How
many libraries have hosted author visits for their communities? An
author visit is such an excellent way to get your users engaged in the
library and to explore the breadth of an author’s work.
My library recently hosted author Adam Selzer,
who is a terrific person to bring in because he’s very prolific and
he’s written a wide range of books--from middle grade to adult
nonfiction--that have wide appeal. When I booktalked his books to a
bunch of fifth graders, the most popular title was actually his
nonfiction book about ghostbusting, titled Your Neighborhood Gives Me the Creeps. The kids were really excited to tell me their own ghostly experiences and it generated a great conversation.
A lot of authors will do on site visits with varying costs, and even more authors will do Skype visits for free.
Have you ever brought an author to your library? How did it go?
Friday, May 4, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
eBooks: A Guest Post by Toby Greenwalt
This month's post comes from Toby Greenwalt, a digital branch manager and reference librarian in suburban Chicago who is passionate about exploring the intersection of libraries, technology, and community. He blogs at theanalogdivide.com and tweets as @theanalogdivide.
So there I was. Early this morning, working the Reader’s Advisory desk, greeted by what has now become a familiar sight. A frequent patron, voracious reader, with an extensive hold list and very particular tastes. And one of the last people you’d expect to see behind a computer.
“I just got this Kindle,” she said, opening up her purse. “Can I use it to check out eBooks from the library?”
Two months ago, this was an exciting transaction. Today, it’s a harbinger of what’s sure to be a frustrating time for all parties.
Helping a patron discover new reading material should be an easy transaction, right? Locate book, remove from shelf, hand to patron. eBooks have gotten folks excited about reading in a way that hasn’t happened since vampires first discovered glitter. And libraries have been on board from the start. From buying Rocket eReaders over a decade ago, to offering downloadable eBooks via Overdrive around 2004, to providing hands-on training to every Nook, Kindle, and Kobo that comes in through the door, librarians have been laying the groundwork for this eBook revolution for years. Which makes it a shame that the industry is taking a step back in its dealings with us.
Let’s take this patron that I spoke with this morning. I walked her over to a computer and we started browsing our eBook collection.
“I really like J.D. Robb. Do you have her new one, Celebrity in Death?”
Hoo boy. We have nearly every volume of Eve Dallas’ adventures, but not the newest one. Robb publisher Penguin recently chose to stop offering eBooks to libraries, making any future “In Death” titles off-limits to eBook readers. Similarly, other Big 6 publishers (Hachette, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan) refuse to sell eBooks to libraries at all. Our patrons certainly don’t keep track of which imprint is responsible for which title, and many of us are now scrambling to come up ways with ways to respond to this newfound wrinkle. It’s made the library role in the discovery process quite difficult, and quite frustrating. Some librarians are even wondering if we should get out of the eBook game entirely.
But I’m convinced the library and publishing industries can find common ground. To reach this point, we’ve got to work together. Libraries continue to play a vital role in helping the public discover new reading material. According to a study commissioned by Library Journal, over 50 percent of all library users go on to purchase titles by authors discovered at the library. A little creativity can help our respective industries develop mutually agreeable solutions. Librarians have been working to develop a solution, as groups like Library Renewal and Gluejar can attest.
“I just got this Kindle,” she said, opening up her purse. “Can I use it to check out eBooks from the library?”
Two months ago, this was an exciting transaction. Today, it’s a harbinger of what’s sure to be a frustrating time for all parties.
Helping a patron discover new reading material should be an easy transaction, right? Locate book, remove from shelf, hand to patron. eBooks have gotten folks excited about reading in a way that hasn’t happened since vampires first discovered glitter. And libraries have been on board from the start. From buying Rocket eReaders over a decade ago, to offering downloadable eBooks via Overdrive around 2004, to providing hands-on training to every Nook, Kindle, and Kobo that comes in through the door, librarians have been laying the groundwork for this eBook revolution for years. Which makes it a shame that the industry is taking a step back in its dealings with us.
Let’s take this patron that I spoke with this morning. I walked her over to a computer and we started browsing our eBook collection.
“I really like J.D. Robb. Do you have her new one, Celebrity in Death?”
Hoo boy. We have nearly every volume of Eve Dallas’ adventures, but not the newest one. Robb publisher Penguin recently chose to stop offering eBooks to libraries, making any future “In Death” titles off-limits to eBook readers. Similarly, other Big 6 publishers (Hachette, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan) refuse to sell eBooks to libraries at all. Our patrons certainly don’t keep track of which imprint is responsible for which title, and many of us are now scrambling to come up ways with ways to respond to this newfound wrinkle. It’s made the library role in the discovery process quite difficult, and quite frustrating. Some librarians are even wondering if we should get out of the eBook game entirely.
But I’m convinced the library and publishing industries can find common ground. To reach this point, we’ve got to work together. Libraries continue to play a vital role in helping the public discover new reading material. According to a study commissioned by Library Journal, over 50 percent of all library users go on to purchase titles by authors discovered at the library. A little creativity can help our respective industries develop mutually agreeable solutions. Librarians have been working to develop a solution, as groups like Library Renewal and Gluejar can attest.
There’s plenty of room for libraries to help turn checkouts into sales. But we can’t do it without the circulations themselves.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Tools Librarians Will Love!
Like a lot of librarians I know, I've become deeply smitten with Pinterest, the online bulletin board, where I've collected program ideas, recipes, book suggestions, and, for especially for you this Valentine's Day, some Literary Valentines! I keep myself organized at home and work with physical bulletin boards, so I really liked that I could start doing the same thing digitally. There's a growing number of librarians, authors, and publishers on Pinterest (including BEA!), so there's a lot of things ready to be discovered. Right now Pinterest is invite only, but they are not too hard to get a hold of---I'd bet if you're on twitter and put a call out, someone could send one your way pretty quickly.
There's also a bunch of literary tumblrs, which are more for fun but can also be looked at as interesting marketing tools for libraries. The Millions has a nice round up of literary tumblrs, including one of my favorites, Awesome People Reading. There's also the librarianheygirl tumblr, starring everyone's favorite dude Ryan Gosling, which is very therapeutic to read on the roughest of days.
Do you use Pinterest or Tumblr? Have any great ones to share? Let us know in the comments!
There's also a bunch of literary tumblrs, which are more for fun but can also be looked at as interesting marketing tools for libraries. The Millions has a nice round up of literary tumblrs, including one of my favorites, Awesome People Reading. There's also the librarianheygirl tumblr, starring everyone's favorite dude Ryan Gosling, which is very therapeutic to read on the roughest of days.
Do you use Pinterest or Tumblr? Have any great ones to share? Let us know in the comments!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Reading Resolutions
Happy New Year, BEA buddies! We’re only a couple of weeks into 2012 and I’ve already read a couple of great books, including The Shattering by Karen Healey and Sparks : the epic, completely true blue, (almost) holy quest of Debbie by S.J. Adams. As I continue into the year, I wanted to share with you some reading resolutions I’ve come up with for myself:
1. Read outside of my comfort zone.
For my job, I read a lot of picture books and other juvenile materials (beginning readers, chapter books, board books, etc), and for leisure reading I read a lot of young adult and science fiction and fantasy. I harbor no reading shame, but I also feel a bit of need to flex the critical reading skills I acquired in college. I have a Virginia Woolf book sitting on my shelf (which was a gift from a beloved college professor) that I have yet to read. I also have a lovely hardcover edition of Ulysses that my late mother bought for me ages ago that I want to have a go at, perhaps while eating a proper Irish breakfast somewhere.
2. Do a better job of tracking my reading in Goodreads.
I use goodreads to sort books that I’ve read into categories that I can turn to when I get reader’s advisory questions, or when I need books for a storytime. I am pretty good about tracking my reading, but I need to be more diligent about it, and do a better job with making notes about how I use certain books, or which books would suit which readers.
3. Be more willing to let books go.
I, like everyone else, only have so much time--yet I have this terrible habit of sticking with books far longer than I should. I’ve spent days reading books that bring me absolutely no enjoyment, but I have this sick need to finish what I’ve started. (And when that book happens to be the first in a series? Oh mylanta.) So I’m resolving to stick to a 50 page rule and let books go if they’re not doing it for me.
How about you--do you have any reading resolutions for the new year? And what books have you started off 2012 with?
1. Read outside of my comfort zone.
For my job, I read a lot of picture books and other juvenile materials (beginning readers, chapter books, board books, etc), and for leisure reading I read a lot of young adult and science fiction and fantasy. I harbor no reading shame, but I also feel a bit of need to flex the critical reading skills I acquired in college. I have a Virginia Woolf book sitting on my shelf (which was a gift from a beloved college professor) that I have yet to read. I also have a lovely hardcover edition of Ulysses that my late mother bought for me ages ago that I want to have a go at, perhaps while eating a proper Irish breakfast somewhere.
2. Do a better job of tracking my reading in Goodreads.
I use goodreads to sort books that I’ve read into categories that I can turn to when I get reader’s advisory questions, or when I need books for a storytime. I am pretty good about tracking my reading, but I need to be more diligent about it, and do a better job with making notes about how I use certain books, or which books would suit which readers.
3. Be more willing to let books go.
I, like everyone else, only have so much time--yet I have this terrible habit of sticking with books far longer than I should. I’ve spent days reading books that bring me absolutely no enjoyment, but I have this sick need to finish what I’ve started. (And when that book happens to be the first in a series? Oh mylanta.) So I’m resolving to stick to a 50 page rule and let books go if they’re not doing it for me.
How about you--do you have any reading resolutions for the new year? And what books have you started off 2012 with?
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Book Gift-Buying Guide
Seems like this time of year everyone has a “Best of” list or a gift-buying guide, so I figured why shouldn’t I have one as well?
2011 Releases, in no particular order:
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen Good for: children who froth at the mouth when the alligator eats the monkeys during “Five Little Monkeys Swingin’ in the Tree”, meme lovers (this book has spawned a ton of imitators, check it out), Charley Harper fans.
Hark! A Vagrant! by Kate Beaton Good for: history nerds, literature nerds, middle and high schoolers who hate their history class, fans of Drunk History on funny or die.
Star Trek Book of Opposites by David Borgenicht. Good for: nerds with babies, nerds. Did I mention nerds? People who have trouble with opposites.
Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein Good for: Poetry lovers, children, Johnny Cash fans (you can check and see if they know that Shel wrote “A Boy Named Sue” and was actually quite a formidable musician in his own right (write? right)).
Press Here by Herve Tullet. Good for: anyone with a soul and a sense of wonder.
The Conductor by Laetitia Devernay. Good for: music geeks. Every time they read the book, they can play a different piece of music and totally change their experience.
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. Good for: Ironic fans of America’s Next Top Model, Toddlers and Tiaras, pretty much any reality show ever, crazysauce yet brave writing.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Good for: Romance fans, Francophiles, movie buffs.
Backlist Beauties, again in no particular order:
Boxed set of the Time Quartet by Madeline L’Engle. Good for: children who like speculative fiction, adults who like speculative fiction, those who like a faith message in their fiction, anyone who loves tall, gangly gingers (*raises hand*).
Anything by Russell Hoban. Good for: speculative fiction fans (Ridley Walker), children who sing to themselves (the Frances books), children and adults who are precociously philosophical (A Mouse and His Child).
Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Good for: people who give gifts out of their own selfish motivations rather than in the spirit of the season. You give this book to Twilight fans hoping to destroy their devotion to Mary Sue--I mean, Bella.
The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston. Good for: women and girls who feel like they’re never good or pretty enough, fans of Harold and Maude and Being There.
Suggested to me by my good friends on Twitter. I can’t personally recommend these, but I trust my Twitter pals:
A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Recommended by: http://twitter.com/#!/pnkrcklibrarian/status/145536086934949888
Aesop's Fables: A Pop-Up Book of Classic Tales by Kees Moerbeek, Bruce Whatley (Illustrator), Chris Beatrice (Illustrator)
http://twitter.com/#!/klmpeace/status/145591291500167168 (Kim also recommended Every Thing On It)
Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey
Recommended by: http://twitter.com/#!/AbelUndercity/status/145517073093771264
Serious Men: A Novel by Manu Joseph
Recommended by: http://twitter.com/#!/lizzieskurnick/status/145517852986834945
A Ship for The King by Richard Woodman
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Recommended by: http://twitter.com/#!/kdnorthrup/status/145529889070657536, http://twitter.com/#!/kdnorthrup/status/145529417022701570
You can find more information about all of these books via the Goodreads list I put together. Please try and support independent booksellers for your holiday gift giving, and you can always go to your local library to try before you buy. Happy holidays everyone!
2011 Releases, in no particular order:
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen Good for: children who froth at the mouth when the alligator eats the monkeys during “Five Little Monkeys Swingin’ in the Tree”, meme lovers (this book has spawned a ton of imitators, check it out), Charley Harper fans.
Hark! A Vagrant! by Kate Beaton Good for: history nerds, literature nerds, middle and high schoolers who hate their history class, fans of Drunk History on funny or die.
Star Trek Book of Opposites by David Borgenicht. Good for: nerds with babies, nerds. Did I mention nerds? People who have trouble with opposites.
Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein Good for: Poetry lovers, children, Johnny Cash fans (you can check and see if they know that Shel wrote “A Boy Named Sue” and was actually quite a formidable musician in his own right (write? right)).
Press Here by Herve Tullet. Good for: anyone with a soul and a sense of wonder.
The Conductor by Laetitia Devernay. Good for: music geeks. Every time they read the book, they can play a different piece of music and totally change their experience.
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. Good for: Ironic fans of America’s Next Top Model, Toddlers and Tiaras, pretty much any reality show ever, crazysauce yet brave writing.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Good for: Romance fans, Francophiles, movie buffs.
Backlist Beauties, again in no particular order:
Boxed set of the Time Quartet by Madeline L’Engle. Good for: children who like speculative fiction, adults who like speculative fiction, those who like a faith message in their fiction, anyone who loves tall, gangly gingers (*raises hand*).
Anything by Russell Hoban. Good for: speculative fiction fans (Ridley Walker), children who sing to themselves (the Frances books), children and adults who are precociously philosophical (A Mouse and His Child).
Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Good for: people who give gifts out of their own selfish motivations rather than in the spirit of the season. You give this book to Twilight fans hoping to destroy their devotion to Mary Sue--I mean, Bella.
The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston. Good for: women and girls who feel like they’re never good or pretty enough, fans of Harold and Maude and Being There.
Suggested to me by my good friends on Twitter. I can’t personally recommend these, but I trust my Twitter pals:
A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Recommended by: http://twitter.com/#!/pnkrcklibrarian/status/145536086934949888
Aesop's Fables: A Pop-Up Book of Classic Tales by Kees Moerbeek, Bruce Whatley (Illustrator), Chris Beatrice (Illustrator)
http://twitter.com/#!/klmpeace/status/145591291500167168 (Kim also recommended Every Thing On It)
Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey
Recommended by: http://twitter.com/#!/AbelUndercity/status/145517073093771264
Serious Men: A Novel by Manu Joseph
Recommended by: http://twitter.com/#!/lizzieskurnick/status/145517852986834945
A Ship for The King by Richard Woodman
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Recommended by: http://twitter.com/#!/kdnorthrup/status/145529889070657536, http://twitter.com/#!/kdnorthrup/status/145529417022701570
You can find more information about all of these books via the Goodreads list I put together. Please try and support independent booksellers for your holiday gift giving, and you can always go to your local library to try before you buy. Happy holidays everyone!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thanks
I’m not big on holidays. When I was growing up my family didn’t make a big deal out of celebrating, an attitude which I’ve continued as an adult. I certainly don’t humbug anyone else’s celebrations, but for myself, holidays are mostly days where I don’t have to be at work and can gleefully spend binge reading novels or watching a marathon of favorite television shows.
Holidays are also a time when I indulge my favorite pastime, Thinking Too Much About Things. Right now I’m sure every library has a display of Thanksgiving books out, and I can’t help but cringe when I think about how many of those books--especially ones for children--are full of blatant misrepresentations of the “first” Thanksgiving and Native American peoples.
The Oyate website, which I learned about in library school as a multicultural resource, lists recommended books on the topic of Thanksgiving. This list, unless I am missing something, lists six books. Six.
How many Thanksgiving books do you currently have on display? Sixty? One hundred and sixty? Are any of them the books recommended by Oyate as being the “...most culturally appropriate and historically accurate books” available? (The blog American Indians in Children’s Literature is also an excellent resource on this topic). And how many of the books in your collection are on Oyate’s list of books to avoid?
It’s our job as librarians to provide the best information for our users, using a variety of tools and skills to make these judgments. There’s no one out there, I think, willing to cull their collection so drastically to leave only six books on such a popular topic...but maybe we should be. Maybe we should just buy multiple copies of books that we know to be accurate and appropriate. Perhaps then more books that adhere to those standards would be published.
This might be why I don’t get too deeply involved in holidays. Eventually I end up in a morass of conflicting thoughts and feelings, wondering what the right way to celebrate is, what the right thing to do is. The curse of Thinking Too Much About Things.
Here’s the full list of books recommended by Oyate. You’ll notice that many of them have publication dates from the mid nineties, with the most current one being 2001.
Recommended Books about Thanksgiving
Bruchac, Margaret M. (Abenaki), and Catherine Grace O'Neill, 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2001, grades 4-up
Hunter, Sally M. (Ojibwe), Four Seasons of Corn: A Winnebago Tradition. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1997, grades 4-6.
Peters, Russell M. (Wampanoag), Clambake: A Wampanoag Tradition. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1992, grades 4-6.
Regguinti, Gordon (Ojibwe), The Sacred Harvest: Ojibway Wild Rice Gathering. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1992, grades 4-6.
Seale, Doris (Santee/Cree), Beverly Slapin, and Carolyn Silverman (Cherokee), eds., Thanksgiving: A Native Perspective. Berkeley: Oyate, 1998, teacher resource.
Swamp, Jake (Mohawk), Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message. New York: Lee & Low, 1995, all grades.
Wittstock, Laura Waterman (Seneca), Ininatig's Gift of Sugar: Traditional Native Sugarmaking. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1993, grades 4-6
On a cheerier note, I did ask my twitter librarian friends what they were thankful for this year. A lot of them were thankful for their jobs...period; others were thankful that their jobs are so challenging in many ways; others were thankful for great coworkers and wonderful patrons.
This year I’m thankful for all of those things. I’m thankful I’ve found different, enriching ways to develop as an information professional (including writing for this blog), and I’m thankful that I have a job that I enjoy and am good at, and I am thankful that librarians everywhere continue to fight the good fight for what they believe in.
What are you thankful for?
Holidays are also a time when I indulge my favorite pastime, Thinking Too Much About Things. Right now I’m sure every library has a display of Thanksgiving books out, and I can’t help but cringe when I think about how many of those books--especially ones for children--are full of blatant misrepresentations of the “first” Thanksgiving and Native American peoples.
The Oyate website, which I learned about in library school as a multicultural resource, lists recommended books on the topic of Thanksgiving. This list, unless I am missing something, lists six books. Six.
How many Thanksgiving books do you currently have on display? Sixty? One hundred and sixty? Are any of them the books recommended by Oyate as being the “...most culturally appropriate and historically accurate books” available? (The blog American Indians in Children’s Literature is also an excellent resource on this topic). And how many of the books in your collection are on Oyate’s list of books to avoid?
It’s our job as librarians to provide the best information for our users, using a variety of tools and skills to make these judgments. There’s no one out there, I think, willing to cull their collection so drastically to leave only six books on such a popular topic...but maybe we should be. Maybe we should just buy multiple copies of books that we know to be accurate and appropriate. Perhaps then more books that adhere to those standards would be published.
This might be why I don’t get too deeply involved in holidays. Eventually I end up in a morass of conflicting thoughts and feelings, wondering what the right way to celebrate is, what the right thing to do is. The curse of Thinking Too Much About Things.
Here’s the full list of books recommended by Oyate. You’ll notice that many of them have publication dates from the mid nineties, with the most current one being 2001.
Recommended Books about Thanksgiving
Bruchac, Margaret M. (Abenaki), and Catherine Grace O'Neill, 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2001, grades 4-up
Hunter, Sally M. (Ojibwe), Four Seasons of Corn: A Winnebago Tradition. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1997, grades 4-6.
Peters, Russell M. (Wampanoag), Clambake: A Wampanoag Tradition. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1992, grades 4-6.
Regguinti, Gordon (Ojibwe), The Sacred Harvest: Ojibway Wild Rice Gathering. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1992, grades 4-6.
Seale, Doris (Santee/Cree), Beverly Slapin, and Carolyn Silverman (Cherokee), eds., Thanksgiving: A Native Perspective. Berkeley: Oyate, 1998, teacher resource.
Swamp, Jake (Mohawk), Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message. New York: Lee & Low, 1995, all grades.
Wittstock, Laura Waterman (Seneca), Ininatig's Gift of Sugar: Traditional Native Sugarmaking. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1993, grades 4-6
On a cheerier note, I did ask my twitter librarian friends what they were thankful for this year. A lot of them were thankful for their jobs...period; others were thankful that their jobs are so challenging in many ways; others were thankful for great coworkers and wonderful patrons.
This year I’m thankful for all of those things. I’m thankful I’ve found different, enriching ways to develop as an information professional (including writing for this blog), and I’m thankful that I have a job that I enjoy and am good at, and I am thankful that librarians everywhere continue to fight the good fight for what they believe in.
What are you thankful for?
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Cybil Awards; or,"if you liked it then you should have put a medal on it."
Getting an award is a major achievement for any artist, and often provides a bump in prestige and notoriety than can make careers or break them. Awards are mostly joyous occasions (with some notable exceptions) that honor hard work and The American Library Association gives several awards every year, two of the most well known being the Newbery and the Caldecott, and of course there’s the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Nobel Prize, and my personal favorite, the Cybils awards.
So what are the Cybils? The cybils are the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ book awards. If you’re not aware of/into the kidlit book blogging community, you’re missing some excellent reviews, discussions, interviews, and other invaluable resources, all written by extremely passionate and informed writers. I asked Anne Levy, the “Cybils Overlord” as she is known, why the book blogging community felt the need to start their own award and how they made it happen:
“The Cybils Awards began with a stray comment left on a book blog in 2006. The blogger complained the [now defunct] Quills were little more than a popularity contest, while her commenters moaned the ALA awards had gotten too snooty. So I chimed in saying if we’re all so smart, how come we don’t have our own awards? It didn’t take long for the comments, emails and blog posts to start flowing. Within days, we had a name , a blog, 80 volunteers and a mission to strike a middle ground, picking the books we found both literary and kid-friendly.’
“Now in our sixth season, Cybils boasts nearly 120 volunteers – all children’s and YA book bloggers – and just added an 11th genre, book apps. The contest spans from cradle to college, with books for tots and teens and everyone in between. Our schedule is roughly the same every year: nominations run Oct. 1st through 15th, with short lists posted on New Year’s Day and the winners announced on Valentine’s Day.”
I got involved with the Cybils last year, after they put a call out for judges in the easy reader/early chapter book category. I have to admit, it was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun. I got to read a whole lot of books that I might not have picked up otherwise, and I was forced to put on my critical thinking hat while I was reading, which is something I don’t always think to do. This year I am a second round judge for YA Fantasy and Science Fiction, which I’m extremely excited about. Speculative fiction is my first love, and its an honor to be a part of the second round judging for such a popular and coveted category.
I think the Cybils awards are a unique addition to the award landscape. Beginning with the nomination process, the Cybils get people talking about and reviewing books for roughly five months, which is great for authors and publishers alike. The panelists and judges also get the chance to read widely and critically, which will make for better reviewers and reader’s advisors in the long run. And throughout the process, the teams of judges have deep, rich discussions about the books (and now book apps) that they are judging, which allows kidlit enthusiasts to meet new people and forge new relationships and partnerships.
So this fall and winter, keep an eye on the Cybils site. You’ll see reviews and updates periodically, and who knows--you might just discover your new favorite book in the process!
So what are the Cybils? The cybils are the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ book awards. If you’re not aware of/into the kidlit book blogging community, you’re missing some excellent reviews, discussions, interviews, and other invaluable resources, all written by extremely passionate and informed writers. I asked Anne Levy, the “Cybils Overlord” as she is known, why the book blogging community felt the need to start their own award and how they made it happen:
“The Cybils Awards began with a stray comment left on a book blog in 2006. The blogger complained the [now defunct] Quills were little more than a popularity contest, while her commenters moaned the ALA awards had gotten too snooty. So I chimed in saying if we’re all so smart, how come we don’t have our own awards? It didn’t take long for the comments, emails and blog posts to start flowing. Within days, we had a name , a blog, 80 volunteers and a mission to strike a middle ground, picking the books we found both literary and kid-friendly.’
“Now in our sixth season, Cybils boasts nearly 120 volunteers – all children’s and YA book bloggers – and just added an 11th genre, book apps. The contest spans from cradle to college, with books for tots and teens and everyone in between. Our schedule is roughly the same every year: nominations run Oct. 1st through 15th, with short lists posted on New Year’s Day and the winners announced on Valentine’s Day.”
I got involved with the Cybils last year, after they put a call out for judges in the easy reader/early chapter book category. I have to admit, it was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun. I got to read a whole lot of books that I might not have picked up otherwise, and I was forced to put on my critical thinking hat while I was reading, which is something I don’t always think to do. This year I am a second round judge for YA Fantasy and Science Fiction, which I’m extremely excited about. Speculative fiction is my first love, and its an honor to be a part of the second round judging for such a popular and coveted category.
I think the Cybils awards are a unique addition to the award landscape. Beginning with the nomination process, the Cybils get people talking about and reviewing books for roughly five months, which is great for authors and publishers alike. The panelists and judges also get the chance to read widely and critically, which will make for better reviewers and reader’s advisors in the long run. And throughout the process, the teams of judges have deep, rich discussions about the books (and now book apps) that they are judging, which allows kidlit enthusiasts to meet new people and forge new relationships and partnerships.
So this fall and winter, keep an eye on the Cybils site. You’ll see reviews and updates periodically, and who knows--you might just discover your new favorite book in the process!
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