My Newbery Year: The Burden and the Boon Jean Hatfield Wichita Public Library.
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My Newbery Year: The Burden and
the BoonJean Hatfield
Wichita Public Library
What to expect from this presentation
Many questions answered and possibly some secrets revealed
Why is it a burden?Why is it a boon?
What is the Newbery Medal?
ALA/ALSC AwardSince 1922Named after John
NewberyMost
distinguished book for children ages 0 - 14
Criteria
Who is on the committee?
14 members and a chair7 members and chair elected by ALSC
membership7 members appointed by president-elect
of ALSC2007 committee: 2 retirees, 3 professors,
2 school librarians, 3 heads of youth services, 3 youth services librarians, 1 branch manager, 1 reviewer
2007 Newbery Committee
How Do You Get on the Committee?
How do you get on the committee?
Be a member of ALSC– Must join ALA first ($110 per year after 3
years)– Join ALSC ($45 per year)
Volunteer to be on ALSC committeesSay “yes” when asked to runBe willing to loseKnow lots of people, publish, contribute
to discussion lists, go to conferences, be on committees
What do you do when you find out you are on the committee?
tell your boss, co-workers, family and friends
clear off your bookshelvesclear your calendar for the coming yeartake vacation early in the year and plan
on taking off time in December or early January for reading
plan on attending 2 Midwinter and 2 Annual conferences
make sure you can receive boxes at your mailing address
do some researchput away your hobbieslose 10 poundsget organized
What I didTold my boss, co-workers, family
and friendsArranged to have boxes sent to my
mother’s housePlanned my vacation for early
MarchDeveloped spread sheet for
tracking books
Changed jobs (made sure I could attend conferences)
Moved (decided NOT to unpack my books so the bookshelves were cleaned off)
Talked to friends who had been on the committee before and asked their advice
Stopped reading adult books, going to movies, doing crossword puzzles
Gained 10 pounds
Learn the Rules!
Newbery manual ConfidentialityCommittee eligibilitySoliciting books
F.A.Q
(You aren’t the only one to wonder…)
What most people ask me
How many books did you get and how many did you read?
How did you keep track of them?
How many times did you meet?
What was it like to call the winner?
How many?
Books received – over 600– Like Christmas!– Duplicate copies– Self-published
Books read, reviewed, looked at once – about 500
Books read, reviewed, looked at twice (or more) – about 100
Keeping Track
Author Title Pub Rec List Rate NotesHolm, Jennifer
Penny from Heaven
Random Mar.
For instanceAuthor Title Pub. Rcd. Red List Rat Notes
Redford, Robt
The Sting Random
Mar. X June
4 Liked the mystery – two con men
Karloff, Boris
Frankenstein
FSG Sept. X 3 Old-fashioned feel, no color, story plodding
Wahlberg, Donnie
Saw II Scholas.
Aug May
Sequel – icky cover
Smith, Suzy
My Summer Vacation
Suzy’s House
Nov. X 1 Who is she kidding? Not worth the time.
Other ways to keep track
NotebookComputer filesNote cardsPost-its in booksStacks and piles
Other people’s opinions
ReviewsDiscussion ListsBlogsMock Newberys
The Meetings
How many times did you meet?
Met once at 2006 Midwinter in San Antonio
Met three times at 2006 Annual in New Orleans
Met 3 days at 2007 Midwinter in Seattle (new member)
Will meet again at Annual conference in Washington DC
The Voting
Voting procedures
Proscribed by Newbery manualEach suggested book is voted on at
least onceInitial votes (by show of hands) are
taken to reduce the number of books discussed – once taken “off the table” can no longer be discussed
Nominated books are discussed carefully - everyone has a say
When list is narrowed and members are comfortable a ballot vote is taken
Ballots
Each member selects 3 choices listed by preference
1st place = 3 pts, 2nd place = 2 pts, 3rd place = 1 pt
Votes tallied and committee looks at totals and number of 1st place votes
Voting continues until one book gets 8 1st place votes
Honor books are those that received the next highest numbers (can be more than one – natural break)
It’s Over - Almost
The Call
VERY EARLY in the morning
Committee goes as a group into a small room to make the conference call and committee chair knows what to say
Are the authors waiting?
Everyone cries and cheers
Committee gets reserved seats at the front of the room for announcement program
Cheers vs. silence
Personal effects
Learned some stuff
Read books and authors I would not normally read
Saw trends in publishing for kidsAble to compare genres and stylesSaw how desperate self-published
authors can be
New Rules (as developed by the 2007 Newbery Committee)
RULE # 1 Keep new friends from the 2007 Newbery Committee.
RULE# 2 Revel in what we have accomplished together.
RULE # 3 Savor the thoughtful contributions of each committee member.
RULE #4 Chocolate makes most decisions easier.
RULE #5 Treasure the books always.
RULE #6 There are no accidents in the universe.
RULE #7 Laughter is very important.
RULE #8 Take a nap! RULE #9 Enjoy
becoming friends! RULE #10 Feel free to
break the rules.
Some secrets
It takes a lot of snacks to get through the meetings
Choose your room mates carefullyDon’t spill the beans at partiesMy secret “top ten” – kept changingA sense of humor helps, but staying
centered helps even moreRemember why you are there
The Burden
BIG responsibility – the whole world is watching and waiting
The medal winner will stay in print for a very long time – means $$$ for author and publisher
Takes a huge chunk of time from your life – have to give up a lot, especially the last two or three months
Can’t reveal what goes on in committee – hard to keep secrets
Sometimes have to compromiseGained another 10 pounds
What I gave up
Doing crossword puzzlesDoing the crypto-quipReading the newspaperReading e-mailGoing to movies, plays, concerts, etcWatching TV (especially basketball)Christmas shoppingA clean living roomSleep
The Boon
Part of the history of children’s literatureGet to experience the excitement of
letting the winners knowMake new friendsGet LOTS of new booksGet lots of invitations to lunch and
dinner at ALA conferencesLearn about children’s literature and
discuss it with people who also love it
The 2007 Newbery Medal Winner
2007 Honor Books
Miscellany
ALSC decisionsMy favorites (other than the
winners)School presentationsWhat happens to all those books?Scrotum-gate
NY Times article – Feb. 18, 2007
LM-NetBlogs and
discussion listsEditorialsNews articlesInterviewsMiscellany
Any Questions?
Thank you for coming and stick around for the door prize
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