This conference is all about the parties!
See, having served on the 2015 Newbery Committee, the past few conferences have been all about work. At the 2015 Midwinter Meeting, my committee was locked in a room together most of the time and many of us departed for home soon after the award announcements were made.
At this Annual Conference, we get the chance to come together again to celebrate all the hard work we did this past year. And it has been a blast (with more to come!).
Last night, Penguin (publisher of Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming) and Abrams (publisher of Cece Bell’s El Deafo) invited the 2015 Newbery Committee for a celebration of our Newbery Honor winners. As you can see above, they provided copies of the winning books for us and we had the opportunity for the authors to sign them. We were given a fabulous meal and the chance to chat with many of the folks – authors, editors, marketers – who are involved in the lives of these books.
The celebrations will go on for the rest of the weekend! Tonight, the Committee has been invited to a dinner celebrating 2015 Newbery Medal winner Kwame Alexander and, of course, the Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder Banquet will take place on Sunday.
As it was said last night, “We are all part of these books’ stories.” It’s been such an honor for me to serve on the Newbery Committee. It’s time to celebrate.
— Abby Johnson, Youth Services Manager
New Albany-Floyd County Public Library
New Albany, IN
Lisa
Job well done, Abby. Enjoy! 😀