The Center held its inaugural event in March 1999, which featured author Suzanne Fisher Staples as the guest speaker. Since then, the Center's outreach program has served the community with both educational workshops and entertaining events. Speakers sponsored by the Center for Children's and Young Adult Literature have included such children's and teen favorites as Jack Gantos, Emily Arnold McCully, Robert Sabuda, Lois Lowry, Mo Willems, Tomie De Paola, Sharon Draper, E.B. Lewis, and Jacqueline Woodson. The most recent speaker was illustrator Christopher Myers.
Publishers of children's and young adult books have agreed to place review copies of their most recently published books in the Center, where they will be displayed for a period of eighteen months. These books are available for study within the Center by librarians, students, teachers and the public.
