrations. More details about accommodation can be found below.

ACCOMMODATION

Accommodation is not included in the ticket price for the conference. This is to help make the conference more affordable for our delegates. If accommodation is required, this needs to be booked separately by the delegate or their employer. 

 

There are limited number of rooms available at The Grand for YLG delegates at a discounted rate. These are available on a first come, first served basis.

 

Alternatively, if you wish to stay elsewhere in Eastbourne there is an abundance of accommodation options available close to The Grand to fit all budgets.

 

FEEDBACK FROM PREVIOUS YLG CONFERENCES

"Loved it! Loved the buzz of being with like-minded people, who support libraries and librarians"

"I find this conference above all others completely inspiring. Interesting, thought provoking workshops on the Saturday that spawned so many ideas in my mind of what I'd like to discuss implementing once I return to the workplace."

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d grow up and be spending a weekend in Glasgow with a bunch of brilliant librarians, eating lush food, drinking book themed cocktails, listening to career changing panellist's, making connections with wonderful publishers oh and casually meeting an Olympic Gold medallist, but since joining the YLG, I’m starting to realise that my dreams have been entirely too small because this community is a community of good, joy, hope, love, support and highest levels of professionalism. Its magic."

"Wonderful speakers who provided professional inspiration and ideas that I can use in my workplace. Exhibition space that allowed delegates to network with publishers and authors and receive book proofs and promotional material."

BOOKSHOP

Our conference bookshop will be provided by The Book Nook, a multi-award winning children's bookshop based in Hove. https://booknookuk.com/ 

CONTACT US

If you have any questions or wish to find out more about the events above, please contact the YLG Conference Team at events.ylg@cilip.org.uk 

 

We look forward to seeing you by the seaside!
CILIP
Support & Policies
Contact & Info

Accreditations

Cyber Essentials Certified Cyber Essentials Plus Certified

© 2025 Copyright CILIP. All rights reserved.