The comic industry retail trade organization ComicsPRO announced earlier this year that they were expanding their educational programming. It would now include an accreditation program. C.R.E.D.I.T., or Comic Retailer Education, Development, and Industry Training, focuses on helping store owners, managers, and employees develop and refine retail and bookselling skills. Hey Kids! Comic Shops Kids Lit Online Conference on August 27 and 28 is the first official workshop as part of the program.

The Hey Kids! Comic Shops Kids Lit Online Conference will feature two days of workshop, panel, and townhall style learning opportunities to help further retailer knowledge in everything from how to build and stock a Kids’s section to how to market and build events directly for that market. For each class attended you receive one hour of credit towards the Kids Lit ComicsPRO certification/professional development. Attend all of the classes and you receive access to a Kid Lit Certification exam. Upon completion of the exam, you earn a certificate of accreditation, a digital badge that can be put on a personal resume or list on a store website, and the individual will be listed in the ComicsPRO database as certified in Kids Lit.

Registration for Hey Kids! Comic Shops Kids Lit conference is open now. The conference is free to all ComicsPRO members with a $20 fee for non-members to participate.