  Through
the Chair’s eyes
It’s a well known fact that time flies when you’re
having fun, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised at how quickly
this year is going. It seems only a few weeks since I wrote "Through
the Chair’s Eyes" for the Spring edition of the YLR,
but my records tell me it was nearly six months ago. Writing now,
in August, I’m aware that by the time you all read this it
will be nearly Christmas, and my year as Chair almost over!
And it’s been quite a year. There have already been plenty
of highlights, but I know I’ll have particularly happy memories
of a few really special days:
In April we enjoyed our Banquet of Reading in Birmingham, celebrating
Puffin Books’ 60th birthday with Anne Fine, Chris
Riddell and Michael Rosen. The sun shone, the lunch was excellent,
the speakers both stimulated and amused and the Botanical Gardens
provided the perfect backdrop.
Perhaps the most daunting as well as the most rewarding task
facing every YLG Chair is to chair the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway
selection panel. For me this task was made a real delight by the
wonderful group of committed, passionate librarians who made up
the panel. Weeks of immersion in some of the very best children’s
books, long hours of heated debate (fuelled by Karen’s amazing
and never-ending supply of chocolates) and the satisfaction of
knowing that we had chosen two truly worthy winners — YLG
heaven!
And then on to the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway awards ceremony
at the British Library. I’ve been fortunate to go to several
such occasions in recent years, but it is truly a different experience
when you’re caught up in the excitement yourself. Nerve-wracking,
yes, especially speaking from the same platform as the Domestic
Goddess herself. Tense, thinking of all the things that could
go wrong — speakers failing to arrive on time, PowerPoint
presentations letting us down, losing my voice or even falling
over! Incredibly moving, listening to Beverley Naidoo’s speech
and appreciating the increasingly powerful impact of these awards
(thank you, Becca and Julie!). And ultimately too, lots of fun
and a real sense of achievement. My thanks go to the fantastic
judges, to my always-supportive YLG colleagues Teresa and Karen,
and to Louisa Myatt and Eileen Simpson at the LA, who ensured
that the day ran so smoothly.
I’m sure that by October the conference too will be added
to my list of highlights, and I hope to have met and chatted to
many of you there. But I want to use the rest of this piece to
tell you about a couple of important issues which have been occupying
the national committee this year, and some decisions that have
been made as a result.
Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Criteria
I mentioned above the excitement and honour I felt in being involved
in the selection process for this year’s Carnegie and Kate
Greenaway Medals. This is one of the major events in YLG’s
calendar and is a responsibility we all take very seriously. The
media impact of the awards has been growing in recent years and
the choice of winners receives more and more attention, and hence
more scrutiny. You will all be aware of the critical comments
of some observers, relating to individual choices and to the selection
processes. We have been concerned for some time that the criteria
as they are currently set out have on occasion offered limited
support to past selection panels in formulating a response to
these queries and criticisms. Whilst the judges, and chair, have
invariably been very clear in their choice of winners, and in
their reasons for particular decisions, a lack of clarity and
literary emphasis has meant that the criteria were not always
helpful in explaining and justifying their choices.
These concerns were raised at a meeting of the working party
that oversees the awards (with representatives from YLG, the marketing
team at The Library Association and those responsible for the
media work), and YLG asked to consider a rewrite of the criteria.
Our objectives for the revised criteria were:
- to strengthen the support the criteria provide to chairs and
judges when responding to media criticism, for example about
the inclusion of particular titles on the shortlist
- to offer more guidance to judges, especially in respect of
the Kate Greenaway medal
- to strengthen the nominations process by clarifying the qualities
that the judges would be assessing, and encouraging nominations
that highlighted a book’s strengths in these areas
The revised criteria are set out elsewhere in this issue. [link]
They are the result of considerable debate and deliberation by
the committee, not only at full committee meetings but also at
meetings of a small task group set up especially for this purpose.
The group included past, present and future chairs, and a past
judge.
The document was finalised in June and agreed by the full committee.
In July the Youth Libraries Committee of the Library Association
approved the revised criteria, giving us the green light to implement
their use for next year’s selection process. Therefore the
2001 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals (awarded in 2002) will
be judged against this revised set of criteria, and nominations
invited accordingly. I’m confident you will find them clearer
and easier to work with, and will also find more consistency in
the layout and approach for the two awards.
The Library Association
Elsewhere in this issue you will find an article by Bob McKee,
Chief Executive of the Library Association, outlining various
changes taking place within our parent body. [link] You will all
be aware that from April 2002 the Association will be amalgamating
with the Institute of Information Scientists. Several of the issues
raised by Bob’s article have implications for us as a sub-group.
The first issue is around the reorganisation of the Library
Association’s branch structure. The intention is to realign
branches in England so that they are geographically coterminous
with the Regional Development Agencies, to support cross-sector
working etc. At the National YLG Committee meeting on 3rd
May it was agreed that YLG too would move towards co-terminousity
with the new LA branches and RDAs, and adopt these boundaries.
The committee felt that this would enable YLG to work more closely
at regional level with the LA’s own branches, the RDAs and
the emerging regional library development agencies (LLDA, ELISA
etc).
It was also agreed that the change would be implemented from
2003, to allow time for the YLG branches to put the matter before
their AGMs and to make the changes necessary over a realistic
time period. A briefing paper on this matter has been sent to
all YLG branch chairs, setting out what we feel are the major
issues to be resolved, and I hope these will be discussed at committee
meetings and AGMs in the coming months. Do get involved in the
debate and let your branch or national committee know your thoughts
and ideas.
The second issue concerns the LA’s proposal to move from
a calendar year to a fiscal one for all constitutional purposes,
i.e. the new organisation’s year will run from April to March,
not January to December as at present. At the same time it is
intended to retain the calendar year for financial purposes. We
raised several queries about this in a meeting with Bob earlier
this year. Our concerns centred on the difficulties of administering
two different calendars (with implications in particular for the
workload of our treasurers) and on the possible effect on the
Carnegie/Greenaway judging and administration processes. Bob has
been very helpful in clarifying the situation and has agreed that,
due to these exceptional circumstances, YLG can choose to continue
to operate a calendar year for both constitutional and financial
purposes.
However, for 2002, it is necessary to start our new constitution
within the newly formed organisation from April, and to schedule
AGMs and appoint officers accordingly. This is to ensure the constitutional
rights of all members of the new organisation to participate in
decision-making etc. The National Committee is therefore proposing,
and is urging branch committees also to adopt, the following:
- All officers currently serving will remain in their present
posts until 31st March 2002.
- Officers elected to serve from 1st April 2002 will
do so until 31st December 2002
- YLG will then revert to a calendar year for both constitutional
and financial purposes from January 2003 (The financial year
will remain unchanged throughout)
- In-coming officers for April 2002 will be designated, for
example, "Chair elect", and will for all practical
purposes take on the full range of duties from January 2002,
except where the constitution precludes this (e.g. use of a
casting vote)
- All branches may hold an EGM in place of their usual AGM (i.e.
January or February), to ensure that all members can be made
aware of these proposals and are in agreement with them, and
to enable other YLG business, especially the submission of Carnegie
and Kate Greenaway nominations, to proceed as normal
- All branches MUST hold an AGM after the formation of the new
organisation, i.e. around April or May 2002
It is the view of the National Committee that these proposals
will ensure the minimum disruption to YLG core activity while
also complying with the constitutional requirements resulting
from the formation of the new organisation. Again, your branch
chair has been sent full details of these proposals and will be
able to respond to your queries about what is planned locally.
And finally...
I started by commenting on how strange it felt to be writing
an "end of year" article in August. Strange or not,
it does give me a great opportunity to say thank you to a number
of people who have helped to make this year such a delight.
- Firstly, the wonderful crowd on the national committee, for
their enthusiasm, support and all the hard work they put in
to enable the business of YLG to run so smoothly. Likewise all
those doing the same on the eleven branch committees. All these
people give up much of their own time voluntarily to YLG activities
and provide a valuable focus for professional activity and advocacy.
I’d also like to thank their authorities and employers
who support them in this critical work. They help to ensure
that, despite the concerns about the decline in specialist staffing
and capacity for committee work that I expressed in the Spring
edition of YLR, YLG remains a strong voice for children's librarianship.
- Secondly, all the other people I’ve been fortunate enough
to work with during the year, including the Carnegie and Kate
Greenaway judges, colleagues at The Library Association (with
a special mention for Louisa and Jonathan) and the other members
of the CKG Working Party (especially the Chair, Jean Plaister,
who stands down this year after 10 years)
- Also, all those publishers, authors and illustrators who support
our work and help us to raise the profile of children's books
and libraries. It’s been a pleasure to work with so many
committed and enthusiastic people who share our passions and
beliefs.
- Lastly, and just as importantly, all of you who are doing
the job every day, dedicated to the task of sharing books with
children and promoting their library use. You’re a marvellous
group, and it’s been a pleasure and an honour serving as
your Chair. Keep up the great work!
Sarah Wilkie
YLG Chair
August 2001
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