The NIU College of Education’s Office of External Programs will host its 25th annual Children’s Literature Conference “We Are Family” March 18 and 19 at the Holmes Student Center.

Tickets run from $69 for Friday’s events to $110 for both days, with dinner provided for each.

The conference includes seven well-established or award-winning children’s literature lecturers, illustrators and authors hosting workshops or speaking about children’s literature and its role in the community.

Presenters include Jerry Pinkney, Gloria Jean Pinkney, Carmen Lomas Garza, Harriette Gillem Robinet, Chris Soentpiet, Katherine Hannigan and Karen Nelson Hoyle.

The weekend will include an autograph session, a time for local authors to present their work and a children’s literature bookstore.

Jeanette Heinisch, a College of Education faculty member, said the conference typically attracts 500 area teachers, school and public librarians and NIU education majors. She also said the conference is open to all.

The festival annually meets its maximum participant count of 500.

“We simply can’t accommodate more than 500 people,” Heinisch said. “The dinners are the chief limiting factor. Holmes wasn’t designed to serve more than that.”

There are only 75 HSC Hotel rooms to distribute among the children’s literature enthusiasts.

“Hotel rooms at Holmes [are] distributed by lottery the year before,” said Joyce Johnson, guest room manager at the HSC. “Usually, it’s the same people who come year to year. They request a room before they leave and are contacted if they were picked.”

NIU graduate students have the opportunity to receive one credit hour for attending the weekend conference.

Some sections of the conference are open to members of the community.

Information on past conferences can be found at www.childrenslitconference.blogspot.com.