Westgate Lecture

The Westgate Lecture series honors the late Hazel Westgate, for many years the children's librarian at Iowa City Public Library.   The series is funded in part by an endowment established by Ms. Westgate to support State Library of Iowa youth services programs.  Additional support comes from the Iowa Library Association's Children and Young People's Forum.  The Westgate Lecture series is a biennial event.

At present, the Westgate Lecture is part of the Kids First Conference held in odd numbered years.  In prior years it was held as a separate event. 

The 2004 Westgate Lecture, "Building Blocks to Early Literacy," was held April 14 and 15 at the Stoney Creek Inn, located at 5291 Stoney Creek Ct., Johnston, Iowa.  The keynote speaker on April 14 was Barbara Moss who provided a four-hour workshop about selecting and using nonfiction with children.  On April 15, there was a series of breakout sessions revolving around children. The State Library of Iowa  co-sponsored this conference with the Iowa Department of Education and Iowa Public Television.  

The 2002 Westgate Lecturer was Patrick Jones, author of "Connecting Young Adults and Libraries," and a new book, "Do it Right! Best Practices for Servicing Young Adults in Schools and Public Libraries."   The title of his lecture was "Developing More Than Our Collections."

In 2000, Michael Cart, a columnist for Booklist and past president of YALSA, was the Westgate Lecturer.  The title of his lecture was "Young Adult Literature:  A Golden Age."

The 1998 Westgate Lecturer was Kathleen T. Horning, Librarian and Coordinator of Special Collections, at the Cooperative Children's Book Center at the School of Education, located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The title of Ms. Horning's lecture was "Children's Books that Changed Children's Books."