Parcels, emails and a Domestic Goddess: my first year as Carnegie
Greenaway Coordinator
By Teresa Scragg
My first full year as Carnegie Greenaway Co-ordinator started
in September 2000 with a letter to all local branches of the Youth
Libraries Group asking for the names of their judges for the 2000
medals, to be awarded in 2001. There were going to be 3 judges
I knew, who had been involved last year when I was shadowing Margaret
Bell, the previous co-ordinator, all the others, though, were
new to the job. Once I had got their details they were all sent
a letter of welcome, with details of what was involved, from Sarah
Wilkie, who as chair of National YLG was also chair of this year’s
judging panel. The next milestone was to write a piece for the
January LAR, which call for CKG nominations and asked for them
to be sent to me – that made it feel very real. It was great
to get all the letters and faxes – fascinating to see what
was being nominated by individual members and local authorities,
as well as by local YLG branches. The nominations came right up
to the wire and a little beyond, and my typing skills got lots
of practice as I typed up the list of nominations, plus the supporting
statements, 88 titles in all.
It was like Christmas all over again when boxes of books started
arriving containing six reading copies of the long-listed titles,
and I thoroughly enjoyed sorting them and taking things home to
read that I had not seen. E-mail messages started arriving from
the judges looking for books they couldn’t get hold of, and
boxes and padded envelopes start winging their way across the
UK. They do not have long, just 7 weeks or so, to read nearly
90 books, but amazingly they all seemed to manage somehow. As
the coordinator does not get a vote, I suppose I could get away
without reading all the books, but I am happy to say that I managed
to read them all, reading my last one on the train going down
to the judging meeting!
The initial judging takes 2 days, one day for Carnegie and one
for Greenaway, so the judges need to stay overnight. One of my
jobs was to book hotel rooms and check dietary requirements for
the judging meetings – the domestic arrangements are very
important!
Most of the judges had been able to attend a training day in
February, so it was nice to see them all again for the judging
meeting and I tried to make sure that they were all relaxed and
OK. My role at the judging meeting is to take notes on the discussion
that are used to form the press release for the short-list, and
the citations at the announcement of the winners, as well as notes
for the Chair for when they are talking to journalists about the
decisions – so I had to really concentrate. It was fascinating
hearing the discussion about the books, seeing if they agreed
with my views or not, and it really helped that I had read all
the books myself and knew what they were referring to. As co-ordinator
you can get involved with the discussion, but people who know
me will know that I get very involved when talking about books
and I was concerned that if I said too much I might forget to
make notes!
Once the short-list was announced, more boxes of books arrive,
as this time the judges need their own reading copy of everything,
as they have to re-read all the titles and there is not really
time to share. I now have a thorough knowledge of the weight of
parcels and how much they cost to send and I’ve really got
to know the staff at the local post office.
The CKG working party is the group that plans all that goes on
with the awards, the short-list party, the announcement itself
as well as the marketing and shadowing process. The meetings are
lively and very focussed, and chaired for this last time by Jean
Plaister, who steps down after 10 years – she has been so
much of a part of the awards in recent years that I am really
glad to have had this chance to work with her.
I was also really lucky in my first year as CKG coordinator to
be involved in the small working group from YLG’s National
Committee who got together to work on the revision
of the criteria. These have now been approved by the Youth
Libraries Committee of the Library Association, and will be shared
with members over the next few months in time for next year’s
award. [LINK]
The party for all the short-listed authors in Birmingham’s
Centre for the Child was a very enjoyable evening, and followed
a fantastic day when children shadowing the awards came to the
Library Theatre to hear the short-listed authors talk about their
books and how it felt to be short-listed. I have been a children’s
librarian for over 20 years, but I have never got over the thrill
of hearing a writer talk about their books and more than once
I had tears in my eyes at what some of the writers had to say.
The final judging meeting was serious, business-like and considered
– just what you would expect when you think how important
it is to all concerned to make the best possible decision; I am
sure I was not the only one to feel exhausted but elated at the
end of the day. It was a particular thrill to be in the room when
Sarah phoned the winning publishers to tell them the good news.
The announcement on the 13th July was the climax of a wonderful
year. I was nervous but very excited, not least by the prospect
of getting to meet Nigella Lawson – whoever said librarianship
was not glamorous: it has certainly gone up in the estimation
of many of my friends and my mum, who was thrilled by her signed
copy of Nigella Bites. I had tears in my eyes again when Lauren
Child talked about how important libraries had been to her, and
how thrilled she was to win, and the quiet dignity of Beverly
Naidoo as she tore into the asylum laws in this country is something
I will never forget.
So, a wonderful year – hard work at times, but hopefully,
next year will be a little easier as I will know what to expect,
and I really feel so lucky to be so closely involved in the Carnegie
and Kate Greenaway Awards.
And it’s nearly time for that letter to go out to Branch
secretaries again…
Other Carnegie/Greenaway news articles
Acceptance Speech Beverley
Naidoo, winner or the Carnegie Medal 2000
Media Coverage Louise
Aldridge, Editor
Revised Criteria for the
Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals
First Time Judge Angela
Noble
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